QOTD: Cross Country Cruiser?


There are some Q-Ships which are designed to simply eat up the miles. Despite the proliferation of cheap(er) airline tickets, there is definitely a group of people who would rather drive to their cross-country destination than get in a metal sky tube with a hundred other humans. Fair enough.
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: select a machine for our fictional friend so they can drive themselves from New York to L.A. in comfort. It can be a brand new vehicle, but that stipulation is not a necessity. You’ll see why after the jump.
It’s well known that Jonathan Ward and the team at ICON have crafted some of the finest 4×4 rigs ever to turn a wheel on the face of this planet. In addition to all that awesomeness, they also take on the occasional off-beat build, applying the same level of fastidiousness to it as they do their $222k FJ creations.

Which is why I select this ICON Chevrolet Caprice for our fictional friend, just in case you’ve forgotten the question of the day (it’s okay if you did; today is Monday, after all). Powered by 430 horsepower LS engine, the team left no stone unturned when fitting this car for a life on the highway.

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of 90s GM tat knows the acres of plastic used in the construction of these things, all of which was binned by the ICON team and replaced with finely crafted metals. Even those wheels, which look like stock cop steelies, are actually aluminium and upsized to clear the aftermarket brakes. And that interior? Fantastic. Be sure to click the link below and walk yourself though the picture gallery.
So what’s your unlimited budget pick for a blast across America?
[Images: ICON Reformer]
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- Peeryog OK , my fault. But there were a number of inadvertent scatalogical references in the original post. To which, having the intellectual maturity of a 12 year old boy, I snickered.
- Ajla People that buy a new Silverado or Sierra without a V8 are like the people that get salmon at Peter Luger.
- MKizzy The Mazda 6 wagon needs to be brought here pronto. Sexy looks aside, it would look less out of place in Mazda's CUV lineup vs the sedan, and since Mazda wants to go "premium," wagon customers tend to be the most affluent (if Daimer-Benz is to be believed). My second choice is the attractive Hyundai i40 wagon, which would replace the defunct VW Sportwagon in the small/mid size wagon niche.
- Carlson Fan GM needs new leadership. A 9000lb off-road vehicle???? Don't get that thing stuck in a remote area.Imagine if they had brought back the iconic K5 Blazer name and built something to compete with the Wrangler like Ford did with the Bronco. They could have offered that with an electric power train in addition to the gas models. Ford may have some quality issues right now but whoever is steering that ship knows what they are doing. The Bronco & Maverick where both brilliant ideas.
- Carlson Fan "But it does give General Motors an opportunity to dangle a diesel in front of the faces of consumers and presumably one that yields better gas mileage than the 6.2-liter V8 they’d otherwise be buying."I'll take the 6.2 thank you. The diesel offers some advantages over gas if you use the truck for towing, lower total cost of ownership isn't one of them. I'll add in the gas engine offers better long term reliability & cold weather performance if you live where it snows like me.
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I want a nice blend of comfort, performance, range, relative anonymity, and ease of repair if necessary, so I'll go Mustang Ecoboost Premium, 6MT. In the summer, make it a convertible. I want something that can be fixed in just about any town in the good ol' US of A or Canada, and this fits the bill. I learned about this the hard way when my old SAAB broke down in rural Southern Illinois. No bueno. Second choice would be Accord Sport 2.0T with 6MT. Similar virtues as the Mustang, but more practical. Unfortunately, also less fun. If it must be used, a 2G Acura TSX is a good choice, especially with the Tech Package for the good stereo. I have a 2010, and it's the best long-distance road trip car I've ever owned. It doesn't dominate the highway like the old SAAB, but it's bulletproof, efficient, and comfortable. It has 118k miles, and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it cross country tomorrow.
ill take my 2013 Chrysler 300c SRT8 . this handsome beast was built just that and have fun