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The Icon Thiftmaster combines funky Derelict style with modern performance, impeccable design details, and all the expected creature comforts.
As the restomod industry continues expanding, incredible builds running upwards of half-million-dollar pricetags keep popping up like clockword. Blame the likes of Cyan Racing's new screaming Volvo P1800 project on the immaculate Porsches from Singer that gained massive followings over the past few years (not to mention contributing directly to escalating 964-gen 911 values) but talented builders seem more and more to work under the mindset that the more expensive and exclusive they make a project, the more customers will shell out to buy one.
You can't park your Singer on the street, though—at least not here in Los Angeles—without worrying about dings, dents, scratches, or theft. Enter a new mindset blending aged patina with all the benefits of the modern era, as most notably masterminded by the Derelict series from Chatsworth-based Icon 4x4. Icon's founder, designer, and engineer Jonathan Ward also goes whole-hog on pristine Toyota Land Cruisers and Ford Broncos that fall more under the umbrella of traditional restomodding, but the Derelict series perhaps most perfectly fits his current mindset for where the industry might continue to evolve.
Ward recently invited me to join him on a timewarp in a Chevy 3100-based Thriftmaster Derelict—without even realizing that I grew up riding in and learning how to drive stick shift in a similar, highly original 1948 Chevy pickup.
Of course, the '48 Chevy my dad bought decades ago might look nicer on the outside than the Thriftmaster but under that rough skin lurks a completely different beast. I've followed this project for years, since at least 2020 when Ward unveiled the TR10 finished in a similar pea-soup green as my family's truck. The childhood impressions of that five-window cabin, the bulging fender flares, and a long, finnicky shift lever all remained seeded deep within my formative automotive experiences but meeting Ward at his shop in Chatsworth gave me a chance to get acquainted with one of the more encyclopedic, detail-oriented aesthetic minds I've met so far in the automotive industry.
The Thriftmaster's funky exterior belies everything going on here—entirely on purpose. What some might call a relatively common GM E-Rod crate engine producing around 420 to 430 horsepower and a similar torque figure sits in the engine bay, mated to a Tremec six-speed and powering the rear wheels. Of course, in today's era when engine swaps seem par for the course, please keep in mind that the original 216ci inline-six I grew up driving might once have made 90 horsepower and 174 lb-ft of torque. Meanwhile, our first gear needed a lot of help and so I learned to drive stick starting up in second.
Why does driving that '48 stay with me all these years later? The big steering wheel, boat-like handling, a choppy ride from leaf springs, all paired with the smell of leather, gasoline, rubber, and dust accumulated over the decades; shifting from second to third required about two seconds and 18 inches of throw, turning on the brights via a pedal to the left of the clutch, popping out the angular little wind wing window on the door for more airflow, sliding a walking stick into the rolled tops of the bedwalls, and throwing water balloons from the back during Topanga Days parades—many of these memories so closely linked to the truck occasionally come to mind daydreaming about that pea-soup Chevy. But in the Icon Thriftmaster, history flooded back into present.
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Ward's excitement when I revealed my own close connection to the Chevy 3100 only grew when I brought up all my old recollections. I believe he hoped his own creation might call up such Proustian reminiscence, while also providing me with the perfect lens to interpret his own reimagining of such an integral piece of my childhood. And the Thriftmaster's laundry list, far too long to fully bear here, indicates with each nut and bolt, engineering and design detail, exactly how this specific vision for the Thriftmaster blends classic and current engineering without losing any of the soul due to what Ward calls "Modern perversions."
The build starts with an Art Morrison chassis, mandrel-bent rather than box-welded, with unique suspension mounting points to further harness the performance potential made possible by a conversion to fully independent front and rear suspension. As we pulled out of the Icon parking lot and headed up into some winding roads nearby, Ward started driving the truck hard enough that I slid around on the bench seat until I discovered a way to brace myself. Without exaggeration, all of a sudden this 3100 handles like the kind of sports car suggested by the set of low-profile Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires that serve as perhaps the only exterior cue to something different going on beneath the truck's purposefully funky skin.
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Ward told me he actually prefers to keep the interiors funky for Derelict builds, too, completing the patinaed image for anyone who walks by and stops to take a peek. Plus, the dented and rusting body panels, torn up leather and floors, nicked and scratched dash all let owners leave their worries at the door when driving an Icon Derelict around town or in the country. The particular client for this 3100, though, insisted on a cherried interior and the results reveal the full extent of Icon's capabilities more typically displayed on the fully revamped Land Cruisers, Broncos, or Pro Touring-style creations.
