Author Archives: thelegocarblogger

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Lego Technic Volvo EC950EL Excavator Remote Control

This TLCB writer was peacefully working today when one of the more unusual sounds to penetrate the office came floating through the door. A cascading metallic rush followed by screaming, it sounded like a tin of thumbtacks being emptied over a TLCB Elf. Sigh. Still, no Elf is strong enough to upend a full tin of thumbtacks over one of its colleagues, so it couldn’t be that.

Oh yes it could. Thanks to previous bloggee ShineYu‘s remarkable fully remote controlled Volvo EC950EL excavator, a multitude of thumbtacks had indeed rained down on one of our Elves.

Lego Technic Volvo EC950EL Excavator RC

Much too slow to run down any of its colleagues, the Elf at the controls of ShineYu’s Volvo had deployed some trickery to allow it to cause maximum carnage. This involved loading a tin of thumbtacks into the excavator’s bucket, using the four Power Functions L motors that control the arm to raise it high above the floor, and then lying in wait for a curious Elf to walk underneath it.

Carnage achieved it then ran off cackling delightedly, leaving us to pick up tacks, and to pull a few out of a very sorry looking Elf. Whilst we do that you can check out more of ShineYu’s huge Volvo EC950EL at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where you can also watch a video of the four excavator arm motors in action, as well as the two XL motors that power the tracks and a third that rotates the superstructure. Click the link above if you dig it.

Lego Technic Volvo EC950EL Excavator RC

Perfect 10

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Lego Town Cars

Awarded a meal-token for every find, one of our Elves is about to get very fat. These ten brilliant Town-scale off-road vehicles are the work of just one builder. Pixel Fox owns the mind (and hands) behind them, and he’s done a simply stupendous job of recreating some of the world’s best known off-roaders in mini-figure scale, as well as building a delightful scene for each one to reside within.

Above, clockwise from top left, are a film-set Hummer H1, South African Volkswagen Syncro, beach-bound Jeep Wrangler TJ and a forestry Mercedes-Benz Unimog 406.

Lego Town Cars

Next are two of the world’s most prolific 4x4s, the iconic Land Cruiser J70 (left) complete with an adorable brick-built rhino, and the legendary Land Rover Defender 90 (right).

Lego Town Cars

The final set of instantly recognisable off-road vehicles is made up of a Mercedes G-Wagon, tragically pictured  on red-carpet duty, a superb Range Rover Series 1 going hunting, a lifted Jeep Cherokee XJ, and a Dakar-spec BMW X5.

Each creation is wonderful in its own right, and you can see more of all ten mini-figure builds at Pixel Fox’s Flickr album by clicking here, whilst we begin feeding a very deserving TLCB Elf!

Volkswagen Golf GTI | Picture Special

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Lego Technic Volkswagen Golf GTI RC

The Volkswagen Golf GTI is one of the all-time great hot hatchbacks. Now in it’s seventh generation there have been roughly five good Golf GTIs, and three really good ones. This is one of the really good ones…

Launched in 1976, two years after the Golf first went on sale, the GTI was the product of a few VW engineers having some fun. In a very German way of course, as having some fun meant staying on late at work.

Still, the product of their inventiveness helped to re-write the rules of quick cars. Powered by a fuel-injected 1.6, and then 1.8 litre engine, the Mark 1 Golf GTI was quicker than the contemporary sports cars of the time, it could fit four people in it, and it didn’t leak when it rained.

Lego Technic Volkswagen Golf GTI RC

Now a seriously sought after car, there sadly aren’t many Mark 1 Golf GTIs left, but if you’d like one Damian Plesniak may have the answer.

Featuring a transversely-mounted 4-cylinder engine, accurate McPherson front and twist-beam rear suspension, opening doors, hood, and hatchback with parcel shelf, a detailed interior with a working steering wheel, adjustable seats, and opening glovebox, plus full remote control drive and LED lights, Damian’s Technic Golf GTI is very nearly as well engineered as the real thing.

There are loads more images to see at Damian’s Flickr and Brickshelf albums, and you can read more about the build, as well as watch a video of the Golf GTI in action, at the Eurobricks discussion forum.

