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ICON‘s Johnathon Ward is 1 part mad-scientist…

1 part evil genius, and 1 part master craftsman. It’s a combination of talents that has earned his meticulous automotive creations significant street-cred. We interviewed him on his life’s work in the past here at Topline and were impressed with his commitment to the craft and his love of burly, quality, and cool designs. Most of his career has been spent building and rebuilding 1970’s era Toyota FJ40s, Ford Broncos, Jeep CJs, and the like. Recently, he and the rest of the team at ICON have begun to dabble in other “products” called his Derelicts and Reformers. Derelicts are essentially reinvigorated automotive classics that intentionally retain their original rusty patinas to preserve the car’s historical character. Reformers are concourse quality restorations with modern chassis hiding underneath. Now, his team’s incredible combination of talent is being pushed into the next most logical progression – to design and build an all new, all original expression of his automotive vision in the form of this gorgeous “streamliner.”

This latest project, dubbed the Helios, harkens back to a lost era of design, pulling on influences from the 1930’s art deco scene, WW2 era aircraft, Salt Flats style lakesters & belly tankers, and several vintage European and American cars like the Bugatti Atlantic and Chrysler Airflow. He’s calling this style a, “revisionist approach to transportation design” because it re-imagines a world that never quite was. This alternate reality scenario frees Johnathan up to reinterpret history in a new way. He told Topline:

This one has literally been keeping me up at night. Consider the following: If not for the austerity brought on by the Great Depression and WWII… If the industrial revolution had not introduced a perversion where quantity rules over quality… If the automotive industry (at large) had taken inspiration from aircraft perhaps 10-15 years earlier than they did… If the American Coachbuilder scene had continued to flourish… And if Howard Hughes had a few too many martinis with Gordon Buehrig and Buckminster Fuller at the Beverly Hills Hotel Cabana… what would they have dreamt up?

But it wouldn’t be an ICON if it wasn’t also pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a car crafter. Never one to settle, Jonathan has targeted electric car company Tesla to provide for the vehicle’s primary form of motivation. He’s particularly interested in the upcoming Model X with its’ bigger motor (read as more power and a longer range) and 4wd mechanicals, but he’s also admitted that the project could be realized with a variety of powerplants.

He told us that, while this project is still in the early conceptual phases, it is one that he will:

…move mountains to figure out how to get <it> built. If I do not see it created, it will drive me (even more) crazy!

At this early stage of the vehicles development, he is beginning to look for a client who is interested in working with him to create this unique rolling sculpture. Creating this techno/retro tour-de-force will mean overcoming some interesting and expensive challenges – in the form of retrofitting Tesla’s electric propulsion into a new space, having the car’s glassy greenhouse formed from scratch, and ensuring that the aircraft style aluminum truss chassis lives up to his expectations of rigidity, performance, cost and weight. We asked Johnathan if WHEN the Helios get’s built, where he plans to perform the reveal and he mentioned either England’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Italy’s Valle De Este, California’s Pebble Beach Concourse, or the RetroMobile show in Paris (in case you planned on attending).

You can expand the car’s sketches above, check out the inspiration images below, or head over to ICON for a closer look at the Helios (he’ll be posting information on it soon). After that, be sure to visit the Comments. We really want to hear from you on this one.

Here’s some design influences for the Helios: