Yes we know we’re a car blog, but who doesn’t like whimsical beep-boop robots! This one is battling for the moon according to its maker, and you can see more of this primary-coloured contraption courtesy of Shannon Sproule via the link above!
If aliens wanted to snoop about unnoticed, we’re pretty sure they could do so with no problem whatsoever on public transport. Because despite the wealth of interesting sights on display, every single person on the train, bus, or tram will be staring solely at the 4-inch glass screen in their hand. Cue Jonah Schultz‘s marvellous railway platform scene, which includes an unusual visitor going completely unseen in a crowd of commuting mini-figures. Take a closer look at Jonah’s photostream via the link above… unless you’re reading this on public transport, in which case save it for later, put your phone down, and take a look around you. Who knows what you’ll see.
It’s 1969, career criminal Charlie Croker is out of prison, and he’s just learned that his friend has been murdered by the mafia whilst planning a $4 million gold heist. Charlie decides to continue the job left by his departed fellow thief, breaking back into prison to enlist the help of crime lord Mr. Bridger before heading to Italy with a convoy of fast cars, a converted coach, a minibus, a Land Rover, and three Mini Coopers.
What follows is the greatest movie car chase of them all, with the definitive cliff-hanger ending, and the vehicles from which Flickr’s FifthPixel has recreated brilliantly in brick!
His adapted Bedford VAL Harrington Legionnaire coach, Land Rover Series 2A Safari, and – the target of the whole operation – OM Furganato Sicurezza Bullion van beautifully encapsulate the period motors from the movie, plus he’s constructed the Ford Thames 400E minibus, Alfa Romeo Guilia police cars, and construction machinery used by the mafia to dispatch their foes too.
You can find FifthPixel’s entire ‘The Italian Job’ vehicular cast at their photostream; take a look via the link above plus you can click here for a few snippets from the film’s wonderful chase sequence.
Fought in 1986-’87, the ‘Toyota War’ was the last phase of the nine-year-long Chadian-Libyan War, which ended in defeat for Libya and Colonel Gaddafi (who started it by invading Chad) and the return of Chad’s seized territory.
It’s also possibly the only war named after the make of the pick-up trucks that primary fought it, with Toyota’s Land Cruiser 70-Series used prolifically on both sides, and – in Chadian hands – fitted with their French ally’s anti-tank missile launchers.
Of course countless wars since have been fought from the back of Toyotas, with the company’s trucks being the first choice of militias, terrorist groups, and legitimate armies, plus the UN and NGOs who try to piece broken communities back together again afterwards. In fact Toyota take this depressing usage so seriously in some markets they removed the ‘TOYOTA’ lettering from the back of their pick-ups to avoid the link with the conflicts in which they were so heavily used.
These two excellent 70-Series Land Cruisers from any one of the wars in which they so often feature come from TLCB debutant ORRANGE., who has photographed his models against a suitably deserty backdrop which we’re so familiar with seeing on the news.
A closer look is available at ORRANGE.’s photostream and you can head to a sad and usually pointless conflict somewhere in Africa or the Middle East via the link in the text above.
It’s time for a heart-warming vignette. It’s 1950s America, and the three well-dressed fellows have arranged a surprise birthday party for their compatriot, driving him to the secret location in the back of their pick-up truck. They’ve even thoughtfully covered his eyes so his surprise isn’t spoiled! We’re sure he’s going to enjoy it and you can join the fun courtesy of Roman Shemis of Flickr, where there’ll definitely be balloons and cake.
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!
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.
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…
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!
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…
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…
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.
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!
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.
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.
