A Turbocharged 1963 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 By Icon

This 1963 Toyota Land Cruiser has been through a comprehensive nut-and-bolt rebuild at the hands of Icon in California, the world’s preeminent FJ40 specialists who have worked closely with Toyota on a number of projects including the FJ Cruiser production vehicle.

Most of Icon’s FJ40 builds are powered by the General Motors LS V8 however the vehicle you see here has been fitted with a turbocharged International HS 2.8 liter diesel inline-four cylinder engine, which offers excellent torque at almost 300 lb ft with better mileage than the gasoline-fueled LS V8.

Fast Facts – The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 By Icon

• In recent years a remarkable number of companies have been founded that follow in the footsteps laid out by Icon – a company started back in the mid-1990s by husband and wife team Jonathan and Jamie Ward.
• In the years since, Icon has become the global leader in Toyota Land Cruiser and Ford Bronco rebuilds with a focus on keeping the original vintage spirit of the vehicles while upgrading them to make them much easier to use regularly in the 21st century.
• Land Cruisers that have been rebuilt by Icon are now collectibles in their own right, regularly selling for well over $100,000 USD on the open market and occupying a similar sector in the market to Outlaw Porsche 356s and Eagle E-Type Jaguars.
• The FJ40 Land Cruiser you see here is an excellent example of Icon’s rebuilds. The attention to detail throughout is excellent and power is now provided by a turbodiesel International HS 2.8 liter inline-four producing approximately 135 bhp and 277 lb ft of torque.

The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

The Land Cruiser has come a long way since it was first introduced in 1951 as the Toyota “Jeep” BJ series.

Toyota had first been tasked with developing a Jeep-like 4×4 during WWII when Imperial Japanese Army soldiers discovered an American Willys Jeep in the Philippines, the usefulness of such a vehicle was clear so it was sent back to Japan to be reversed engineered.

Each Icon FJ40 is totally rebuilt and significantly modified to make them highly capable daily drivers, with modern drivetrains for reliability and added power.

A few years later in 1950 the Japanese were now on the same side as the Americans who were fighting the Korean War. The United States government ordered 100 Jeep-like 4x4s from Toyota, kickstarting the series that would be renamed “Land Cruiser” in 1954 due to Jeep getting (understandably) a little testy about their use of the brandname.

Over the intervening decades over 10 million Land Cruisers have been built, they’ve developed a reputation for toughness and reliability, and modern versions have shaken off the rust issues that tended to plague the steel bodies of earlier models.

Vintage 4x4s Become Classics

Today the early FJ40 models and their BJ40 series siblings are in high demand with collectors and enthusiasts as vintage four-wheel drives continue to grow into a major sector in the classic car world.

By modern standards many of these early four-wheel drives can seem a little agricultural, this is where Icon comes in, offering a full modern drivetrain, uprated suspension and brakes, a fully rebuilt chassis and body, and an interior that’s almost luxurious by the standards of the original vehicles.

The Turbodiesel Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 By Icon

The 1963 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 you see here has been given the full Icon nut-and-bolt rebuild, it’s now perfectly suited to use either as a daily driver or a weekend adventure wagon.

The interior keeps the spirit of the original but includes features like a hidden Alpine stereo with SiriusXM satellite radio and an amplifier, much improved seats, and smaller luxuries like cup holders.

The bodywork has been powdercoated in Rocky Mountain Grey, the cabin has been trimmed in black leather with grey textured Chilewich textile seat centers and matching carpet. A modern Alpine stereo has been fitted, as well as SiriusXM satellite radio receiver, and an integrated amplifier.

For inclement weather protection the vehicle has been given an insulated double three-ply folding soft top, and it’s fitted with Hella halogen headlights, front and rear auxiliary lights, and a Warn winch is integrated into the front bumper.

The drivetrain consists of a turbodiesel International HS 2.8 liter inline-four cylinder engine producing approximately 135 bhp and 277 lb ft of torque. Power is sent back through a five-speed manual gearbox and transfer case to live front and rear axles with locking differentials.

This Land Cruiser now rides on coil over suspension in place of the original leaf springs, it also has four-wheel disc brakes, powdercoated alloy wheels, and on onboard air compressor.

This Icon FJ40 is currently being auctioned live online by Collecting Cars, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

If you’d like to learn more about Icon you can click here to visit the website and see their current range of models.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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“America’s First Supercar” – The Stutz Bearcat

The Stutz Bearcat was introduced in 1912 as the road-going version of the Stutz Indianapolis 500 racing car. Bearcats would win 25 of the 30 races in which they were entered in 1912, and Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker would famously set a new coast-to-coast record in one.

Some have called the Bearcat “America’s first supercar” and others have called it “America’s first sports car,” though as is always the case, there is much contention around these claims – particularly from fans of the Mercer Raceabout.

Fast Facts – The Stutz Bearcat

• In 1911 Harry Stutz would build an Indianapolis 500 race car in just five weeks, he called it the “Bear Cat” and it was entered into the 1911 running of the endurance race, placing 11th after averaging 62 3/8 miles per hour for 500 miles.
• Managing not only to finish the race but to finish 11th from a field of 40 cars was a remarkable achievement. The Stutz was hailed as “The car that made good in a day” and it would become one of the most successful racers of its time.
• In 1912 the company would release a road-going version of the Indy car, offering high-speed performance to those who could afford it. The car’s main competitor would be the Mercer Raceabout whose owners would say “You must be nuts to drive a Stutz.” Stutz owners would then reply “Nothing’s worser than driving a Mercer.”
• The Stutz Bearcat was an innovative car for the time, powered by an 6.4 liter 60 hp engine with four valves per cylinder. Power was sent to the rear wheels via a transaxle gearbox, and the car rides low on an underslung chassis with leaf spring suspension front and back.

The Car That Made Good In A Day

In 1911 a man named Harry Stutz spent a feverish five weeks building a new car, the project was rushed as the vehicle needed to be ready to compete in the Indianapolis 500 motor race against a field of 40 of the fastest cars in the country.

The early Stutz Bearcats were powered by the engine you see here, a 390 cubic inch (6.4 liter) Wisconsin T-head four-cylinder engine with four-valves per cylinder and an updraft Stromberg carburetor producing 60 bhp.

The 1911 Indianapolis 500 was the first ever running of the event, no one knew how popular it would become but the eyes of the nation were on the drivers and machines competing in what was one of the most challenging endurance races of its time.

By the time the checkered flag fell Norwegian driver Gil Andersen had singlehandedly driven the Bear Cat for 7 hours 22 minutes and 55 seconds, completing 13 pitstops, averaging 62 3/8 miles per hour. Perhaps most importantly, he finished one place ahead of Hughie Hughes in his Mercer.

The Stutz Bearcat

Company advertising materials celebrated the surprising success of the Bear Cat, calling it “The car that made good in a day.” Stutz immediately set to work capitalizing on this success, he developed a road-going version of the Bear Cat and changed the name slightly to “Bearcat” – all one word.

When the new car was released in 1912 the company announced: “We are now building duplicates of this ‘car that made good in a day’ with absolutely the same material, workmanship, and design.”

Early ads for the Bearcat, like this example from 1914, typically showed the car as the top of the line model.

Many wealthy Americans wasted no time placing their orders for this new high-performance machine that was capable of the almost unimaginably high (for the era) top speed of 80 mph.

The first examples of the Stutz Bearcat were powered by the 390 cubic inch (6.4 liter) Wisconsin T-head four-cylinder engine with four-valves per cylinder and an updraft Stromberg carburetor. The 60 hp produced by this engine was sent to the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transaxle of Harry Stutz’s own design.

With its front and rear leaf spring suspension, low slung chassis design, and powerful engine, the Bearcat was one of the fastest vehicles on the road anywhere in the world, equivalent today to cars like the Bugatti Chiron, McLaren P1, or the Koenigsegg Agera RS.

An Enduring Influence

The Bearcat would stay in production from 1912 into the early 1920s, its enduring fame and reputation saw Stutz bring a new model using the name into production during the Great Depression years of the 1930s however it wasn’t enough, and the company folded.

The low-slung chassis developed for the car by Harry Stutz allowed it to ride lower than many of its rivals, giving it a lower center of gravity and improved handling.

In the decades since a few attempts have been made to bring a new car to market called the Stutz Bearcat, replicas have been made including two by legendary car customizer George Barris for use in the 1971 TV Series “Bearcats!”

Interestingly the The Velvet Underground’s 1970 song “Sweet Jane” mentions a Stutz Bearcat in the second verse, an indication of the car’s enduring effect on American culture.

Riding that Stutz Bearcat Jim
You know, those were different times
All the poets they studied rules of verse
And those ladies, they rolled their eyes

– Sweet Jane by The Velvet Underground

One of the most famous feats in a Bearcat was the record breaking coast-to-coast drive completed by Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker from Los Angeles to New York City in 11 days, 7 hours, and 15 minutes. An achievement made all the more remarkable when you remember that America had no highways or interstates in those days – it was mostly dirt tracks and the maps were far from accurate.

Very little bodywork was fitted to early Bearcats, they had a “doghouse” engine compartment, two seats, headlights, fenders, and a cylindrical fuel tank in the rear. A rear trunk and spare tires could be carried when needed.

The journey by “Cannon Ball” Baker inspired the later Cannonball Run movies, television show, books, and countless other Cannonball Runs across the country.

The 1913 Stutz Bearcat Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1913 Series B version of the Stutz Bearcat and it has a more interesting backstory than most, its remains were rediscovered on a ranch in the 1970s by a pair of aerial surveyors doing work in Montana.

After it was acquired a number of original parts were sourced and kept with the car, but the restoration didn’t begin in earnest until the early 2000s when the project was taken over by new custodians – a father and son team.

The two men did a remarkable job sourcing the additional parts that were needed from Harrah’s, the Los Angeles County Museum, and Paul Freehill. The restoration of the car was documented in the October-December 2009 issue of the Stutz News club publication.

The Bearcat is now part of a respected collection and it’s due to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on the 5th of March with a price guide of $350,000 – $450,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images: Steven Klucik ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

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Full Video: Watch The First Indianapolis 500 Race In 1911

This film shows the first Indianapolis 500, it took place on the 30th of May 1911, and its official full name was the 1911 International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race.

Remarkably, since this film was uploaded to YouTube by the Indiana State Library five years ago it’s been seen by fewer than 10,000 people. With a run time of 11 minutes and 30 seconds it’s a fantastic window back in time, over 111 years, of one of the most important and influential motor races in history.

The first Indy 500 would see the first race start behind a pace car in history as well as the first documented use of a rear vision mirror. Each team had to pay $500 to enter, a huge sum of money at the time, but the prize purse for winning was $14,250 and each of the top ten place finishers would receive varying payouts.

The cars being used were all running on castor oil fuel which created billows of white smoke behind them, with all 40 cars on the grid as the race started it was impossible for cars further back down the order to see much of anything at all.

The first Indianapolis 500 starting grid In 1911. Teams had to prove their car was capable of 75 mph to qualify, and the race started behind a pace car amid plumes of smoke from the castor oil fuel – see it yourself in the video above.

Tragically on lap 12 there was an accident and fatality, Sam Dickson (the riding mechanic for Arthur Greiner) was killed when the car’s front wheels came off, causing a catastrophic accident.

A few of the cars racing came from marques that we still recognize today, including Fiat, Mercedes, Buick, and Benz. Many more have been lost to history, like Jackson, Marmon, Simplex, Knox, and Cutting.

It would be in this very race that racing driver Gil Andersen would finish 11th in the “Bear Cat” developed by Harry Stutz for the Ideal Motor Car Company. A production version of this car would be developed and released in 1912, it was called the Stutz Bearcat and it became one of the most desirable high performance cars of the era.

If you’d like to read more about the 1911 Indianapolis 500 you can click here to visit the Smithsonian article on the subject.

Racing drivers Burman, Disbrow, Tower, and Grinnon at Indianapolis in 1911.

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The Rare Venturi 300 Atlantique: 1 Of 57 Ever Made

The Venturi 300 Atlantique is a little known mid-engined French GT car from the 1990s, they were built in very limited numbers and at the time of their release they were among the fastest French production cars in the world.

Venturi has often been compared with Lotus, the British automaker located just across the channel. This comparison rises from the fact that Venturi often made use of fiberglass bodies and tubular steel back bone chassis, just like their British cousins, as well as mid-mounted engines and a strong focus on handling.

Fast Facts – The Venturi 300 Atlantique

• The Venturi 300 Atlantique is one of the more successful production cars from French automaker Venturi, it was developed to challenge the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.
• Venturi was founded by French engineers Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy in 1984. They displayed a couple of concept cars in the mid-1980s and then introduced their first production car in 1987 – the Venturi MVS.
• Production numbers of each Venturi model were never particularly high, typically a few dozen a year at best, but owners prized them for their handling and performance, and motoring journalists like Jeremy Clarkson extolled their virtues.
• The Venturi 300 Atlantique was built between 1991 and 2000. It was powered by the PRV V6 in turbo, twin-turbo, or naturally aspirated form with later cars using the V6 ESL engine. The turbocharged version you see here produces 281 bhp and is capable of 280 km/h (174 mph).

Venturi – The French Answer To Lotus

Ever since it was founded in 1984, Venturi has frequently been compared to Lotus, though perhaps a more fair comparison would be Alpine – the French builder of sports cars with fiberglass bodies and backbone chassis including the highly-regarded Alpine A110.

The beautiful styling of the Venturi 300 Atlantique has been compared to a number of similar supercars from the era. It remains one of the fastest French production cars ever made.

French engineers Claude Poiraud and Gérard Godfroy founded the company specifically to create a French rival for automakers Porsche, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.

Though they didn’t quite succeed in their mission they did create one of Europe’s most unusual marques, a company that would successfully compete in GT racing, they battled with Ferraris and Porsches at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and even (briefly) competed in Formula 1.

Over the course of the company’s tumultuous history they built some of the fastest French production cars in history, including the twin-turbo Venturi 400 GT which produced 402 hp and could reach a top speed of 291 km/h (181 mph) with a 0 – 60 mph time of 4.7 seconds.

Venturi would go bankrupt in the year 2000, the company was quickly bought out by Gildo Pallanca Pastor who turned it into one of the world’s first 100% electric sports car companies. It also currently competes in the world of Formula Racing as ROKiT Venturi Racing, and the company holds a world speed record for its Voxan Wattman electric motorcycle.

The interior of the car is very well appointed, with Cartier leather used throughout, a woodgrain dashboard, climate control, power windows, power brakes, and power steering.

The Venturi 300 Atlantique

There can be little doubt that the Venturi 300 Atlantique is one of the best kept secrets in the modern history of French automobiles. The engineering that went into each Venturi was excellent, and the 300 Atlantique is no exception, it has a still tubular steel backbone chassis with a fiberglass body for low weight.

The PRV V6 is mounted amidships for optimal weight distribution, feeding power to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission.

There were a few different configurations of this powertrain offered by Venturi, the example you see here is powered by the turbocharged PRV engine producing 281 bhp and it’s capable of 280 km/h (174 mph).

The single turbocharger fitted to this engine boosts its power up to 281 bhp, giving it a top speed of 280 km/h (174 mph).

The styling of the Venturi 300 Atlantique has been compared to both the Lotus Esprit and the Ferrari 348, both of which were period sales competitors of course, and the Venturi was more than capable of rubbing shoulders with them on the roads, highways, and race tracks of Europe.

Just 57 examples of the Venturi 300 Atlantique turbo were built and despite the model’s rarity it still remains relatively affordable by supercar standards – the example you see here has a price guide of $91,500 – $114,400 USD.

When it was delivered new in 1997 the car had been optioned with Nimbus Grey paint and a Cartier leather interior. It was given a respray in its original color in 2015, and it’s now showing just 15,000 kms from new (9,321 miles).

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Artcurial. It’s due to cross the auction block on the 18th of March in Paris.

Images: Kevin Van Campenhout courtesy of Artcurial

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An Unusual C3 Corvette Redesigned By George Barris: “The Barrister”

The Barrister Custom was a limited production car built by George Barris, based on the C3 Corvette. Though divisive, the styling did attract a slew of celebrity buyers including James Caan, Bo Derek, Sammy Davis Jr, and even Liberace.

