Icon Derelict 1949 Mercury - EV Resto Modding | Fully Charged

[Music] [Applause] [Music] I've come to a place called Chatsworth which is about 30 miles away from downtown La icon the name on the wall there and this line of dilapidated 50s and 40s American cars might give you a bit of a clue on that side we'll give you even more of a clue there is a lines and lines and lines of beautiful old Toyota Landcruisers and early Ford Broncos I've come to a place called Icahn the 4x4 and this is a company I've known about for about six or seven years set up by a chap called Jonathan ward a really charismatic interesting guy and he takes classic off-roaders like the landcruiser and rebirths them with better than new componentry whilst retaining a classic look it's the ultimate the highest accolade of what they call resto modding and these over there get the resto morning treatment but there's a car that I saw a couple of weeks ago and a place called SEMA huge modified car show in Vegas the biggest in the world and one of his cars took this place by storm when it was a 1949 mercury which had totally electric underpinnings and it was one of the best executed jobs I've ever seen because the engine bay still kind of looks like a v8 let's go and meet him [Music] hey Jonathan Jonathan easy right we neither want us to screw that up it's really really good to see you finally company I'm honored well I mean I've heard about icon because of people sort of saying you know there's nobody else doing oh there was nobody else doing offroad classic vehicles to the to the detail in the level that you were yeah well our cuz you still do anything and I know I didn't realize how big you've got yes snake yeah can you show me yeah [Music] [Music] but obviously the reason why I've turned up is because I've known about the the piston cars you do and continue to do and evolve and this is this is your core business isn't it at the moment yeah definitely but I think the future just as we evolved the traditional restomod approach and instead a higher bar for engineering and quality i also obviously am already yearning to evolve into the evie space yeah because you know companies like Tesla obviously proven the model and the consumer has their head around it and they already have one but nothing compares to the the romance the design continuity of the vintage aesthetic that is classic transportation so you have customers you say our daily driver model s oh heck I love it my wife loves it it's cool yeah but but I want some of the looks like more personality more history or something that they may already have some sort of visceral romantic relationship that's a big cheap for icon if you really stop and think about it yeah the original standards of industrial design and transportation were such that companies were building things to last as long as possible yep no in essence built in correct so am i humble or maybe not humble opinion mass transportation business model today is more about the Wall Street corruption of telling shareholders they're constantly going to make more and they'll be more yield which means what design is a byproduct longevity forget about it that's actually a deficit in that sort of business model so they transitioned from make it strong make it last - hey wait a minute look at person electronics people bought a laptop the battery went dead they threw the laptop away they remained brand long bought a new laptop hmm that's better business how do we learn from that industry and apply it to trend yeah which I think was you know the beginning of the end yeah so I'm trying to revive the old school Industrial Arts yeah so where as you know we're putting the best modern engine I'm still designing it so the vehicle is sub modular okay I'll show you there's like key bulkhead connections we're in I hope the vehicle is cherished and in 10 or 20 years the newest bang best eyesore viii or micro capacitor whatever the hell might be can be oh yeah put it in you know keep the integrity of that original platform so I love the engine there it's great you know I appreciate v8 tell me how you got from the point of these things to suddenly going maybe we should do a build with AV power well I'm just that geek right I'm constantly wanting to like evolve and move forward and keep watching new tech and new solutions and when we started what was there there was a Prius and like I'm not gonna adapt the Prius they're like I hate Priuses personally they're so soulless and you're so disconnected so that wasn't even yeah on the radar right yeah but then over the years Tesla most I mean we can credit other companies but if we really think it through Tesla proved the model the consumers adopted evolved cherished and they created this this valuable tribe that enabled now right all the other ends of people to come into the space yeah and geeks like me and all the retrofit Eevee communities so very quickly I was like hmm we should start playing with that because I also was responding to customers who more and more would call and say hey that's cool I love that but you know what I have a Tesla my wife has a test or whatever I love it but I'm still yearning for that visceral connection yeah only a classic can give me so can you do that see you getting more and more in qualities definitely okay I mean it's it's exponentially growing it's it's become a hockey puck growth of interest probably due to the visibility of the Merc that we release and I want to do Tesla supercharge compatibility Chat Chat Chat know Chatham I usually go and acronym which is the Nissan Leaf code the Chatham O thing so like we want a quick charge we want reasonable range we want copious power so if you're game mister client war we're so game yeah and we know we wanted to work with MADD harbors of brilliant engineer we have mechanical engineering Electrical Engineering young staff in-house we have tons of crazy resources and relationships so we felt we were to position yeah to push that forward oh look at it so this car yeah is original one touch