Goldfinger to Gullwing

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There aren’t many car we’d trade an Aston Martin DB5 for, but this is one of them. Particularly today, as we’re swapping the DB5 from LEGO’s Creator 10262 ‘Goldfinger’ set, which is gloriously playable, but also slightly tragic to look at…

Built only using the parts from the 10262 set, Flickr’s Nathanael Kuipers (aka NKubate) has recreated the magical Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’, and it looks, well… quite a lot better than LEGO’s attempt at that iconic Aston Martin.

Admittedly Nathanael’s creation does forgo 10262’s gadgets, but rarely does an alternate look better than its parts source, and that’s certainly the case here.

Building instructions are available and there’s more of the Mercedes to see at Nathanael’s photostream. Click the link above to switch your Goldfinger for a Gullwing, or this bonus link to find out more about the builder behind it.

To the Museum!

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TLCB Opinion of the Day; Archeologists are glorified looters. Whether it be an item of great reverence to a particular culture, the wealth of an entire people, or the bones of someone’s ancestor, they’re all ripe for digging up and sticking in a museum.

Cue Indiana Jon… um, we mean ‘Johnny Thunder’, who’s about to get his hands on the ‘Lost Sun Disk’ from the mouth of a hidden jungle totem. He may have to shoot a native or two, but that ancient treasure belongs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

Newcomer workhardbuildhard is the builder behind the aforementioned theft, with Johnny and an accomplice ready to make their daring escape in a neat grey Jeep CJ. The locals certainly won’t be able to keep up with that!

There’s more of the build to see at whbh’s photostream via the link above, or alternatively visit any Western cultural museum for innumerous items of great worth successfully looted by brave archaeologists.

Schneider Trophy

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Just a decade on from the aeroplane’s invention and there were already international races occurring. One of the most famous was the Schneider Trophy, in which teams from across Europe sent their finest flying inventions to race a course to glory.

Racing ceased in 1914 due to an international disagreement, but returned again in 1919, when said dispute had been mostly-kinda-not-really-resolved. The aforementioned wrangle had continued to dramatically further the development of the aeroplane though, so that was nice.

Cue these two superb brick-built entrants into the Schneider Trophy, as constructed by TLCB debutant Hod Carrier of Flickr. Above is the Sopwith Tabloid, Britain’s valiant entry into the 1913 Monaco event, whilst below is the remarkable Italian Savoia S-21 floatplane, which went on to be flown by a cartoon pig for some reason.

Each recreates its real-world counterpart beautifully in miniature, and there’s more to see of both aircraft, plus other Schneider Trophy entrants in both digital and real-brick forms, at Hod Carrier’s album of the same name. Click here to race through the skies above a European sea over a century ago!

Bike Carrier

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This might be overkill…

Still, Sseven Bricks‘ bicycle looks safe and secure being transported by his Kenworth K100 and 40ft Fontaine trailer combo.

There’s more of the rig to see, including some more appropriately sized loads, on Flickr. Take a look via the link.

Drop It Like It’s Hot*

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Reminiscent of the 1960s ’round-bonnet’ Mercedes-Benz trucks still in use all over the developing world, this lovely classic drop-side truck was discovered by one of our Elves today, and it comes from previous bloggee LegoMarat, who has built and photographed it superbly.

Equipped with opening cab doors, front and rear suspension, opening drop-sides, and fully remote controlled drive and steering, Marat’s model is one of our favourites of the year so far, and you can take a look at all of the images on Flickr via the link above.

*Today’s title song. ‘Cause we’re from the hood.

Foxy Horse

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American cars in the late-’70s through mid-’80s were rubbish. They were rubbish long after the mid-’80s too of course, but even the iconic Ford Mustang was a throughly mediocre specimen in its early-’80s guise.

Base on Ford’s then-new ‘Fox’ platform, the third-generation ‘Foxbody’ Mustang could be had as a prosaic coupe, a dreary hatch-back or a lacklustre convertible, and was powered by an array of engines ranging from an inline-4 that produced no horsepower whatsoever to a 5.0 V8 that produced no horsepower whatsoever.

Getting with the times however, and Ford did add a 4-cylinder turbo, which did produce some horsepower – briefly – before it broke.

You may have guessed we’re not fans of Ford’s third-generation ‘stang, and we’re not. Until that, is comes to its 1986 facelift.

Adopting Ford’s ‘aero’ design, the Foxbody instantly went from dreary to desirable, and even the engines got a glow-up, with the 4-cylinder breaking the 100bhp mark (up from a miserly 88) by the early-’90s, and the 5.0 V8 surpassing 200bhp.

This excellent Model Team recreation of the Foxbody Mustang captures the facelift’s sleek exterior brilliantly, and comes from previous bloggee Szunyogh Balázs (aka. gnat.bricks). There’s an opening hood (under which can be slotted both a V8 or 4-cylinder engine as Szunyogh has created both), opening doors and trunk, and a superbly life-like interior.

There’s more of the model to see at Szunyogh’s ‘Lego Mustang – Foxbody’ album on Flickr, and you can take a look at the moment when America’s automotive malaise era finally ended via the link above.

Humble Beginnings

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The Lego Car Blog is a site with humble beginnings. We’re not famous Lego Show exhibitors, Lego User Group leaders, or even upstanding members of the Online Lego Community. Nope, this site was created by idiots, but look how far we’ve co… Wait, that probably isn’t a good example.