The name George Barris may already be familiar to you as he was one of Hollywood’s leading car customizers, he designed and/or built a vast array of film and TV cars – Kitt from Knight Rider, The Beverly Hillbillies car, the “Striped Tomato” Torino from Starsky and Hutch, the Dukes of Hazzard car and many more.

Fast Facts – The Barrister Custom

• Based on a lengthened Corvette C3 chassis, the Barrister Custom has a unique fiberglass body designed by George Barris and his team. The styling is difficult to describe to those who haven’t seen it, but the term neo-classical probably comes closest.
• George Barris is arguably the most famous Hollywood car designer/builder, the full list of cars that came out of his workshop is a mile long, it includes all of those listed above including the 1966 Batmobile, “Drag-U-La” from The Munsters, the cars in Jurassic Park, The Munster Koach, the car from The Bearcats, and more.
• Thanks to its Corvette underpinnings, the Barrister Custom has a 350 cubic inch V8, four wheel independent suspension, a four-speed automatic transmission, and four-wheel hydraulic ventilated disc brakes.
• There’s some debate about how many examples of the Barrister were built, it seems the final number was either 7 or 8, with some claiming as many as 12 were made.

George Barris + Barris Kustoms

When George Barris was a seven year building wild car models with his brother Sam no one could have predicted that the pair of them would go on to create some of the most enduringly famous custom cars in American cinema and television history.

Very few would be able to tell that this car is based on the third generation Chevrolet Corvette, the original lines of the car are almost entirely gone, only referenced in the doors and rear fender curves.

After the tragic death of their mother in Chicago when they were just three and two years old respectively, their father sent them to live in California with their uncle and aunty. As they grew the two boys helped at the family’s Greek restaurant, receiving a 1925 Buick in part payment for their help.

This car would become the first Barris Kustom, over the following years George would develop, design, and build some of the most memorable vehicles ever to appear in films and television, becoming the de facto Hollywood custom car supplier for decades.

The Barrister Custom

The Barrister Custom was developed as one of Barris Kustom’s limited production cars, no two of them are the same and no one can quite agree on how many were made – it could be six, seven, or perhaps twelve.

Though the exterior is vastly different, the interior is largely the same. It’s been retrimmed and some new wood panelling has been added however.

Each car started the same way, on a lengthened third generation Corvette (C3) chassis. The original fiberglass Corvette body was removed and heavily modified into a new fiberglass body that featured somewhat outlandish styling that has been compared to the similarly neoclassical Stutz Bearcat II.

Custom cars built by Barris are famous for their ostentatious styling and the Barrister is certainly no exception, the protruding grill and front fender leading edges lead back to a split windscreen over a pair of faux side pipes.

The rear of the car is characterized by a high chrome bumper and jet age inspired brake lights. The interior is largely the same as the original Corvette, albeit with new additions, upholstery, dashboard wood, and a Nardi steering wheel. Interestingly the car does have a custom folding fabric top for weather protection.

Thanks to the Corvette chassis and drivetrain the car is powered by a 350 cubic inch V8, it has four wheel independent suspension, a four-speed automatic transmission, and four-wheel hydraulic ventilated disc brakes.

Under the hood you’ll find a relatively standard 350 cubic inch Corvette V8 producing approximately 300 bhp.

As mentioned above, these cars were ordered new by a number of celebrities including James Caan, Bo Derek, Sammy Davis Jr, and Liberace, giving each of them a rather eye-catching alternative to the common luxury convertibles driven by many of their contemporaries.

The 1969 Barrister Custom Shown Here

The car you see here is based on a 1969 Corvette, though the actual year it was customized by Barris isn’t listed. Is it noted that this vehicle has won several car show and cruising awards including at the Hot August Nights event.

This Barrister was build specifically for Barris’ close family friend Frank Monteleone and it was just the second one made. It’s finished in a two-tone blue over white paint scheme and it comes with a matching dark blue folding top.

The interior follows the same color palette, with white seats featuring blue piping, white and blue door cards, and dark blue carpeting.

We almost never see original Barristers coming up for auction so it’ll be interesting to see what this one sells for when the hammer falls.

It’s due to roll across the auction block with Mecum in mid-March – if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Mecum.

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