Toyota have been fiddling with their BMW-platformed A90 Supra, most notably by jumping power by around 10%, so it finally surpasses the old A80 version. SP_LINEUP has been fiddling with his A90 Supra too, and it looks even better in white than it did in blue. Instructions are available and you can find them and more of SP’s brilliant Speed Champions creations via the link above.
A film about a flaming motorcycle and little else, Ghost Rider is up there as one of the worst Nicholas Cage films in recent memory. And there are so many. Drive Angry, Outcast, Rage, Season of the Witch, Left Behind… they make us want to push his flaming motorcycle over in disgust at crimes against cinema. Fortunately that’s just what the contestants in the Lego Masters Australia TV show got to do with this incredible life-size motorbike by certified LEGO Professional Ryan McNaught and his team of builders.
Built from over 75,000 LEGO bricks, and with its hollow interior filled with loads more loose parts like some sort of brick-based piñata, the bike was smashed to provide pieces for an episode in the second season of the Australian version of the Lego Masters show entitled ‘Smash & Grab’. We suspect its destruction took a lot less than the 135 hours it took to build it, but that it made for great TV!
There’s more to see of Ryan’s life-size Lego motorbike on Flickr via the link above, and if you’re a German-speaking reader the Lego Masters show is looking for contestants for the German version right now! Click here to read about how to apply and maybe even score a TLCB Recommendation. For our non-German speaking readers (which will be most of you!), don’t worry – you can learn how to become a Lego professional via our aptly named ‘How to Become a Lego Professional’ series – click here to see how some of the bloggees here at TLCB have done it!
YouTube Video
It’s not often that TLCB Team are stunned by a model brought back by one of our smelly little workers. We are of course experienced professionals, experts in Lego creations, and with a wealth of building talent ourselves. Oh, sorry – that’s the Brothers Brick – we’re still as incompetent as ever, but nevertheless it takes a lot to genuinely excite us, so blasé have we become through years of blogging. Today however, we are all spectacularly impressed, thanks to All.About.Lego and his amazing Technic Lancia Fulvia HF rally car.
Built for the current Eurobricks small car contest, this incredible recreation of one of rallying’s all-time-greats not only looks absolutely wonderful (and superbly accurate, despite being the difficulty of being a Technic build), it features more working functionality than models five times its size. So much in fact, that this tiny Lancia really is a Technic ‘Supercar’.
A working V4 engine is driven by the front-wheels (yup, the fronts, as per the real Fulvia and we have no idea how All.About.Lego has managed it), whilst a rear-mounted gearbox (technically a two-speed transaxle) can be controlled via the cabin gearstick.
Working leaf-spring suspension and functioning steering feature too, completing the Technic ‘Supercar’ necessities, plus the model features opening doors, hood and trunk, as well as an accurate period livery complete with superbly replicated decals.
It’s a phenomenal build and one that will start a riot here in TLCB office if it doesn’t win the Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Head to Flickr or the Eurobricks forum to see more of All.About.Lego’s spellbinding creation and LEGO, make this a set please! We’ll buy eight.
We round off today’s creations with one of our very favourite vehicles ever, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. Created by TLCB Regular Simon Przpiorka (aka SP_LINEUP) this gorgeous 1:24 Lego replica of the legendary 4×4 evolves his previous tan version with the addition of a bright blue paint job, one of the FJ’s most iconic hues, and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link.
*Title song. Naturally.
The Elves have been working hard lately, and we have a bumper haul for you today. These are two of their finds, both ’90s Japanese sports cars, both roughly Speed Champions scale, and – most importantly – both with pop-up headlights.
SP_LINEUP‘s modified Nissan 240SX (above) and dazzz99‘s Honda NSX (below) capture the details of their real-life counterparts brilliantly, and remind us of a time when Japanese cars were at then top of their game.
Click the links above to head back to the ’90s.
Undercover detectives need an understated, invisible ride. Something that draws no attention, that can slip by unnoticed. A Dodge minivan for example. Or a Toyota Corolla. Not a bright red Ford Gran Torino with a giant white vector stripe down each side.
Still, maybe things were different in the ’70, and Starksy & Hutch’s wheels still seemed to nab them plenty of crooks. Cue Pasq67‘s 8-wide recreation of one of TV’s most famous vehicles, complete with Starsky & Hutch mini-figures and ‘magnetic’ pot-plant flashing beacon. Oh, and a giant white vector stripe down each side of course.
Head to Pasq’s Flickr album via the link above for all the imagery and click here for a nearly twenty-minute montage of the real Gran Torino in action!
Following the rather bleak post earlier today, here’s one featuring an early 1990s racing car painted bright green and sponsored by fizzy-pop, ‘cos we like to be balanced.
