This is not one of the more sexy vehicles to appear here at The Lego Car Blog. It is, as any European reader will know, a humble Volvo refuse truck. But it one of the most well thought-out Technic creations to appear here in a very long time.

There are no remote control components, no motors, and no pneumatics, but this model has mechanical functionality by the wheelie bin load. Built by previous bloggee Thirdwigg the little Volvo features a mechanical bin lift, compacter, extraction plate, hopper, piston engine, steering, tilting cab and opening hopper. It’s just the sort of model that we wish LEGO would add to the Technic range themselves, and there’s lots more to see on Flickr and Eurobricks at the links.