MOCbashing

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Endlessly reusable, LEGO is all about taking something and turning it into something else. The Online Lego Community is filled with designs and techniques that can influence your own creations, with builder Austin Vail taking particular inspiration from TLCB Master MOCer Ralph Savelsberg.

Using the ‘kitbashing’ approach (a method used by plastic modellers wherein they mix the components from multiple kits to create something new and unique), Austin has reverse-engineered several of Ralph’s builds (no “I need instructions” here!), before mixing various parts of them up to create something new, in this case a splendid gasser hot rod.

Portions of Ralph’s ZZ Top Eliminator, American Graffiti Deuce Coupe, and Volkswagen Beetle (the latter cleverly reversed so its front forms the rear) are all bashed together to create the whole, with the result paying both homage to its inspirer yet also being a distinctive creation in its own right.

There’s more to see of Austin’s gasser, including a description of how it was built, at his photostream. Take a look via the link above and maybe start MOCbashing for yourself!

Te-Ke

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The wonderful thing about the world is that it’s very big and its peoples like all sorts of different things. Which means that even the most niche of interests will exist somewhere.

Cue ‘Girls und Panzer’, a Japanese anime series in which high-school girls compete against one-another in World War II tanks. Because… um, well, the world is very big and its peoples like all sorts of different things.

Today’s creation captures a Type 97 ‘Te-ke’ tank from the anime series, having been faithfully recreated by Flickr’s Zat, and you can join in the tank-based school sports day at their photostream via the link.

Not a Jaguar

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TLCB does not know much about Star Wars. 1970s British saloons yes, space battles between Jedis and an imperial galactic empire… not so much. Which is why if you said ‘XJ6′ to us we’d think of a classic luxury car rather than a vehicle from George Lucas’ famous movie franchise.

Unfortunately for TLCB Team, this ‘XJ6’ is not a Sir William Lyons-designed British sedan, but an Airspeeder from ‘Star Wars; Attack of the Clones’. However Swan Dutchman‘s replica of the ‘XJ-6 Airspeeder’ is nevertheless a stunning build, deploying some fantastic techniques to recreate the aircraft’s complex surfacing seen in the film.

There’s more of Swan’s ‘XJ-6’ to see on Flickr and you can head to, um… wherever it is that Airpseeders are via the link above. We’re better with cars…

Motorway Furniture

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Well this is a common sight for all of our European readers. The most nondescript of trucks, in the most nondescript of liveries, on its way to collect a nondescript load from a nondescript regional distribution centre. European motoring doesn’t get any more mundane than this. Flickr’s Arian Janssens is the creator of this excellent DAF XG+, and he’s constructed a mighty (and rather interesting) trailer to go with it. But that doesn’t fit the narrative we’re trying to weave, so you’ll have to look at it at Arian’s Flickr album. Head there via the link above!

A Virtual Triumph

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The Triumph 2000-series was, like so many British cars of the time, fantastic. Beautifully styled by Michelotti, powered by a range of smooth 6-cylinder engines, and with over 400,000 built in five countries, it was one of the finest mid-sized saloons of its era.

Which of course meant that British Leyland would go on screw it – and all of Triumph – up, as exemplified by the fact that its predecessor was a Standard and its successor a Rover. And if that makes no sense… you’re right, it doesn’t.

But let’s not get bogged down in the collapse of the British automotive industry, because back in the late-’60s and early-’70s it was still riding high, with the Triumph 2000-series a big part of that success.

This one is a 2500S estate, as superbly recreated in digital form by Lego Professional Peter Blackert (aka lego911). Alongside the excellent exterior the doors, tailgate and hood all open and there’s a detailed engine and interior too, with more to see of Peter’s virtual Triumph at his photostream. Take a look via the link whilst we fantasise about buying the real thing…

Gone Shoppin’

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What? This is a vehicle! Flickr’s Jonah Schultz makes his TLCB debut with one of the few vehicles that almost everyone reading this will have driven. And most probably crashed. Head to aisle seven via the link above and try to remember what you were sent there to get…

Tokyo Drift

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When the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise headed for Japan for its third instalment, abandoning its main characters in the process, drifting was the new street racing. And the obvious car for drifting is an all-wheel-drive saloon famed for its grip…

Still, a lot more of the plot made a lot less sense than the inexplicable choice of a Mitsubishi Evo IX, so we’re willing to look the other way. Particular as it’s led to a creation as brilliant as this.

Recreating Sean’s modified Mitsubishi Evo IX from the movie, previous bloggee ArtemyZotov has constructed a superb homage to the Japanese super-saloon, with working steering and suspension, a highly detailed transverse 4-cylinder engine, opening doors, hood and trunk, and movie-accurate decals.

Building instructions are available and you can try to get sideways in Tokyo in a deeply inappropriate car at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.

Every Day’s a School Day

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Of all the thousands vehicles that The Lego Car Blog has featured over the years, we’d bet this is the one that hits the most of you in the feels.

Created by Master MOCer and prolific vehicle builder Ralph Savelsberg (aka Mad Physicist), this splendid mini-figure American school bus is so perfect we can practically hear the windows rattling and someone at the back getting wedgied.