Lego Technic Volkswagen Golf GTI RC

Soviet Sci-Fi

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Lego Soviet Spaceship

Damn those Elves! They know we’re useless at sci-fi. Sigh, OK, here goes…

This is, apparently, a Molniya – I, an EMP Starfighter used by the Russian Space Corps, capable of… er, frankly, we have no idea. But what we do know is that the building techniques used to create it are absolutely terrific. The unique design comes from the mind of Flickr’s Legohaulic and you can see more, as well as read details of what this ship is actually for, at his photostream.

Click the link above to jump to hyperspace (or something), and we’ll return with a shedload of actual proper cars shortly. We promise.

Lego Soviet Spaceship

And Now For Something Completely Different…

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Lego Retro Spaceship

And now for something completely different. We have no idea. None. Probably best just to head over to the photostream of Redfern1950s to figure it out.

Thrifty Tuesday

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Lego BMW Isetta

After the extravagance of yesterday‘s posts it’s time for a vehicle more befitting of this site’s status. Small, slow, and a little bit rubbish, the BMW Isetta ‘bubble car’ was the product of a continent in ruins after World War 2. Metal was in short supply, it could be driven on a motorcycle license, and taxing it was cheap. So was the car of course, mostly because it wasn’t really a car at all.

As is often the way with weird classic cars, the BMW Isetta is now quite sought after, despite being about as cool as a G-Wiz in the ’50s. Maybe the G-Wiz will be cool in 60 years? Stranger things have happened.

This neat recreation of the ’50s German oddity comes from Flickr’s OutBricks, and you can see more by clicking here.

Money Monday Bonus

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Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron Aston Martin Vantage GT3

It wouldn’t be a money themed day without the investment banker’s favourite word; Bonus! So we’ve got a bonus for you in the form of an extra post showing both of today’s builds side-by-side. This is fitting because those ordering a new Bugatti Chiron already own on average over fifty cars each, so it’s highly likely they’ll have an Aston Martin too. Or seven.

These shots have been made possible by the fact the the builders of the Chiron and Vantage GT3 are brothers, uploading their creations within a few hours of each other. You can read more about each build by clicking here for the Bugatti Chiron and here for the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, plus you can see more the models together by visiting Lachlan’s Cameron’s Flickr photostream, and we’ll see you tomorrow for something much more humble!

Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron Aston Martin Vantage GT3

More Money Monday

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Lego Technic Aston Martin Vantage GT3

The money theme continues today with this, newcomer Dugald Cameron’s incredible Aston Martin Vantage GT3 racer. Constructed from many of the parts in LEGO’s 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 set (and putting them to considerably better use), Dugald’s GT3 is a seriously beautiful build. Plus it’s orange, and we like orange.

Underneath that retina-searing bodywork is a full remote control drivetrain, with two XL Motors powering the wheels, a Servo controlling the steering (and linked the steering wheel), plus a Medium Motor driving the sequential transmission. A V12 piston engine sits up front, whilst a mechanically adjustable rear wing is mounted at the back, and the cockpit in-between features a fully adjustable driving position with a tilting steering wheel, pedals with feedback, and a sliding racing seat.

Lego Technic Aston Martin Vantage GT3

The suspension on all four corners is fully independent, with torsion and sway bars, plus a trick air-jack system powered by an on-board compressors is fitted to allow for quick pit stops.

The complete model is one of the most impressive we’ve seen this year, and the entire build process has been catalogued on both Eurobricks and Flickr, showing both the steps taken to create the Vantage GT3 and the brilliant engineering within it.

You can see the full gallery of images at the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Flickr album, and you can read about the build process by flicking through the Eurobricks discussion that charted it by clicking here.

Lego Technic Aston Martin Vantage GT3

Money Monday

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Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron RC

The Lego Car Blog is not a money-focussed organisation. We only allow limited advertising, the proceeds of which you can read about here, and the staff all work for nowt (human), or Smarties (elf). However, we are still amongst the richest people on earth, thanks entirely to the place of our birth. And if you’re reading this, you probably are too.

But there’s rich, and then there’s rich! Today’s car certainly belongs to the latter. Costing $2,700,000 in base specification, the Chiron is the world’s fastest (when tested) and most powerful production car, expected to hit around 285mph when de-limited.

