Jonathan Ward's customized Land Cruisers are built to last.

It all started in 1994 with a bogged truck, an idea, and a visit from God. Jonathan Ward stood under the blazing sun in Sabi Sands, South Africa, staring as the wheels of one of his safari group's Land Rovers spun futilely, axle-deep in mud. Luckily for Ward, his Toyota Land Cruiser had already negotiated the swamp successfully, but the Rover just did not have the torque to pull it off. So they cinched it to the battered Land Cruiser, set it on low gear, and with the tires spinning, that old '70s Toyota pulled the much more expensive modern Rover out of the thick mud. Then and there, Ward was in love. "I spend a lot of time traveling, and I've found the more remote the locale, the harsher the environment, the more people revere their old Cruisers", he explains.

   Ward returned home to a successful but unfulfilling career. During a business class at the University of Southern California, he got into a debate with a fellow student over an economic model, and an idea was born. "Supply and demand is bullshit: if you can control the supply, you can create the demand by redefining it", argues Ward. Considering his experience in South Africa and other remote lands, and his long-held hobby of restoring classic cars, he decided to attempt his theory with Land Cruisers. "In six months I went all over California and the Southwest and bought every Fj40 Land Cruiser worth a damn, till the only ones left on the market were pretty skanky. And then each one I bought, I used my resources and skills to restore it", he says. "Then I slowly trickled them out, and it got rolling. I realized there's something here. I saw Land Cruisers (in fact, all vintage off-roaders) really weren’t getting any respect. The ones out there for sale called 'restored'? At best all they'd have was a $600 Maaco paint job. No one was applying the same type of thorough restoration like they did on a vintage Mercedes or Mustang or Bel Air." So he put some of his trucks in an empty showroom in Van Nuys with a sign saying CALL US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. Unexpectedly, there was an instant reaction, and it expanded quickly. From restoration he moved to repairs, then to parts. He named his fledgling business TLC and it was soon a full-fledged operation.

   Clients urged him to even higher standards. "We were somehow blessed with the right demographic that weren't solely budget-driven and wanted the best", says Ward. "So that helped us really get our skills down and get our act together. It's weird because over the years, the market shifted distinctly. More and more people did not have the patience for vintage mechanical systems- drum brakes, 3-speed transmissions, improper ergonomics- they just didn't want any of that. More and more, our customers wanted the vintage look but with a more efficient and evolved mechanical experience. So that became the focus, but it had it's limitations."

   Then in 1999, came the visit from God. As TLC's reputation grew, people from Toyota became aware of the upstart garage in the valley that was restoring Land Cruisers. "Literally, [Toyota CEO] Mr. Toyoda came and visited our shop," recalls Ward. I didn't even know there was a Mr. Toyoda. It was like God coming to the church: it was a trip." The reason for the visit was that Akio Toyoda wanted to hire TLC to build some concept vehicles for what would become the current FJ Cruiser. Ward ended up building three concept vehicles for Toyota, and although the production unit looked significantly different from Ward's vision, some of his design elements made it to the production model: the white roof, headlight bezel, and, most importantly, the triple wipers (originally inspired by rare military versions of the FJ40).

   "We took it as a great honor and busted our ass to do them right", says Ward. "We get all sorts of celebrity clients, and I couldn't give a darn. It's the industrial designers and Mr. Toyoda and guys like that who really rock my world."

   The contract was directly responsible for TLC's evolution from a master restoration shop into a design and engineering house. Sent to Brazil to study their Bandeirantes (a Brazilian-specific Land Cruiser built there until 2001), Ward began wondering if, with the already supply chain of parts, they would be able to go into production-even if it was ultra-limited. As these trucks dated back to the ‘60s, no one at Toyota had the digital collateral of the old Land Cruisers, so Ward had to capture it himself. Adamant about maintaining the original proportions and silhouette of the first FJ40s for his concept, he used a Faro Arm to scan and track a 1970 Land Cruiser, digitally capturing all of it’s surface profiles and dimensions. Now he had all of the basics to launch his own brand, ICON, based aesthetically on the classic FJ40s but with the capability of integrating hi-tech components and contemporary chassis design theories. “When I had clarity on where Toyota was heading with their FJ Cruiser, I went back to them and explained the concept of the ICON brand and how we wanted to build on the heritage value of the truck, no costs negated. Of course, we needed Toyota’s blessing before we jumped into this, and they were kind and supportive, so that is how Icon started.”

   The TLC Icon comes to the party dressed rugged. The Icon features a 350-horsepower fuel injected aluminum V8, complimented by four wheel disc brakes. That’s more than triple the horsepower and double the torque of the original Cruiser. The recently launched CJ model is powered by a GM Ecotec 4-cylinder engine. But the three most significant upgrades of the Icon includes its body, completely constructed of un-annealed high-grade aluminum, as opposed to the original highly rust-prone steel. Second is the FJ’s 50/50 weight distribution, very rare in 4-wheel truck applications (original Land Cruisers were extremely nose-heavy). Last is its suspension-which moves away from the archaic elliptical leaf spring and a five bar steering to a variable ratio three bar design, and utilizes instead coik-over shock suspension. Of course, all of this hand-built craftsmanship and high-grade tech doesn’t come cheap: the CJ starts at $79,000, and the Fj model base is $115,000.

   Speaking of Ward, it’s clear that his commitment to building a product is unchecked by bottom-line scrutiny (the CJ recently won Robb Report’s “Best of the Best” award). Lots of businesses harp on about manufacturing the best product possible, but TLC Icon legitimately focuses on making the highest-quality trucks it can. This commitment is non-negotiable, a lesson taught to Ward by Mickey Drexler, CEO of J.Crew. “Mickey was really pivotal in helping me understand the value of brand”, explains Ward of his longtime client. “Stick to my original vision: hold the line, don’t whore it out, keep it true, and the rest will come. At the end of the day, there is enough crap in the world. I don’t want to build something unless I’m really proud of it. Now, would I like a business model that would allow me to sell triple of what I sell? Yes. But I don’t think this vehicle’s a match with large-scale production because the volume automotive industry is driven by a completely different set of principles and priorities. You end up with vehicles that don’t stay in our collective soul at all; people are over them in a hurry. That’s not what I’m about.” We agree.

Written by Nicolas Stecher for Vinyl Men 10, 2008