Widely known for building Ford Broncos and Toyota FJs, California-based ICON has just finished assembling a resto-modded 1964 Dodge D200 Crew Cab. For those in need of a brief history lesson, the D200 is essentially the ancestor of the Ram 2500 Crew Cab.
Part of ICON’s Reformers lineup, the D200 looks like a carefully restored truck when viewed from a distance but a closer look reveals that just about every aspect of it has been skillfully rebuilt, re-engineered and restored. For starters, the truck borrows its ladder frame, its engine, its transmission, and its axles from a late-model Dodge 2500 pickup. Using a donor vehicle makes the resto-modding process a lot easier, and it also means that the D200’s lucky new owner will be able to get it serviced at any Ram dealership across the nation.
ICON founder Jonathan Ward explains that only the D200’s body shell, exterior door handles, seat frames, grille, and front bumper are stock. Components like the tailgate latches, the gas cap and even the door mirror assemblies have been custom-designed and built in Los Angeles, and ICON spent over three months repairing rust and other body issues before it applied the first coat of paint.
The story is the same on the inside, where the truck gains a brand new instrument cluster with analog gauges, a twin-spoke steering wheel sourced from a school bus, new knobs and switches and, of course, a state-of-the-art sound system. ICON has installed an extra layer of sound-deadening material and it has re-upholstered the seats in burgundy Italian leather.
The D200 is powered by a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine that has been upgraded with a large supercharger and an air-to-water intercooler. It consequently makes a lot more power, and the extra grunt is needed because the D200 is much heavier than the 2500. A ceramic-coated MagnaFlow exhaust system gives the truck a throaty exhaust note.
ICON has not revealed how much it costs to turn a rusty, faded pink D200 into a resto-modder’s dream, though the final price tag undoubtedly varies from build to build.