body yes it has a completely new bespoke chassis yeah with suspension with brakes yeah and if there's and obviously the thing that I've seen and watched and read about which is why I'm here is what's going on under the ball let me show you so tada I designed this to that first glance still evoke that classic v8 the classic speed equipment SoCal hot rodding vibe tons of machining and polishing hours totally unnecessary yes so much fun and then within this array this V structure yeah is actually the Reinhardt controllers which we repackage and then many of the Tesla p85 battery arrays so you go to V of correct this plastic hell no I hate plastic so that's all 6061 I knew that the derelict things were amazing anyway and when I saw the pictures of this I thought hang on a minute you've just told me it's electric you pop the bonnet but it just looks like a classic video yeah with the fit with the cooling fins and rocket come using the plus or minus radiator which obviously now as part of the hot cool thermally managed network for the Tesla arrays look and then leave the AMR American Rose see the AMR American Racing dual motors are also thermally managed which is killer and then we have coolers and fans and umpteen gizmos hidden throughout the vehicle independent rear suspension setup independently yep front is independent as well yeah ridiculous six piston oversized Brembos all the way around yeah rack and pinion steering that in this case is electric yeah all hand-built 12-volt network from scratch as well as obviously all the high voltage goodness etc and then yeah there's the line is here yeah so from here in all these inner fender structures yeah are all hand-built in-house because obviously the new paradigm of functionality needed is entirely different and then I'll show you underneath the vehicle is totally not what you'd expect from the exterior so what's the performance of this cone well we're still finishing it up you know so we had a rush it to SEMA to get all the accolades and be show off yeah but we're in the last 30 days stretch of our final design for thermal management networking that pumps for example that we originally used yeah on paper were appropriately rated but in reality Thank You Bosch we're not so we went back to using the Tesla proven pumps in the system and then for charging is kind of fun I didn't want some big tech connector visible no I'm tempted a machine on but haven't gone there so hiding here in front is your Chatham o connector is mr. Chadha mo brilliant cheering chanting lovely going and then in the back under the original gas cap lid is where we put the municipal compliant charging that does not look like a charger well I had some fun again I machined it and did some unnecessary goodness you artistic swine so that should talk one I should talk one connectors correct yes and then in the trunk you see some of the tech although we built in all these enclosures that are vented none of these are speakers all of these are venting for the various systems okay and then behind this you have a vertical array of battery yes yeah and then under here which I should just take in the air and show you underneath this is a removable panel for serviceability and where the original gas tank was of course more batteries yeah and then there are two more midship and we're trying to keep that weight distribution yep and there p85 is what was it 16 batteries in total I think we've shoved in there Wow 16 or 18 whatever the heck was in five okay want to do p100 yeah but I can't find one got away for some more to the room something's gonna wrap one around oh no do you know what's gonna happen this is the thing I'm seeing a landing on that the whole retro AV communities basically wishing people to put this mask when straight edges we still hope they crash their Hellcat you know we moved straight on but you know they're crazy thing is the resale of like a massively totaled P 100 yeah they're selling for a junkyards like beyond repair like blood splatter horrible they're like 60 70 grand Wow because of the drivetrain yeah everyone's like us yeah they want my cells all the drive journey let me lift it up and show you underneath because can you pretty nuts how nice is this [Music] [Music] so now the vehicle took almost two years and we still have another 30 days to go from inception to completion so yeah this is this is almost it's on the final home straight from that's given to the customer correct but first and foremost you have to trust it and learn from it prove it to ourselves before we go proving it to the world yeah you're the first guy actually that I've accepted a media sort of in-depth walk around because of your intelligence in this space well impatient to be more forgiving although I'm bummed all the Plumbing's apart so we can't drive it today but definitely take a wee peek it's potentially a really good everyday yeah that's my call and the client lives in Arizona okay so massive cold although I guess people don't know that yeah it's nasty hot and it gets pretty nasty cold so that again was why we're like okay we wanting to do a proper hot and cold thermal management system yeah so does it this uses all of the modules from a pH of yellow every last one of them a vision yeah okay then this absurd drive shaft so this is a carbon Kevlar drive shaft is just absurd they handle that's my output yeah it's pretty stupid it's a lorry yeah this show so this chassis was just designed by you guys very specifically for the kind of output that we're dealing with and then the primary chassis rails or 180 while us do em steel mandrel bent no fillet cuts and then fish oil on the inside for preservation like a dry dock is to control rust inside yeah then capped then epoxy powder coat find of the military spec one powder coated and all beautiful man-made welds no grinding Vons invisible it looks spectacular maybe I am our dual motors Wow which as you probably know there really there remi motors yeah I am are just beautiful sexy packaging and anodizing then the electric