Monthly Archives: February 2018

Lean on Me

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Lego RC Trike

Weird electric city vehicles seem to pop up all the time in concept form tasked with easing urban congestion and cutting pollution. And then no-one ever builds one because, frankly, consumers would rather sit traffic breathing polluted air in a giant SUV.

Still, one day maybe these things will take off, but until then we’ll make do with previous bloggee Nico71‘s BuWizz-powered leaning tricycle. Similar to Toyota’s limited production i-Road concept, or those weird three-wheeled Piaggio scooter thingies, Nico’s concept can actively lean into corners to keep it stable, and with up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own Power Functions system from the BuWizz bluetooth brick, it probably needs that function.

It’s not our usual fodder here at The Lego Car Blog, but it’s a rather cleverly engineered build and one that we’ll probably all be driving in real life at some point. See more on Brickshelf via the link above.

Lego RC Trike

The Clerk

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Lego Ford Anglia

Ford’s humble Anglia has enjoyed something of a resurgence thanks to Harry Potter, but it was a neat classic car before J.K Rowling included it her books. Before that of course it was a rather neat modern car, with some pretty distinctive styling for the time. Whilst not a Jaguar, a Singer or a Humber, the little Ford was still a respectable middle-manager-y sort of car, driven by clerks, accountants and bank manager-types throughout the 1960s.

This lovely 5-wide mini-figure scale version of Ford’s popular European sedan comes from regular bloggee _Tyler of Flickr and it’s both built and photographed beautifully. There’s more to see at _Tyler’s photostream – click the link above to make the jump.

Grab an Elf

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Lego Technic John Deere 648L Skidder

It’s a tough life being a The Lego Car Blog Elf. You spend all day dodging dogs and seagulls in the hope of finding a Lego creation worth blogging so that you’ll get fed, and then whilst you’re asleep in the cage room one of your colleagues drives in a remote control tractor with a giant mechanical claw on the back, picks you up and dunks you in the toilet.

Still, they bring it upon themselves. The vehicle responsible is this rather impressive fully remote controlled Technic John Deere 648L by Brickshelf’s pipasseyoyo, complete with twin L motor drive, articulated steering via two mini linear actuators, a remotely raising/lowering front mounted blade, raising, rotating and opening claw, and an inline-6 piston engine.

It’s a lovely bit of kit and there’s more to see of pipasseyoyo’s build via Brickshelf, where there is also a link to a video of the model in action. Click the link above to take a look.

Lego Technic John Deere 648L Skidder

Plenty More Fish

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Lego Jeep CJ

It’s Valentines Day here at The Lego Car Blog, and what better way to commemorate it than with an illegal fishing trip! The park ranger doesn’t look particularly impressed with this chap’s fishing success, but there are plenty more fish in the sea! See Laura, this writer has like, totally moved on. And he was just about to call it off anyway, so you did him a favour really. Anyway, there are plenty more fish and you can go fishing too thanks to Pixel Fox and this brilliant mini-figure scale Jeep CJ-7. See more on Flickr at the link.

Dumped!

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Lego Bucyrus RH400 Mining Shovel

It’s Valentines Day here at The Lego Car Blog, and what better way to celebrate it than with a post about an epic dumping! This TLCB writer is totally fine about it though, and he’s not even thinking about you Laura.

Anyway, this is a Bucyrus RH400 mining shovel, one of the largest mining excavators in the world, and it’s capable of dumping 45m³ of rock, up to 75 tons, in a single bucket.

Built by previous bloggee Sheo this 1:48 Model Team recreation of the Bucyrus RH400 is an near perfect miniaturisation of the 900 ton excavator, right down to the way it operates.

LEGO’s Power Functions motors drive everything including the two-stage boom and tipping bucket, the tracked propulsion, superstructure rotation, folding service ladder, rotating cooling fans, and a gearbox to switch between these remotely operated functions.

There’s a whole lot more to see of Sheo’s Bucyrus excavator at Eurobricks and Flickr – click the links and join this writer in completely forgetting about Laura.

Lego Bucyrus RH400 Mining Shovel

Back of the Bus

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Lego Technic RC School Bus

It’s Valentines Day here at The Lego Car Blog Towers, but with only the Elves bringing us anything we may as well get straight down to some tenuously-linked Lego models!

This is ArsMan064‘s Technic school bus, which on the face of it has nothing to do with the day of love whatsoever, but the humble school bus has probably had more teenage bodily fluids secreted into it than any other vehicle. Gross.

