Why Jonathan Ward Started Building "Derelict" Cars | Joe Rogan

Yeah, that whole derelict program, you know, was like many things in my life. Started just from a stupid, passionate idea. Like, I never considered a business model of doing it. It was just, okay, I've got two young kids, I've got two labs. I like to do this, I like to do that. What do I want as my next car? And I'm like, you know what? I'm tired of over-restoring shit. Because that's like my OCD. I just, everything would be perfect, perfect. And then the first time, you know, the kids nail it with a skateboard, or I ding it with a surfboard, or the dog takes a piss in it, whatever. Like, I don't want to be that guy anymore. So I was like, you know what? I think I like want to find something that's already fucked up. I'm just going to leave it looking all fucked up. So I don't even, I hate washing cars and I hate putting gas in them. So with the derelicts, all you do is clean the windows and vacuum it at best and party on. And then I just put a massive gas tank. So my old 52 De Soto station wagon was the first derelict that I built 100% myself nights and weekends just because I had this stupid idea in my head and I wanted to realize it. It wasn't until it was done and it got like the cover of Hot Rod and won all these awards that my dumb ass went, oh, wait a minute. We're out of something. Yeah, we're out of something. This still is, you know, it fits within how we define the icon brand holistically about revisiting classic transportation design in a modern context. It's just a different way of doing it. So that was your first derelict? Yeah. It's 52 De Soto. And we called it derelict until I was done and then we're like, okay, let's brand them. And we started getting tons of requests. We've built some pretty wild array of them and have a bunch of them too. Your first one was for you. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, but that speaks to how weird it is that you're doing that in the first place because most people who are, you know, high dollar restoration, you know, air quote, resto mods or whatever you want to call them, everyone wants them to be beautiful and pristine with you know, handles that disappear. You know, I mean, everybody wants to shave everything down and and like end up removing a lot of the original character of the design that they're supposed to be celebrating in the first place. So that compounded by patina, which tells a more personal story of like, where's this carbon? How did it get that ding? There's like romance and mystery all wrapped into one as far as the history behind all those finishes. How big is the gas tank on this thing? That one's got like a 42 gallon gas tank. I was like spare tire gas tanks, spare tire, like screw it. Three cans of fix a flat and a big ass gas tank. I hate stopping for gas. Well, especially with something like that, it must get like four miles to the gallon. That actually is a full emissions equipped modern SRT eight Hemi 6.1. And so it gets six. You know what? I don't understand why, but I've built several Hemi based builds. That is the fastest and most fuel efficient of the Hemi build I've ever done. I mean, that thing gets probably 15, 17. Really? Yeah. With that much metal? And I drive it like an ass. I mean, I'm, I'm flogging that thing. Granted, I'm on my third transmission, but. Oh really? Yeah. To the first two remote part trainees, which fellow builders avoid them. They suck. If you add even like five horsepower beyond the stock motor app, they completely shut themselves. So the third time I'm like, that's it. I'm done. Pull the band aid off. Throw that thing away and put a good old GM four L A five E in there. So this thing has how many miles on it now? I got about 38, 39,000 miles on it. Wow. I love the split windshield too. Yeah. Yeah. It's such a fun, fun, fun ride. But you know, we going all the way back to the beginning of icon, even further back to the beginning of the first brand TLC, they all started with personal cars. Like the icon idea was just another dumb idea that was rattling in my head. It was literally keeping me up at night and it got to the point that I need. And this happens to me often, like, you know, when I did my watch and then all the different products that I've designed. Generally, I'll start with something that gets to the point that I'll lose my remaining sanity if I don't actually create it. So I had the concept for icon. I could see it clearly in my head. I had like a full on 3D detailed model in my head. And like my version of jumping over sheeps at night in bed was like sitting there and zooming in on an element and changing that radius and scaling this and trying that. And it literally got to the point I told my wife, I'm like, I got to build it. I just got to build it. Well, your company, it's sort of it's symbiotic with social media in a sense, particularly YouTube, because so many people on YouTube are interested in unique builds and interesting companies that are doing cool things like Revology. But your company in particular, it's so perfect because you do all those videos and you drive around the cars with this incredible detail. And that's one of the first things that got me very attracted to your company was the fact like I go, look at this motherfucker. He's so balls deep into this shit. You're so into this. And if I'm not, I won't take the job. It's so easy to say now, you know, it's so contagious, though, when someone's like really into something, particularly design and production. And I totally agree. And like, if you're not totally into it and you're not balls deep into it, then pull out and zip up and go home. Shut up. Like, you know, do something else is if you're not passionate about it, you suck at it.