rack and pinion from Unisphere which were very happy with that goes to a modern safety style breakaway tilt steering column okay better ergonomics and safety better Sofia most accident problems with vintage cars have been the fact that the human form gets impaled by the cola the steering column yeah so that the javelin affair always always change side impact protection and steps way better than any modern tissue-paper cars this burly is all held by nature but that is a key thing obviously rack and pinion weight distribution braking performance etc Tsar very conscious of that that's a big part of evolving such vehicles property no one knows no this industrial art that is hiding under I actually shed a tear when we put the body on the chassis because the chassis Tsar just these mechanical sculptures yeah this is sculpture I mean like you say this this could drive pass on them on the one downtown you and I'd go that looks cool I have no idea what's going on or better yet see in a field and just figure it has a driven 430 but I talk to you let's shut up and drive why don't we take the v-dub out so almost getting lost kids can we do that sure it's on the button is it yep I haven't driven one of these in ages well it'll come back to you like riding a bike [Music] I have never driven a VW 1:8 one thing before I've seen them I know people that have them they're cool they are like they're like an erector set they're like Legos it's just millions of little pieces you can take that part top off on but this off the top on you can take the top off in the doors off you can fold the rear seats lab you can take everything is this gonna the same kind of motor as the mercury yes yeah well no see many factures yet the smaller version okay and then going through the stock transaxle reinforce much stronger version of that yeah and then we upgraded brakes and suspension these wheels are kind of groovy they're like an early v-dub porsche thing from the japanese-market fastest yeah I noticed yeah they're coated in black too just kind of yeah I'm shell and then the client despite our urging chose these tires for style and I'm totally with them yeah they're not as efficient as they could yeah meaning for evey efficiency we could have gone with a much lower rolling resistance yeah you couldn't fail the resistant yeah but but they're cool they get regenerative braking that's part of what you're feeling as well it's just the region yeah bit of yeah I gave their region so this is the perfect kind of spec for someone that once like the classic look potentially a daily driver a bit of ranges on 80 to 100 mile range I know this one's about a buck 20 is it okay it's just so relaxing well that's the swimming low and when we turn right here put your right foot more into it and if we're there's not traffic and you can then you can progress into third and get a feel for its range if we really wanted to be silly we could have burned out first but we didn't but it's fun it's cuz I can just keep breathing keep revving keep going go go go go go go now anybody went ahead sir [Applause] don't even ride the clutch go right back out of it keeps you in that dirt spot yeah yeah yeah and that party's on all the way to talk here [Music] yeah pull strong it's rigged up and way better than anyone W mod you could ever ever have you're done yeah yeah hopefully you come back and visit us again and drive the Merc I would love to come back again I think off I think off the hopefully after watching this show I think funny charge viewers will say right whatever he's doing next I want a part of this sweet home to be flattered and we will welcome your return they say the ultimate recycling is reusing old cars and that's basically what's happening to icon you take something like this and you rebuild it to be good for another 20-30 years and even better maybe you leave it that's very cool isn't it thanks very much for watching fully charged if you've already subscribed thank you very much if you haven't clicked subscribed which will be somewhere on the screen somewhere if you're a patreon and you've supported patreon thank you so much we could not make these episodes and come to places like this without you if you don't know what patreon is click the link it's somewhere on the screen and have a look what patreon subscription means I'm Johnny Smith thanks for watching see you next time [Music] and don't forget to get your tickets a fully charged live USA in Austin Texas on the 1st and 2nd of February 20 20 while you still can a cornucopia of four V's and sustainable energy tickets are available on the fully charged dot show website click the on-screen icon or in the show notes to head straight there [Music]

Channel: Fully Charged Show

Views: 212,824

Rating: 4.9483409 out of 5

Keywords: icon, derelcit, mercury, Icon Derelict 1949 Mercury, ev, resto modding, classic cars, electric classic cars, california, jonny smith, carpervert, electric conversion, battery, restoring classic cars

Id: neYuohLzVdg

Length: 19min 37sec (1177 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 05 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Protagonista]

For those unfamiliar, this is Jonathan Ward of ICON auto, fanatical old school restorations and resto-mods. Now transitioning to EV's due to customer demand. Well worth a follow on his own channel if you're a car geek.

[u/Sophrosynic]

I don't agree with what he said about longevity. Cars these days do way more miles in their lifetime than the oldies.

[u/Papavatsky]

Great video, everything Fully Charged posts is worth a watch.

If you’re in the Austin, TX area, Fully Charged is taking their roadshow to COTA Feb 1&2.

[u/boostbacknland]

Ended up watching the rest of the video, that Mercury is insane.

[u/zeeEight]

Is there a website selling ev resto mods?

[u/[deleted]]

While I would love to buy a Tesla if I could afford it. But I would love to own a icon way way more.

[u/shellderp]

he's blinking a lot

[u/pushc6]

I really hate the term "disruption" it's so damn overused.