Many car enthusiasts aspire to own classic cars without fully understanding the “charm” that comes with owning them. While the automobiles of yesteryear can be spectacular to look at, the driving experience is often less than spectacular for the owner. Some appreciate this as an escape, while others want a vehicle that just works. That’s where ‘restomod’ comes in. It’s the goldilocks zone between restoring a vehicle (bringing it back to its former glory) and modifying it—adding modern components to improve the driving experience. Restomod companies like Icon 4x4 are able to replace the old components in these cars with much newer bits that improve the quality of life for owning a classic vehicle. And the restomod experts at Icon 4x4 recently teamed up with the EV experts at Moment Motor Company to build a limited run of 10 all-electric Ford Broncos.The CarThis (extremely limited) run of just 10 Ford Broncos appear to be based off a U15 variant of the first-generation Bronco, which was sold from 1966 to 1977. Ford built an estimated 225,585 first-gen Broncos during the vehicle’s original 12-year run.EngineThe first Bronco was packing a plucky 2.0-liter inline six engine that was good for 105 horsepower. Complemented by a three-speed manual transmission and four-wheel drive, the package was plenty capable for its day. It didn’t take long for a V8 engine to find its way under the hood, as it took just shy of a year for Ford to replace the anemic six-cylinder motor with a 4.7-liter V8 that delivered nearly double the horsepower—200 hp, to be exact.Icon 4x4’s concept uses a center-mounted drive unit capable of 500 hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. The electric motor is fed by a split 105 kWh battery pack mounted front and rear to retain the same 50:50 weight balance as the original Bronco. The new design does away with the original transmission and transfer case, feeding power directly to the front and rear axles through full-time all-wheel-drive. While the new powertrain can catapult the new/old Bronco to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds, it also delivers 175-200 miles of range. If you’re lucky enough to find a non-Tesla charger, it’s also compatible with level 3 DC fast charging—able to juice up from 20 percent to 80 percent in under an hour.Brakes/SuspensionStarting at $499,000 MSRP, Icon’s EV Bronco costs a bit more than the original vehicles, which started at roughly $2,400—$23,688.81 in today’s money. However, after poring over the details, it’s clear that you get what you pay for. We’re pleased to report that the development budget for this vehicle went much farther than just hot swapping an electric powertrain and calling the job done. When making a car considerably faster, equivalent improvements to the handling and stopping power are critical to cope with the extra propulsion. On the suspension side, the Bronco was one of the first off-road vehicles to use coil springs in the front suspension. This gave the car a considerable edge over competitors like the CJ-5 Jeep and the International Harvester Scout. However, the existing springs and dampers wouldn’t come close to handling the EV Bronco’s excess power and weight. That’s why Icon fitted Reiger’s advanced shock absorbers at all four corners—retaining the use of the original front and rear solid axle setup. For context, Reiger is a Dutch company that has made bomb-proof rally car suspension for decades.Creature ComfortsCreature comforts often get overlooked during the common restomod formula of adding power, sorting out the chassis, and fitting bigger brakes. The first-gen Bronco rolled off the assembly line with a rather meek 100 horsepower and drum brakes that could only be described as providing adequate stopping power. From the interior, the early Broncos were lacking many of the basic amenities offered in modern automobiles, including air conditioning, electric seats/windows, power steering, cruise control, and even infotainment. These are all upgrade points that many restomod builds target. Here are some of the creature comforts Icon added to its EV Bronco. PricingObviously, if you’re looking at a limited-run, fully-custom Bronco, the list price is the least of your concerns. However, to make things interesting, Icon also builds restomod Broncos with good, old-fashioned motors under the hoods. We already know that Icon’s EV Bronco starts at $499,000 MSRP. However, things get a little interesting when you see the brand’s BR-series builds, which feature the same first-gen Broncos with a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood and start at $299,000. We won’t be the first to say the $200,000 difference is not an insignificant amount of money—it’s not a bad option if you still want the reliability and ease of filling up at a gas station. For context, if you’re looking at the used market for restomod first-gen Broncos, you’ll notice Icon vehicles are selling for near list price—just a sniff under $300,000. Icon’s PedigreeWhile it’s easy to focus on just Icon 4x4’s EV Bronco, we should note that the company has made a name for itself restomodding off-road bruisers like the Ford Bronco and Toyota Land Cruiser. In a space that’s so ultra-saturated, it’s clear that they know what they’re doing. We’re not just looking at a budding start-up that’s only focused on flipping cars and saving the planet.Icon has proven platforms that retain (or even improve) the off-road abilities of these cars. For those who can afford these types of vehicles, Icon is one of the first places they’ll go. However, if it were up to me, I’d buy an original Bronco and deal with all of the foibles that come with owning a vehicle that’s over half a century old. Driving is an escape, and any car that remains operational 99.99 percent of the time is inherently antiseptic. Besides, even if it does break down, it’s a great avenue for learning how to wrench on cars—something many people my age could benefit from.