In this case, the client also wanted to keep the original thin-rimmed steering wheel rather than swapping in a smaller diameter helm, which only added to the authentic feel as we swapped seats and I climbed in to take over driving duties. That long floor-shifter with the tiny little shift knob brought me back immediately, though the Tremec's ability to offer multiple mounting points creates a buttery smooth action with a throw about one-third the length of our old, presumably worn bushings.
Actually turning the steering wheel, whether to make a right or while hustling through a curve, produces turn-in immediately with plenty of feel despite relatively low resistance. And yet, Ward's borderline obsessive eye for trim and bezel design, turn signal stalk ends, and finishing touches all prevents any sense of incongruity. Air conditioning—a must on our hot day in the San Fernando Valley—blows through nearly invisible vents in the slatted dash, controlled via the knobs below that also turn on the sound system, wipers, and lights. The gauges, despite being converted to computer control, retain a classic art-deco design even though the speedometer now goes up to 120 miles per hour and a small digital display can pop up any ECU data all the way down to a 0-60 timer. Best of all, Ward shares my own texture obsessions and avoids using any plastics while he draws design inspiration from the 3100's human contemporaries, notably towering fashion, automotive, and aerospace visionary Raymond Loewy.
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Those Michelins mounted on custom forged aluminum wheels (hidden purposefully by dinged hubcaps) allow Ward to transmogrify the 3100 into a serious performer, with blistering straight-line speed, gobs of grip, and brakes so surprisingly solid that they can only be hydroboosted. Rarely will an average driver just hop into a truck over seven decades old and start driving without some coaching—and yet, you can watch me do just that in our video above.
Compared to the full days I spent stalling our '48 as a kid, even on forgiving dirt roads, all of a sudden smooth clutch action, precise steering (despite the thin-rimmed wheel), and nimble handling replace the boat-like sensation of a solid rear axle half-ton pickup. Cornering only creates a bit of minimal body roll before you ease into the throttle and plant the tail. But there's still a pickup bed back there!
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Ward loves lizards and each Icon builds hauls around a reptilian sculpture at least somewhere. In the case of this Thriftmaster, a curled-up lizard on the rear wheel fender caught my eye without moving but once again, Ward somehow nailed that nostalgic element that any five-window Chevy brings up for me: around the time we hopped in the back of our truck for Topanga Days, I used to run around in the rocks and woods catching little lizards by hand. The fact that Ward envisioned anything so perfectly tailored to my own tastes boggles the mind—and the Thriftmaster's build quality emerges as an artistic expression unto itself as much as an engineering marvel. Think of the truck like a reptile that never sheds its skin, wearing the scars of age proudly while maturing, hidden from sight, evolving with the times underneath.
Unfortunately, the price to play with something so spectacular sits far outside my budget, because despite the funkiness, a build like this still runs in the vicinity of half-a-million bucks without creating a subliminal sense of disdain that similarly priced, shinier projects might endure while cruising around town or to cars and coffee meets. I've driven more than a few restomods now, running the full gamut from herky-jerky to carbon-fiber screamers and everything in between. The old auctioneer's saying that "You couldn't build it for that price" holds true, without a doubt, as these talented craftsmen spread their development costs across multiple projects to help keep each client's sticker shock from ballooning too terribly.
Still, potential ownership for mere mortals such as myself remains a pipe dream—especially as values only look likely to continue escalating. Walking around the Icon shop with Jonathan Ward, checking out the rest of his past, current, and future projects, the full picture emerges and reveals how much his clients must recognize the financial aspect of what their money buys, even if the actual process of dreaming, designing, and directing the construction of Derelicts remains the more desirable aspect of the business for an artisan like Ward.
Sources: icon4x4.com, youtube.com, topangadays.topangacommunitycenter.org, artmorrison.com, and michelinman.com.
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Michael Van Runkle grew up surrounded by Los Angeles car culture, going to small enthusiast meets and enormous industry shows. He learned to drive stick shift in a 1948 Chevy pickup with no first gear and currently dailies his 1998 Mitsubishi Montero while daydreaming about one day finishing up that Porsche 914 project. He's written in various media since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2010 and started at HotCars in February 2018.