It’s powered by a Medium Motor with a Servo for steering, and another Medium motor opens the cabin door electrically. There’s nifty leaf-sprung suspension and LED lights too. Relive your high-school conquests/regrets via Eurobricks at the link above.

Lego Technic RC School Bus

Policing District 18

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Lego Police Speeder

The District 18 Speeder Competition run by the Lego Speeder Bikes group is gathering pace. This entry is the work of Pico van Grootveld and it’s been build for the ‘Enforce’ category of the contest, featuring a rather smug looking cop aboard an incredibly speedy-looking, er… speeder. There are three other categories to choose from and prizes up for grabs too. Take a look at Pico’s submission via the link above and you can see the other entries and submit a model yourself by visiting the Lego Speeder Bikes group.

Debonair Doppelgänger

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Lego 1957 Hartford Classic Car

This beautiful machine is a 1957 Hartford Debonair coupe, powered by a small block V8 and built to rival cars such as the Buick LaSabre.

Except that the Hartford Debonair doesn’t (and never did) exist, being a figment purely of Senator Chinchilla‘s imagination. But what an imagination! It sure beats yet another 270mph V-a-million-engined monstrosity that much of the online Lego community churns out with tiresome regularity.

There’s much more to see of Senator Chinchilla’s gorgeous creation at his photostream. Click the link above to take a look, and if you’re thinking of concocting a car, this is the way to do it!

Lego 1957 Hartford Classic Car

Kiss My RS

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Lego Technic Ford Focus RS

Ford’s current 345bhp all-wheel-drive Focus RS has gained worldwide recognition for being, well… mental. Now sold in the U.S, Ford are showing their traditional customer base that you don’t need five litres and eight cylinders to make a performance car.

However the RS has actually existed in all three generations of Focus, with the previous version being fitted with a glorious five-cylinder turbo engine from Volvo, then under Ford’s ownership, making 300bhp.

If that wasn’t enough power you could get your hands on one of just five-hundred RS500 versions, which upped boost to unleash a monstrous 345bhp (the same as the current car), but with all of that going through only the front wheels. Wet roundabouts must have been fun…

This spectacular Technic replica of Ford’s second generation Focus RS500 comes from previous bloggee Dugald Cameron and it’s absolutely packed with working functions. A five-cylinder inline engine sits under the hood linked to a six-speed gearbox, all wheels are independently suspended, and the car can be steered both by the steering wheel, which is also adjustable, and via a ‘Hand-of-God’ mechanism. A pneumatic e-brake is also fitted, the seats are fully adjustable, and the doors, hood and hatchback all open.

A huge gallery of images is available to view via Dugald’s Focus RS500 Flickr album and you can read more about the build and watch a video of the Focus RS’s features at the Eurobricks discussion forum.

Lego Technic Ford Focus RS

Piazza Italia

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Lego Vespa & Fiat 500

This might be the most Italian thing we’ve ever seen. This beautiful scene complete with two of Italy’s most iconic vehicles, the Vespa scooter and the Fiat 500, comes from the very Italian-sounding Gabriele Zannotti and the, er… Greek-sounding Zeto Vince. Whatever, this could only be more Italian with the addition of a pretty girl, and there’s more to see of this excellent collaboration at Gabriele Zannotti’s photostream – click here to take a look.

Bang, Zoom, Straight to the Moon!

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Lego Retro Rocket

Entitled ‘1950s Rocket Ship’ this gloriously retro rocket by Flickr’s Jason Hlavenka looks exactly nothing like the early days of space travel. However it does look absolutely wonderful and thus we’ve stolen it from The Brothers Brick. They don’t know our identities so we’re safe. Plus they’re nerds so we’re doubly safe. Anyway there’s more to see of Jason’s brilliant rocket, which includes some genuinely ingenious building techniques, on Flickr. Click the link above to blast off.

’80s Dub Club

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Lego Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark 1

’80s cars are funny things. Worthless since about 1995, and without either the classic looks found before the ’70s or the rust-proofing of modern cars, they occupy of sort of automotive no-mans-land. This means that of probably any era of motoring, ’80s cars are the most endangered. If you think a McLaren F1 is rare try finding a Talbot Tagora. In our home nation there is just one example of his humble saloon left taxed on the roads. One.

