Category Archives: Lego

Did You Drive Your Car Tonight Mr. Belfort?

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It’s the late-’80s, and the Lamborghini’s wild V12-engined Countach is some fifteen years old. Marcello Gandini’s superbly clean lines have been hidden beneath a mountain of plastic, the engine is up to 5.2 litres and equipped with four valves per cylinder, and – in the U.S – hideous mandatory low-speed impact bumpers have been glued on.

Precisely nothing has been done to make the car less terrible to drive over the last decade-and-a-half however, and thus the Countach remains very much not a car for the novice driver. Or one high on quaaludes trying to get home from the country club.

Cue perhaps the greatest movie scene of all time, and one Lamborghini Countach on which the low-speed impact bumpers weren’t quite enough.

Flickr’s ZetoVince is the owner of this fantastic Model Team replica, and there’s more to see of his wonderfully-presented creation at his photostream. Click the link above to try to make it the less-than-a-mile back home from the country club, without a scratch on yourself or the car…

Space Race

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It’s sometime in the next century, and Formula 1 is still the world’s foremost race series in the hands of Liberty Media. There are now 43 races each season (not counting the sprints), with half of those taking place in the skies above America!

Nineteen of the world’s best pilots (plus Lance Stroll, who’s still looking for his first win) are competing to become World Champion, and previous bloggee David Roberts can exclusively showcase two of the machines that have been piloted to glory so far.

‘Orange 6‘ is one of the fastest atmo-and-space racers yet, being both highly manoeuvrable and fitted with an underside cannon able to spike viewing figures with remarkable effectiveness whenever Liberty need a little extra pizzaz.

It needs it too, what with ‘Green 21‘ being otherwise dominant in the hands of multiple-World Champion Max Velocity.

Will No.6 manage to blast past Max? Will Liberty Media find space to squeeze in another US Grand Prix? And will Stroll finally get that maiden win in return for his father’s billions? Click the links above to tune in!

8-Wide-8

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Remember when BMW’s were understated and classy? Well this was not one of those cars. But by today’s BMW standards it’s positively minimalist.

Launched in 1990, the E31 8-Series was a technical tour-de-force, featuring the world’s first drive-by-wire throttle and the first combination of a V12 engine with a manual gearbox. And BMW were going to go further still, with an even more powerful ‘M8’ version.

However it wasn’t to be, with a global recession and the Gulf War (thanks Saddam) killing the M8 before it could be released. That hasn’t stopped Flickr’s LegoSEB77 from imagining what could have been though, and you can check out his excellent 8-wide BMW ‘M8’ via the link above.

Pick It Up

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After some quiet days we’re picking up the pace of posting, with today’s second creation being this gorgeous 8-wide ’50s pick-up truck by TLCB regular 1saac W.

Taking inspiration from many classic trucks, 1saac’s creation packs in a plethora of clever building techniques with some inspired parts orientation. Whitewall tyres and chrome pin-striping adds to the period appeal, and there’s more to see at 1saac’s photostream. Click here to pick your way over.

We’re All Like, People of the World Man

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It was the Eurovision Song Contest last night, and if any non-European readers tuned in during the vote reveal, they may have thought they’d accidentally arrived at a 1970s Vietnam War opposition rally.

Almost every country’s host took the opportunity to remind us that the competition’s songs were not in fact banal Euro-pop as we thought, but the source of love and world peace. Urgh. It’s enough to make us want to start a fight.

It was more straightforward back in actual 1970s, when world peace was dispensed not by pseudo-intellectual television hosts, but by Volkswagen-van-driving-hippies with names like Waterfall and Crystal, via beads, tie-dye, and foreign narcotics.

Cue previous bloggee 1saac W., whose Volkswagen T2 bus is so peaceful it has itself been tie-dyed. A kaleidoscope of coloured plates, afforded by LEGO’s ever expanding colour-pallet, make up the VW’s groovy exterior, and you can collect your beads and foreign narcotics from Waterfall and Crystal at 1saac’s photostream via the link above.

You’ll be contributing to world peace about as much as this does anyway…

Conscripts & Criminals

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Deaths from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now number several hundred thousand, with many times that number injured. The seemingly random shelling of schools, hospitals, and parks continues, with machines such as this one launching 110kg shells over twenty miles.

Built by Flickr’s Константин Тихомиров, this 2CZM Pion ‘Malka’ self-propelled cannon was introduced in 1975, when Russia and Ukraine formed the two largest republics within the Soviet Union, and stood together against the West.

The machines operated by each now fire upon one another, with this one wearing Russian insignia. This means it’s likely supporting a front-line of conscripts and convicts, disposable to Putin in his bid to return the ‘glory’ days of the Soviet Union.

You can see more of Константин’s creation via the link above. Please note that we’re publishing his creation despite holding views in opposition to his own, as if we were only able to hear the story as told by Russian state-owned media, we might share them also. Fortunately we’re rather freer, and thus – as we often do with creations relating to the Ukraine War – here are some extra links work clicking.

UNHCR  |   World Vision  |  Affaires Mondiales Canada

Landspeeding

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It was Stargate Day yesterday or something, and – what with TLCB always having a finger on the pulse of the social zeitgeist – here’s an appropriately spacey build in celebration of Captain Pickard’s adventures.

Built by Flickr’s Wynd, this alien-piloted retro-liveried Landspeeder is every bit as good as TLCB is bad at sci-fi, and you can boldly go to a galaxy far far away via the link above.