There’s more of Ralph’s bus to see on Flickr and you can jump back to your childhood for a bumpy seatbelt-less ride to school via the link above!

Children of the Revolución*

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We’re rather partial to crap cars here at The Lego Car Blog, as proven by the myriad of shoddy American and Eastern European models to appear here over the years. But if you’re going to make an entrance into the Online Lego Community, picking an ultra-limited track-only variant of one of the world’s most exclusive hypercars to beautifully recreate in Lego form is a surefire way to do it.

Newcomer Mitchell van der Hart has done just that, with his exquisite brick-built replica of the wild Pagani Zonda Revolución, complete with opening doors, fully removable bodywork, and a chassis, engine and interior as highly detailed as the panels that clothe them.

The son of previous bloggee Huib van der Hart (aka Lifting Bricks), Mitchell is making his TLCB debut in the most spectacular way, and you can see more of his first published creation at his ‘Pagani Zonda Revolución’ album via the link above, where we expect more creations will follow.

*Today’s excellent title song.

Build-a-Bimmer

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Two years ago we blogged Thirdwigg’s excellent ‘E30’ generation BMW 3-Series, which is very possibly the best car BMW have ever made. In contrast BMW’s latest M-Cars are very much not the best they have ever made. But there is one that at least retains rear-wheel-drive and the option of a manual gearbox (and it is an option, costing more than the automatic for, um… reasons).

The BMW M2 is possibly the last rear-wheel-drive BMW M-Car, and whilst it sure isn’t an E30 3-Series, it is perhaps as close as it’s possible to get in 2025. Like his previous Technic BMWs, Thirdwigg’s top-notch recreation of the M2 includes a working inline-6 engine, ‘HOG” steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and free building instructions. Because Thirdwigg is a hundred-times more awesome than BMW’s gearbox department.

There’s more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘BMW M2 G87’ album, plus you can read more about the builder in our Master MOCers section via this bonus link.

Jack of All Trades

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The Mercedes-Benz Unimog is not, technically, a truck. It is in fact a universal tractor, with literally dozens of different applications. Which probably explains why dozens of different Unimogs have appeared here to date. Today we can add one more, a 1980s Unimog U1400 Agrar courtesy of Sseven Bricks of Flickr. A front PTO allows any number of tools to be added in front of the cab, whilst a big cage behind it means any number can be added at the back too. There’s more of Sseven’s model to see on Flickr and you can take a closer look via the link above.

In the Shadows

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Here around TLCB Towers the default vehicle of choice is a black-on-black SUV with a vanity plate. Because the British public have no imagination. But black-on-black can look awesome, as evidenced here by Flickr’s SFH_Bricks and this brilliant mid-’70s Porsche 911 Turbo, which is both constructed and presented in black. Photographing an all-black build can be a tricky exercise, but SFH has nailed it, placing his creation on a black background with clever highlighting, and you can join him in the shadows via the link above.

Fleetline Fastback

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The 1940s to 1960s were not just the peak of American automotive design, but perhaps the peak of all automotive design. Even cheap American cars were penned with absolute joy, with fabulous curves, chrome highlights, and brilliant two-tone paint, as evidenced by this gorgeous 1940s Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback.

Powered by an inline-6 and built in half-a-dozen factories across the US, the Fleetline accounted for almost a third of all Chevrolets sold at the time, with this lovely Model Team recreation coming from Vibor Cavor of Flickr.

Working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a wonderfully lifelike interior and engine all feature, and you can head back to when even base American cars were things of beauty via the link to Vibor’s ‘Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback’ album above.

New Holland

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This is a New Holland T7.185, and it comes from previous bloggee Keko007 who has constructed it brilliantly from bricks. Blending Technic, System, and studs-not-on-top techniques, Keko’s New Holland is as detailed as models three times its size, with presentation to match the build quality too. It proves you don’t require a million pieces to create something wonderful (and blog-worthy), and you can head to Keko’s farm on Flickr to check it out via the link in the text above.

Putin It Out There

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It’s been a while since we’ve referenced Putin’s tiny todger. Well, he’s still an under-endowed despot, raining increasing numbers of drones and missiles on Ukrainian apartment blocks, shopping malls, and schools. Because NATO (which Ukraine aren’t in), or Nazis (which Ukraine isn’t ruled by), or something.

Increasing numbers of Russians are also being sent to the war, with vehicles such as this one taking them. It’s a BTR-90 armoured personnel carrier, which was actually only ever intended for use by the Russian National Guard, but with at least one captured in Ukraine, they are evidently now also on the front line.

Powered by a 510bhp turbodiesel the BTR-90 is capable of 100km/h on land, where it’s as capable off-road as a tracked vehicle, and – amazingly – 9km/h on water, as it’s also fully amphibious.

This incredible Technic recreation of the BTR-90 probably doesn’t float, but it is excellent in every other respect. A suite of Power Functions motors provide remote control eight-wheel-drive and four-wheel steering, there are opening side hatches, all-wheel suspension, and a motorised rotating gun turret.

It’s all the work of previous bloggee Samuel Nerpas who has engineered his creation superbly, and you can join the front line in the fight for whatever Putin’s trying to compensate for via the link to Flickr above.