Lego Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark 1

Thankfully there are a few more Mark 1 Golf GTIs left, but even these went through a near extinction phase. Fortunately Volkswagen’s original hot hatch is now rather sought-after and with so many scrapped in the 1990s and 2000s the surviving examples are rocketing in value, safeguarding the model’s existence. This lovely Model Team example of the an early ’80s Mark 1 GTI comes from Joe Perez (previously Mortal Swordsman) of Flickr, and it reminds us of why the original is such a well-regarded car.

Lego Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark 1

Beautifully clean lines (penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro), lightweight, and with just enough power to have fun, the original Golf GTI is the perfect antidote to today’s heavy, over-styled and ludicrously powerful yet un-involving hot hatches. Joe’s Model Team replica of the definitive ’80s hot hatch captures the iconic look brilliantly and we think it would make a rather good official set (LEGO have a license agreement with Volkswagen after all). There’s more to see of Joe’s 1980s Volkswagen Golf GTI at his photostream – click the link above and badger him to put it on LEGO Ideas.

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots

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Lego RC Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots

Regular readers of this little corner of the internet will know that our mythical Elven workforce is often spectacularly violent. Frankly we wouldn’t put up with them if it weren’t for the fact that TLCB Elves can sneak into places that we can’t, we only have to pay them in meal tokens and Smarties, and – if we’re honest – we have a strong aversion to manual labour. It’s better if we send the Elves out and sit in a nice comfy chair…

Anyhoo, this Elven love of violence is rarely matched in the creations they bring back (although they often find a way), but today one of our smelly little workers discovered a pair of creations that’s almost as violent as they are.

This wonderful pair of remote control Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em style Technic robots is the work of R. Skittle of Flickr, and not only can his creations remotely drive around, they can really punch one another too! Both arms have a remotely controlled action that aims to dislodge their opponents’ head, so you can ‘knock his block off’.

We like this idea very much and thus we’re going to conduct some ‘research’ with a couple of ‘volunteer’ Elves. Whilst we see who’s the better boxer, Elf or Robot, you can see more of R. Skittles’ robots on Flickr via the link above, where you can also find a link to Lego Ideas so you can vote for the concept to become an official LEGO set. Still not convinced? Take a look at the video below!

YouTube Video

Group of the ‘Month’ – Lego Speeder Bikes

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Lego Speeder Bikes

Yes we know, the ‘month’ bit of this post’s title is ridiculous. We can’t even remember the last time we did one of these and we really don’t fancy stepping into the dark and foreboding Archives Hall to find out. There’s a long-lost band of Elves in there who have turned quite ferrel.

Anyway, today we are featuring a group from the online Lego Community because it’s a rather cool one. Flickr’s Lego Speeder Bikes (LSB) have been showcasing small sci-fi builds since 2009 and now number over 1,000 members. They’re currently running neat contest too, inviting you to design and build a speeder bike for the fictitious ‘District 18’, with four categories to choose from.

Prizes include the very cool-looking Dredd-inspired ‘Vice Hoverbike’ from _zenn above, as well as some official LEGO sets too. The closing date for entries is March 4th, and if you’ve never thought about entering a Lego competition before this could the perfect way to start – as piece count comes very much second to creativity.

Take a look at the Lego Speeder Bikes group on Flickr by clicking here, where you can also find all the details of the District 18 competition, and we may return at the end of the contest with a round-up of the best entries.

Lego Speeder Bikes

Febrovery Silliness

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Lego Febrovery Squirrel NUTS

The annual sci-fi bandwagon that is Febrovery is upon us! Our Elves have found two Febrovery entries to share today, the first of which appears to be staffed by highly intelligent squirrels.

Flickr’s Miro Dudas explains that the Neptunian Utility Transport Services (N.U.T.S.) have got themselves a new crawler to support their appetite for oversized acorns (which grow upon and must be harvested from the Neptunian moon of Triton). A team of four hardworking Squirelites named Sandy, Andy, Mandy and Randy operate the crawler and the supporting harvesting machinery collecting the acorns which are blown far and wide due to the strong Neptunian winds. A risky business, the team of four Squirelites were apparently last seen a year ago… Right, stop that! It’s silly. Now let’s see something decent, and military. 

Andreas Lenander‘s classic space rover may not be military exactly, but it does make fantastic use of LEGO’s otherwise pointless X-Pod piece, and there are no squirrels to be seen anywhere. Unless they’re in that box. A fearless classic spacewomen is ready to load the cargo into the back of the rover which is sure to make it home thanks to those nifty brick-built tracks. See more of the X-Rover and a box that may or may not be filled with four long-dead squirrels at Andreas’ photostream via the link above.

Lego Febrovery Classic Space