ICON’s New FJ44 Petersen Special Will Give You Off-Road Envy

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Nicole Wakelin 

 

                                                            

The guys at ICON create all sorts of fantastic builds, including quite a few Toyota FJs.  But coming up on their coming up on their 100th FJ build, they decided it was time to do something extra special. The result is a fantastic 4×4 that goes far beyond the standard ICON FJ.

 

The idea came about after discussions with the Petersen Museum. So naturally, it bears the name Peterson Special. It includes an ERod 6.2-liter V8 engine with 430 horsepower and 424 lb-ft of torque. They also threw in an intercooled supercharger to up the output to around 540 horsepower and 495 lb-ft of torque.

Next up was the chassis. ICON added a radius arm front suspension to give it better on-road manners. They anticipated some loss of articulation, but testing on trails proved that it lost virtually nothing, which is good news. There is a Dana 44 front axle and a Pro-rock Dana 60 in the rear and Brembo brakes for stopping power.

 

The interior sports backlit Dakota Digital gauges, and a redesigned gauge panel and glove box. There are even new dash knobs made from milled aluminum with anodized letters, upgraded audio and cooling systems, and ICON bucket seats in a new brown color to match the body color.

“Beyond the standard equipment offered on all ICON FJ’s, this vehicle is a test bed for a range of new ideas,” CEO Jonathan Ward told FourWheeler. “Answers to questions no one really asked, but details I had been yearning to try out. Many (if not all) of these new ideas will be integrated into ICON production this year. Some already have.”

You can see this lovely creation for yourself at the Petersen Museum where it will be on display for the next six months.