Smell the Glue

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Famed for its once-patented stud-and-tube clutch power, glue is not only not required when building with LEGO, using it is borderline sacrilege. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make something beautiful with a little glue, and Airfix, Tamiya and many others offer near-exact miniaturised replicas via a little cutting, glueing and painting.

Cue Flickr’s Joao Nunes and his Speed Champions 76906 homage to glue-based model making. Joao’s brick-built paint, parts mould, brushes and glue are so realistic we can almost smell the fumes, and you can join the finicky assembly of a Ferrari 512 at his photostream via the link above. Just make sure you don’t touch your parents’ upholstery until you’ve washed your hands.

One Word; Thundercougarfalconbird

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Flickr’s Tim Goddard can stop people questioning your sexual orientation with just one word. Buy your Thundercougarfalconbird via the link above.

Training Day

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We all wonder if we’re on the right track from time to time. But perhaps if we put the brakes on a little and slow down, the journey might become more important than the destination.

Even Lego building can be part of this societal boiler room. An endless train of perfectly constructed and beautifully presented creations rolls past our feeds, a procession in which The Lego Car Blog is of course part. The pressure to create something that gets clicks, likes, and positive critique is all too real, and the destination – that perfect Instagramable shot – can often eclipse the enjoyment to be had in creating it.

Railing against this orthodoxy, Linus Bohman has decided to switch it up. Whilst playing with his daughter and bucket of Duplo, he noticed her railway track pieces; large, curved, and seemingly designed for a single purpose. But what journey could they provide if they were used… differently?

With no destination in mind, Linus started working with his daughter’s Duplo tracks, seeing where they would take him. And where they took him was to one of the most original and inventive creations we’ve yet publicised.

LEGO’s vintage blue and grey railway tracks joined their larger Duplo brethren, creating a swooping almost organic neo-classic spacecraft unlike anything we’ve seen before. A single mini-figure pilot drives the ship from a cockpit hung within the centre, whilst a robot co-pilot hides under the opening cover behind.

We think you’ll agree that Linus’ reached a spectacular destination, but we suspect the journey was – for him – better still. If you share his train of thought you can see more of the ship that emerged from it by clicking here, and you can watch a fantastic philosophical brick-based video on its creation by clicking play below.

YouTube Video

Ginormous Interplanetary Spaceship

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After bemoaning that most Lego sci-fi builds are ginormous interplanetary spaceships designed for various important space-based assignments, here’s a ginormous interplanetary spaceship designed for an important space-based assignment.

This is an ‘Acclamator-Class Assault Ship’ from ‘Star Wars – Episode II; Attack of the Clones’, and it has been built (and presented) absolutely beautifully by TLCB newcomer FlyInSpace from over 5,100 pieces.

Weighing 3.2kg and 72cm in length, Fly’s brick-built behemoth features detachable landing gear, opening hangar doors, and deployable boarding ramps, and is constructed entirely ‘studs-not-on-top’ to accurately portray the immensely complex geometric shape of the ‘real’ thing, with incredible results.

If you fancy creating a 1:1000 scale ‘Acclamator’ for yourself, building instructions are available and you can find them, plus all of the stunning imagery, at FlyInSpace’s UCCS Acclamator album. Click the link above  to get Acclimated.

Future Containment

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Most Lego sci-fi builds are ginormous interplanetary spaceships designed for various important space-based assignments.

Which is all very well, but we suspect that – even when we’ve colonised other planets – 99% of both persons and vehicles will still be driving about on a paved surface. After all, mankind has been flying for a hundred years, but only a tiny fraction of us are in the air.

Thus it’s rather refreshing to see a sci-fi builder turn their hand to what will inevitably be the vast majority of future transport; the stuff that looks pretty much the same as it does now.

Cue Flickr’s Shuppiluliumas, here making their TLCB debut, and these two ace sci-fi trucks. Both are packed with details such as tilting cabs, posable steering, and brick-built drivetrains, and each design features just enough futurism to transport the viewer to a time ahead of our own. Plus one of them’s transporting a giant positron cannon, which helps.

There’s more of each truck to see at Shuppiluliumas’ photostream, and you can jump to future normality via the link above.

Hondari

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Inspired or sacrilege? Mike “Stanceworks” Burroughs’ Honda-powered Ferrari 308 is definitely not for the purist, but we’re firmly in the former camp, and think it’s spectacular.

Cue Stephan Jonsson’s fantastic 8-wide Speed Champions homage to Mike’s real-world build, complete with 3D-printed wheels and one of the most impressive brick-built liveries we’ve ever seen (see LEGO, you don’t need a hundred stickers).

There’s lots more of Stephan’s Ferrari ‘244 GTK’ to see on Flickr, and you can check out the real car that inspired it here.

Green Shells in the Garden

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The kiddie-based cuteness continues here at the Lego Car Blog. Recreating what their kids imagine when they’re riding on their toys outside, Cecilie Fritzvold‘s ‘Baby Mario Kart’ captures all the madness of Nintendo’s finest work, complete with shells, banana skins, item boxes, Lakitu’s cloud, and some very hungry plants. And with LEGO releasing their own officially-licensed Mario line, perhaps an official LEGO Mario Kart set is just a rainbow road away.

I’m Up in Space, Maaaaan!

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Finding time to build (or do anything) when you’re a new parent is tricky. Three years since he last uploaded a creation, Flickr’s Dvd has finally managed it, with the ‘help’ of his son, and in doing so allowed us to link to the greatest performance in Eurovision history. We might be biased. Anyway, TLCB’s blatant nationalism aside, even when it feels like trying you’re to reach the for moon, you can always build a rocket.