After applying their ministrations to the likes of Toyota’s FJ to create the beautiful and bespoke ICON FJ, Jonathan Ward and his merry band of builders have created an Old School series of the 1966 – 1977 Ford Bronco. 

To celebrate the company’s tenth anniversary in 2018, ICON Founder/Lead Designer Jonathan Ward decided to launch a new breed of builds: the Old School Series. These vehicles are characterized by restored stock bodies with traditional gloss paint, intended to meld modern technology with classic design.

“The idea here was to go far more retro,” explains Ward, ICON’s Founder and Lead Designer. The foundation of all ICON BR Broncos is a custom Art Morrison chassis. It is engineered for a modern adjustable suspension: 12-inch-travel Fox Racing coilovers at each corner. Custom Dynatrac Dana-based axles should provide reliability and are bookended by 33-inch BFGoodrich tires.

Anyone who’s ever driven a Bronco of this vintage would never accuse it of having stellar brakes, so the team installed discs at all four corners and a Wilwood master cylinder. Six-pot front calipers were developed with Brembo,; four-piston clampers reside at the rear. Eighteen-inch wheels are needed to clear these jumbo stoppers. ICON added power steering, too.

ICON Broncos are powered by 426 horsepower Ford 5.0L Coyote crate engines normally seeing duty in the Mustang GT. Customers can choose between two transmissions: the Aisin 5-speed manual or a Ford 4R75W 4-speed AOD. A stainless-steel Borla exhaust system provides the appropriate amount of rumble. Four-wheel-drive gear reduction is achieved by an Advance Adapters Atlas II transfer case.

The design team studied the Sport, Explorer, and Ranger trim levels available on the truck when it was new, proceeding to cherry-pick the best aspects of each and blend them together. Most prominent is exterior brightwork on the rain gutters and window surrounds, all custom but inspired by factory designs. The ICON side badges are crafted in a script intended to mimic the classic Bronco font. Licensed repros of OE grilles and bumpers add to the period-correct look. Lighting appears stock but is actually modern LEDs.

Inside, the ICON Old School Bronco follows the company’s “no-plastic” command by custom machining knobs and controls out of billet aluminium or stainless steel. Even the air vents are made from aircraft aluminium. The dashboard appears stock but is actually a completely new ICON design, incorporating a stock reproduction glovebox door.

The company does make a bespoke Bronco now, called the BR, but it is a much more time-intensive build with acres of input from the customer. These Old School Broncos have a much shorter lead times compared to the BR – as little as six months, depending on the customer’s scope of interior design.

For more information, be sure to check out ICON’s webpage at www.icon4x4.com