The Chevrolet Suburban has been through so many transformations during nine decades on the market that almost everyone forgot where it actually started back in the 1930s. But none of those iterations has ever had 1,000 horsepower. And none of them would cost $1 million.
The Suburban is the longest-used automobile nameplate in the world. It started out in life as one of the first metal-bodied station wagons. It was all angles, no rondure, no curve, just that boxy shape. Over all these years it spent on the market, while Chevrolet kept the nameplate alive, GMC has been marketing it as the Yukon XL since 2000, and Cadillac has been selling it as the Escalade ESV.
At first, back in the 1930s when it was introduced, the model was known as the Suburban Carryall until General Motors decided to shorten the name and keep it simple.
Today, the Chevrolet Suburban is one of the largest SUVs on the market, with room for nine people over three rows. It is built around a pickup truck frame and is powered by a V8 engine.
But more than 50 years ago, things were a bit different. This one-off estate, which comes from that era, has just driven out of the Icon workshop. And it has an output that would have made quite a Halloween trick. It's got 1,000 horsepower.
Photo: Icon
We are dealing with a restored sixth-generation Chevrolet Suburban, which only kept the angular shape from the 1970s. Elsewhere, everything has changed. The model rolled off the production line as an original three-door car.
Yes, you read that right, it was a three-door wagon. But the client asked the Icon team to add a fourth door to make access easier. Well, easier said than done. The California-based experts had to design, manufacture, and fit that fourth door. They also gave Icon the liberty to become more creative than usual.
The client's family worked on the original Chevrolet production line. To mark the occasion, Icon machined their initials into the driver door handle’s button.
The car is now built on a one-off Art Morrison four-wheel independent chassis. Under that hood lives a 7.0-liter (427 cubic inch) NRE Alien LS twin-turbo V8 engine. That one is guilty for that 1,000-horsepower output as well as for the 900 lb-ft of torque.
Photo: Icon
The power plant is linked to a four-speed automatic gearbox, which spins the rear wheels. Icon fitted Brembo brakes and custom tires to be able to hold those horses.
The team equipped the Suburban with a modern heating and ventilation system, power windows and locks. The model is painted in a two-tone combo. A new radiator grille showed up at the front, machined from 6061 billet. The Suburban now rides on HRE wheels with ZR-rated tires.
The car got a new three-spoke steering wheel and a modern instrument cluster. All the three rows have bench seats. Air conditioning and USB charging ports are also on board.
Included in the company’s Reformer series, the Chevrolet Suburban is worth, they say, $1.1 million. That is how much the team invested in building it. "The sky is the limit with our vintage Suburban templates," says Icon boss Jonathan Ward.
The car will be on display at the Icons of Design event, which opens its gates on November 19 at the Hegerty Garage in van Nuys, California.
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