Category Archives: Lego

Smoking Silhouette

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Lancia’s magnificent mid-engined Stratos is one of World Rallying’s most famous cars, winning the Championship three years in a row from 1974 to ’76.

But less well known is that the Stratos lived beyond its World Rally Championship success, becoming a turbocharged silhouette circuit racer in the wild late-’70s Group 5 ‘Special Production Car’ era.

Only the hood, roof, and doors had to remain production spec, leading to some pretty loose interpretations of ‘Production Car’, with Lancia’s Group 5 entry no different.

Created by Alan Guerzoni, this homage to the Group 5 Stratos Turbo captures its bizarre aesthetic brilliantly, with custom decals (including obligatory ’70s cigarette marketing) and 3D-printed wheels adding to the accuracy. Head to a circuit c1976 and hold on tight.

Fare Dodging

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Fare dodging is the preserve of the terminally shifty. But not today, because Flickr’s mahjqa (a TLCB Master MOCer no less) is the creator of this excellent steam locomotive, and has released building instructions for free! A motor and battery box are hidden inside to bring this locomotive to life, with more to see at mahjqa’s photostream and via the video below. Plus you can dodge the fare to recreate it for yourself by clicking here.

YouTube Video

Short & Ugly

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Short, ugly, slow, and looks older than it is. No no, not this TLCB Writer (and he’s offended you thought so), but this neat render of the UAZ-469, a Soviet-era off-road vehicle that is still in production today. Flickr’s Thinh Thi is the creator of both these soft-topped military and civilian versions, which cunningly include four opening doors, and you can check them out via the link.

Plymouth Patrol

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It’s the late ’70s, and Ford’s Crown Victoria is still a decade-and-a-half away from police ubiquity. Which means a variety of barge-like metal is plying America’s highways wearing a star on the side. This is one such patrol car, the Plymouth Fury (a great automotive name), as recreated wonderfully by Sseven Bricks. Click the link to Protect and Serve circa-’78.

F___ Bros

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The Ferrari F40 is probably the finest Ferrari ever made. And therefore it’s possibly the finest automobile ever made too. The F50… isn’t. Still, they’ve both been built by Flickr’s RGB900 and you can see more of one the all time greats, and the F50, via the link above.

The Car You Always Promised Yourself

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Is there anything cooler than a bright yellow Mark 1 Ford Capri? No, of course not, and previous bloggee Versteinert had the coolest dad ever, because this is a replica of the exact car owned by his father in the ’70s.

Ford’s European coupe was offered in a bewildering array of trims and engine sizes, with Versteinert’s dad choosing a mid-range engine married to high specification, with his being 2000 GXL.

Capturing his father’s car in wonderful detail, Versteinert’s beautifully presented 7-wide model is packed with ingenious building techniques, and you can see it close up at his ‘Ford Capri’ album via the link.

And what of the Capri itself? Well after decades of hiatus, Ford have brought the Capri back as… an electric crossover. Because of course they have. It might be available in yellow, but we’ll take Versteinert’s dad’s Mark 1 2000 GXL any day.

Celebrating Humdrum

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We love mediocrity here at The Lego Car Blog. Which is probably because we are ourselves deeply, completely, terminally, mediocre. And what’s more mediocre, automotively speaking, than a ’90s Toyota Starlet with try-too-hard pin-striping? It’s TLCB of cars. Only it’s well made and reliable.

This glorious example of Toyota’s mundane ’90s subcompact hatchback comes from Ilyabuilder724, and can fit two figures, includes an opening hood, and is fitted with try-too-hard pin-striping. Plus building instructions are available so you can build mediocrity at home. Take a look at all the imagery via the link above.

Fish Face

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This TLCB Writer never particularly liked the McLaren Mercedes SLR. It looked like some kind of sad deep-sea fish. But no matter, because if you do like Mercedes-Benz’s mid-’00s collaboration with their then Formula 1 partner McLaren, previous bloggee Fabrice Larcheveque has recreated it brilliantly (sad fish face included) in 8-wide Speed Champions form, and with building instructions too. Find all the imagery and that link to instructions at Fabrice’s ‘McLaren Mercedes SLR’ album above.

Mind Your Manners

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This superbly-liveried rhubarb-and-custard DAF XG was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr, and comes from regular bloggee Ralph Savelsberg (aka Mad Physicist), who has recreated one of the real trucks used British agricultural haulage firm ‘Manners’. Only mini-figure scale, Ralph’s DAF packs in detail that belies its small size, which is further enhanced by some lovely replica decals. There’s more to see at Ralph’s ‘DAF XG’ Flickr album and you can mind his manners via the link above.

It’s the East German Rozzers!

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The Trabant 601 may not have seemed a formidable police car, but seeing as most of the East German population would have had, at best, their own Trabant 601, and more likely a crappy motorcycle or a pushbike, it was probably a sufficient deterrent.

Perhaps less so by the early ’90s though, when – after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany – East German criminals suddenly had access to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

This example comes from _Tiler, who’s been sitting on some official LEGO ‘Polizei’ stickers for a decade just for this moment. Join him keeping the streets of East Germany safe via the link above.

Blue Yonder

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This time of year it seems every advert is for a holiday. Even the ones here at The Lego Car Blog have switched to promoting trips to sunnier climes.

Which is sadly of no relevance to this TLCB Writer, what with this gig paying the square root of nothing.

However he can at least imagine a trip to somewhere less cold thanks to previous bloggee BigPlanes and his spectacular Airbus A220 in JetBlue livery.

Recreating the airliner in incredible detail, BigPlanes’ creation includes working landing gear, a fully fitted interior, and a passenger list of mini-figures luckier than this writer.

There’s loads more of this amazing Airbus to see at BigPlanes’ ‘JetBlue Airbus A220’ album, and you can join us wishing we were on it via the link above.

Cyberbike

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2025 sounds futuristic doesn’t it? It probably won’t be of course, besides being one step closer to the AI or climate apocalypse, but here’s a futuristic bike nonetheless! Build by Horcik Designs, there’s more to see of this ‘Cyberbike-A’ on Flickr, and you can ride into the future via the link above.

Camp Beige

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The holiday season is near its end, and thus we’re already thinking about the next time we can escape this crumbling ruin of an office filled and the mythical creatures within it (the Elves, not TLCB staff).

Cue recent bloggee Nick Kleinfelder‘s recreation of his own 1980s Volkswagen T3 Westfalia, complete with a boot-rack, a pop-top, and a delightful beige hue that could have been marketed as ‘Infant’s Nappy’.

There’s more of the model to see at Nick’s photostream, and you can holiday in an ’80s VW via the link above.

The Whole City’s On Fire ‘Cause of What You Did

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“I know…. Isn’t in beautiful?”

Some men just want to watch the world burn. Previous bloggee _Tiler has one of them in the back of his Gotham City police car. We’re not sure he’ll be there for long…

Pavement or Dirt

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Motorcycles tend to do one well, and the other horribly. Which is why if you want to ride both surfaces you should have two. Nick Kleinfelder‘s friend’s father done just that, owning a Suzuki RMZ 250 and a Yamaha XV 750 Virago, both of which Nick has recreated for him as a Christmas gift. Clever parts usage and a some immensely fiddly looking connections make these bikes some of the most realistic at this scale we’ve seen yet, and you can hit the pavement or the dirt via the link above.