We’ll have to wait to see what top speed the Chiron achieves once testing is complete, as the car (and more importantly, the tyres) are in the realms of experimental physics, but even with the car’s main purpose – top speed – being an unknown statistic, it hasn’t stopped 200 Chiron orders being placed before anyone has driven it.

Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron RC

Like we said, there’s rich, then there’s rich! In fact the average Chiron customer already owns over fifty other cars. And a helicopter.

We’ll stick with this one then, built by previous bloggee Lachlan Cameron it’s the first Technic Supercar sized Bugatti Chiron we’ve seen, and it is absolutely spectacular. With Bugatti’s trademark W16 engine hooked up to an all-wheel-drive system, independent suspension, full remote control drive, steering and electronically deployable rear wing, LED lighting, and SBrick bluetooth control, Lachlan’s Chiron is one of the finest Technic Supercars of the year.

There’s a whole lot more to see of Lachlan’s Bugatti at his Flickr photostream or via Eurobricks, including WIP shots and images of the rolling-chassis mechanics. Click the links above to make the jump, and you can see the Chiron in action via the video below.

YouTube Video:

Pedal Power

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Lego Bicycle

We seem to have a self-propelled theme running today, despite this supposedly being a car blog. Although today’s posts are self-propelled we, er… haven’t been, seeing as we pinched this creation from The Brothers Brick who beat us to it. It’s the work of Melan-E of Flickr, it’s beautiful, and you can see it in full detail here. Normal car-based blogging will resume shortly…

Meet the Flintstones…

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Lego Flintstones Car

…They’re the modern stone age family.
From the town of Bedrock,
They’re a page right out of history.

Let’s ride with the family down the street.
Through the courtesy of Fred’s two feet.

When you’re with the Flintstones
Have a yabba dabba doo time.
A dabba doo time.
We’ll have a gay old time!

You can have a gay old time too, courtesy of hachiroku24 on Flickr. Click the link to make the jump.

Lotus 43 – BRM H16 | Picture Special

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Lego Lotus 43 BRM H16

Race car building legend Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) has been building his stunning historic racing cars for the best part of a decade. He’s recently uploaded another one of his glorious creations to Flickr (where we hope many more will follow), and thus we’re able to publish it here. It’s also one of the weirder racing cars in Luca’s garage, although it might not look remarkable at first glance.

Any classic racing fan will know of the incredible performances of the Lotus F1 team. Led by Colin Chapman, and powered by the legendary Cosworth DFV engine, the partnership delivered four Driver and five Constructor World Championship titles. However, before the DFV was ready Chapman needed an engine to put into his new 43 Formula 1 car for the 1966 season. He turned to previous Championship Winners BRM, and their unique P75 H16 engine.

Lego Lotus 43 BRM H16

Yup, H16. Basically two Flat-8 engines stacked on top of one another, yet only 3 litres in capacity. Unfortunately the unusual design was unusual for a reason – reliability. Or lack of it.

Heavy, extremely complicated, and constantly breaking, the BRM engine in Chapman’s Lotus 43 caused it to retire from every race bar one during the 1966 season. However, that one finish was a race win at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, showing that when it worked, the Lotus 43 was quick. Really Quick.

The following year in ’67 the new Cosworth DFV 3 litre V8 engine was ready, Ford added their sponsorship to it (in a stroke of marketing genius), and the year after that the DFV starting a Championship Winning streak that went unbroken for seven years.

Lego BRM H16 Engine

BRM’s mental P75 H16 engine was quickly forgotten, although the team continued to produce Formula 1 cars until the late 1970s, and Lotus forged on with a Cosworth partnership that was to become one of the most successful ever seen in the sport.

However, we think the Lotus 43 BRM H16 deserves a little recognition. It was a race winner after all, and for a brief moment two of Britain’s greatest F1 teams combined to produce something, well…  a little bit crap.

RoscoPC’s homage to that disastrous partnership pictured here was first built in 2010 and is now available to view in wonderful detail on Flickr. It features working steering, suspension, beautiful detailing, and – of course – a recreation of one of the maddest engines ever seen in Formula 1.