It’s a Jordan 191 from 1991, probably the ’90s second most famous Jordan (we won’t link to other one, but if you’re British you’ll know…). The 191 was a moderately successful mid-field runner, powered by a Ford V8, and scoring a few points throughout the season (when points were much harder to get remember, only being awarded to the top six).
This neat Lego replica of the other ’90s Jordan comes from Luciano Delorenzo of Flickr, who has captured the real car complete with fizzy-pop paint-job very well indeed. Head to Luciano’s photostream via the link above to see al the photos, or start Googling if you don’t know the other Jordan to which we’re referring…
The world is currently balanced on a pinhead, with the slightest nudge in any direction sending the global economy into the greatest depression since the, er… Great Depression.
Beginning in 1929 and lasting right up until Germany started getting a bit ‘handsy’ in Europe**, it was the most severe recession the world has ever known. Vehicle sales tumbled – particularly from luxury marques – but there were still cars sold during the period, like this marvellous Austin 12 Burnham.
Like the current trend for SUVs, late ’20s cars were boxy, with high ground clearance and imposing radiator grilles – although this was more for functionality than today’s pointless need for ‘assertive, confident, aggressive’ styling or whatever the marketing types label monstrosities like this as.
This excellent recreation of the Austin 12 comes from Flickr’s 1saac W., who has replicated the 1929 tourer rather well. There’s more of 1saac’s model to see at his photostream – click the link above to take a look, whilst we ponder the worrying circularity of history…
**Thanks to a rise in nationalism, populism, and a desire to ‘make countries great again’. Good thing the world will never repeat that mistake…
This is a 1970s C110-series Nissan Skyline GT-R, known as the ‘Kenmeri’ because the advertising campaign for the C110 Skyline featured a couple called Ken and Mary. Yes, really. Still, Nissan’s marketing department were to take British old people’s names literally soon after, with the ‘Silvia’, ‘Gloria’, and even the ‘Cedric’.
Back to the C110 GR-R, which was only sold for 6 months – and only in the Japanese domestic market – before the oil crisis of 1973 ended sales at less than 200 units. High performance cars were looked down upon in Japan during the crisis and the Kenmeri was quickly pulled from production, making it an incredibly rare car today.
TLCB regular Jonathan Elliott has added one more C110 GT-R to the list though, with this brilliant 7-wide Speed Champions style recreation of Nissan’s rarest Skyline variant. Jonathan has captured the real car beautifully there’s more to see at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump.
Short things are sometimes good things. Shortbread for example. Being short-listed. Skirts. Salma Hayek. OK, we’re getting off track, but this Volkswagen T1 Camper ‘Shortie’ by 1saac W of Flickr is definitely a good thing, and you can see more of it at his photostream just a short click away.
Here at TLCB we whole-heartedly welcome the addition of Nissan to the LEGO Speed Champions line-up, and hope it leads to a few more partnerships with Japanese auto makers (Honda or Toyota anyone?). However the first officially licensed Nissan set – the 76896 Nissan GT-R NISMO – is not LEGO’s best effort, with more detail derived from decals than actual bricks. Still, if we were 7 we’d absolutely love it.
Cue previous bloggee Simon Przepiorka, now known as SP_LINEUP, who has constructed his own 8-wide Nissan GT-R, and it’s superb. With not a sticker to be seen SP has successfully captured all of the GT-R’s design hallmarks in wonderful accuracy, and his model features opening doors and an opening hood too.
There’s much more of SP’s brilliant Nissan GT-R NISMO to see at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump to an altogether better GT-R.
Oh go on then… With just one minute of Star Wars day to go (and the most Star Wars-y Lego website seemingly as dead as Luke Skywalker), here’s a build from a galaxy far, far away. SweStar is the creator of this beautifully built ‘Ultron T6’ Speeder Bike, complete with a desert setting and one of the grey spacey things that seem to be the background of every Star Wars shot. Head to Flickr for more, and we’ll be back tomorrow with things that are not Star Wars-y at all.
Children don’t grow up, their toys just get bigger. Proving this point is Daniel Church, who has built this wonderful garage scene complete with a motorcycle, lawnmower, and rotavator, which all look brilliant fun to us. If slightly more likely to remove a body part than they toys of our childhood. Head to Flickr for more!
Subaru Tecnica International had an unfortunate acronym in much of the world. They didn’t change it though, unlike Toyota who renamed the MR2 in France to avoid phonetic embarrassment. Still, aside from standing for an unfortunate side affect of unprotected relations, STI meant some excellent machinery, including this 2000’s Impreza WRX STI recreated by Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg in his trademark style. Click the link to make the jump to his photostream see more.
“They’re over there, on that tank made from mini-figure leg wear”. At least we hope the tracks on Tyler‘s tank are pants, and not actual mini-figure legs. Although we suppose tanks are made for killing people, so perhaps it’s appropriate. Anyway, the tank’s cuteness more than makes up for the gruesome tracks-made-of-legs thing going on. See more on Flickr!