Icon FJ43 Bandeirante reimagines a timeless classic

Icon is known for its resto mods for the FJ Toyota Land Cruiser. california company It’s back with another impressive build based on the legendary Toyota off-roader.

Dubbed the FJ43 Bandeirante, the vehicle is actually one of Icon’s earliest builds and is arguably a rare sight on US roads.

As the name suggests, the FJ43 Bandeirante uses the body of the Toyota Bandeirante, a unique version of the Land Cruiser built exclusively for the Brazilian market from 1968 to 2001. Icon founder and lead designer Jonathan Ward had access to several Bandeirante bodies after doing some work at Toyota in the early 2000s.

The FJ43 Bandeirante was a stretched version of the 1965 FJ40 chassis, called the FJ43 because it was essentially the longer FJ40. It also features the dash of his FJ40 from 1983, but modified to match the rare US spec dash that was offered that year.

No Toyota engine under the hood. For this project vehicle, Icon used his 5.7-liter V-8 supplied by General Motors. However, the engine is mated to a Toyota H-55 5-speed manual transmission and a split-case 19-spline transfer case.

Icon has no plans to sell the FJ43 Bandeirante, but a similar vehicle could be built for prices starting at $180,000. Icon has an online configurator on his website that helps potential buyers arrive at their ideal configuration, not just for the FJ, but for all current Icon project vehicles.