You can see all of the images of Luca’s incredible Lotus 43 build at his photostream via the link above, and if you’re curious to know what an H16 Formula 1 engine sounds like, click here…

Lego Lotus 43 BRM H16

Tampa Bay Ferrari Dealership – Picture Special

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Lego Ferrari Dealership

Constructed from around 36,000 pieces and 4 years in the making, this is one of the largest Lego projects that this site has ever featured. Ryan Link, a regular bloggee here at The Lego Car Blog, has been very busy.

Huge Lego Ferrari Dealership

Loosely based on the Tampa Bay Ferrari dealership, Ryan has designed and built a home for the eight Ferrari models that he has constructed over the past few years. Measuring 192×144 studs, Ryan’s enormous creation can easily house his collection, and features a wealth of incredible detailing, including brick-built wall mosaics depicting classic Ferrari models, beautiful Ferrari lettering, and even a couple of wonderfully intricate prancing horse logos too.

Lego Ferrari Dealership

The shot above shows just how good the aforementioned mosaics and logos look, which feature throughout the interior of the dealership including in the showroom, customer lounge and accessories area, and workshop, all of which are lit by a third-party LED system integrated into the roof of the build.

Lego Ferrari Models

The stars of Ryan’s incredible build are of course the Ferrari models which it was built to house, and they include a 458 Italia, Enzo, LaFerrari, 599 GTB, Testarossa, F12 Berlinetta, and even a fully liveried Ferrari team truck, all of which have been published here.

Lego Ferrari Models

There’s a whole lot more of this spectacular creation to see at Ryan Link’s photostream and we cannot recommend clicking this link enough. LEGO, Ferrari… if ever you visit this little corner of the internet; invite Ryan out for a chat – we think the officially licensed Ferrari range of LEGO sets could so with a bit of expansion…

Autobots, Roll Out!

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Lego Transformers Autobots

It’s been a while since we let the Elves watch a Transformers movie. This is partly because they’ve not found much in the way of Transformers-related builds, but mostly because after the abomination of ‘Transformers 4 – Age of Extinction’ we just couldn’t stomach any more Michael Bay directed nonsense.

Today though, we’ve relented, because one of their number returned with this cache of superb fully Transformable Autobots courtesy of Alex Jones aka Orion Pax.

Each creation is an ingenious work of art, and you can now build them for yourself, as Alex has released a new book containing step-by-step building instructions! There’s more to see via the link above, where you can also find a link to Amazon where Alex’s book is available to buy.

The Killer Years

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Lego Ferrari 126C F1 Car Villeneuve

Formula 1 is – whilst not without its risks – relatively safe today. For almost all of the sport’s history however, it was a insanely dangerous place to be. Even as late as the 1980s Formula 1 drivers (and others involved in F1 trackside) were dying on a regular basis. This car belongs to one such driver, the hugely popular Gilles Villeneuve, who was tragically killed at Zolder in Belgium after just 5 years in the sport.

Gilles joined Formula 1 after winning the Formula Atlantic championship in both the US and Canada in 1976, debuting with McLaren in ’77 before World Champions Ferrari took him on for the ’78 season. In May of 1982 Gilles collided with the back of Jochen Mass’ car during qualifying, with Mass on a slow lap and Gilles on a fast one. Both drivers saw each other at the last moment, both took evasive action, and both moved to the right…

The Ferrari disintegrated, and Gilles, still strapped into his seat, exited the car and hit the catch fencing, fatally breaking his neck. Formula 1 had lost one of it’s most loved drivers.

Lego Ferrari 126C2

Gilles is now remembered at his home track in Canada, renamed in his honour, and both at Zolder in Belgium and San Marino in Italy, each with a corner named after him. Yesterday marks 35 years since Gilles’ death, and race car building legend Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC has paid tribute by uploading his incredible recreation of Gilles’ 1982 Ferrari 126C2 Formula 1 car to Flickr, 5 years after he first designed it.

Luca’s model is one of the most spectacular Lego recreations of a classic Formula 1 car that you will ever see, and its beauty lies as much within as it does on the surface, with working suspension complete with anti-roll bars, a 6-cylinder engine and full remote control drive and steering.

There’s more to see of Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari 126C2 at Luca’s Flickr gallery – click here to make the trip.

Lego Ferrari 126C F1 Car Villeneuve