But there are great examples of automotive humble beginnings, including two now-titans of the German motor industry; Porsche and BMW.

Porsche’s first car (depicted above) was the 356, which looked a lot like the Volkswagen Beetle, because… well, it kinda was one. BMW on the other hand began by making aero engines during both World Wars. Fortunately for this site’s home nation, the military machine to whom they were supplied didn’t win either of them, and strict metal rationing after Germany’s defeat meant creating cars like the one depicted below, the tiny BMW Isetta ‘bubble car’.

They were simple, slow, and not very expensive, and both shown here are the work of TLCB debutant Filippos Tsialidis, who has created them rather humbly too, using just a handful of pieces for each. They join a host of other classic cars at his ‘Cars’ Flickr album, and you can take a look at beginning of Porsche, BMW, and many others too via the link above.

My Other Car’s a Porsche

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Germany have a reputation for making iconic sports cars. The Z4 M is probably not one of them, but it was a worthy entry into the faster end of the class in the 2000s. Launched in 2003, the Z4 was available with a variety of engines from a mundane 2.0 4-cylinder making 150bhp, through a variety of straight-sixes with around 200bhp.

The fastest was of course the Z4 M, which deployed a wider track, the rear axle from an M3 CSL, hydraulic power steering, and the M-Division’s 340bhp S54 engine, for a 0-60mph time of 4.8 seconds.

This neat recreation of the first-generation Z4 M is the work of FanisLego, who has built it entirely from the pieces from the Creator Expert 10295 Porsche 911 set.

There’s a detailed engine under the opening hood, opening doors, working steering, and a remarkably good rendition of the famous Bangle-era ‘flame surfacing’, particularly given the constrained parts choice.

Building instructions are available and you can swap your own 911 for a Z4 M via the link to Fanis’ Bricksafe gallery above.

Dump Day

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It’s two days after ‘Liberation Day’, when the enormous global tariffs enacted by the Trump administration bite. And bit they are, as investors are dumping stocks at the fastest rate since 2020.

Cue today’s creation, this classic dump truck by Flickr’s JLiu15. A working piston engine resides under the opening hood, there’s remote control steering / (all-wheel) drive, and you can dump stocks faster than the Nasdaq thanks to the hefty load bed which tips pneumatically.

There’s more to see at JLiu15’s ‘Classic Dump Truck XL’ album, and you can head there to take a dump via the link above.

Going Dutch

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The Dutch get erroneously associated with quite a lot in our home nation. English slang includes ‘going dutch’ (everyone pays), ‘double dutch’ (unintelligible gibberish), dutch oven (farting under the bedcovers before sealing your partner inside), and ‘dutch rudder’ (which we can’t write here)).

Whilst we can’t take responsibility for decades of English verbal tomfoolery, we can ensure the Dutch are adequately represented here at The Lego Car Blog, which we’re doing today via the medium of SFH_Bricks‘ excellent Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ambulance in funky Dutch emergency services livery.

With a complete interior accessed via the twin rear and side sliding doors, SFH’s Sprinter is as detailed inside as out, and you can go Dutch via the link to Flickr above.

Trolley Dash

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Trollies are much like go-karts. Anyone can drive one, mostly terribly, and the handling can vary wildly depending upon the one you pick. Cue Domininque Boeynaems‘ marvellous fully laden shopping trolley from a well-known discount supermarket. The un-pictured pusher of the aforementioned food transportation device has loaded it sensibly too, with the heavy bottles at the back to counter understeer. Join the race for the shortest queue at the checkouts on Flickr via the link above!

Stuck in a Moment*

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It’s ‘Liberation Day’! Yes, President Trump’s tariffs – though at the time of writing we know not what they are – begin today, when it’s expected that you’ll need to pay 25% more for a vehicle not made in the U.S (amongst many other things). And, because that’s not how global markets work, more for vehicles that are made in the U.S too.

The idea of course, is that we’ll all Buy American, even if American is… worse. Take this beautiful 1954 Mack LT truck by Flickr’s Legorigs, which looks, well… exactly the same as a modern Mack truck. And that’s despite the fact that these days Mack are owned by Swedish truck-maker Volvo, whose European trucks are vastly more modern, more powerful, more refined, and more comfortable.

Still, if Trump wants us to jump back to the 1950s, we’re happy to oblige, because Legorigs’ ’54 Mack is absolutely gorgeous. Based on a real show truck, the model features custom chrome and decals, a double-hinged hood, and a superbly detailed engine, drivetrain, and sleeper-cab interior.

There’s much more of the Mack to see at Legorigs’ ‘Mack LT 1954’ album, and you can get stuck in the ’50s via the link above. Or by driving any brand new American truck…

*Today’s title song.

What Bike?

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Sometimes the transporter is cooler than thing it transports. Cue RGB900‘s wildly modified Ford Econoline pick-up, designed to transport a racing motorbike. But we’re not looking at the bike when the truck is so deeply cool. Take a closer look at RGB’s photostream, whilst we trawl Bring-a-Trailer for old Ford Econolines…

Whatta Man

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“How many wheels would you like your truck to have sir?” “…All of them.”

Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg has taken a similar approach to your Mom at the all-you-can-eat buffet with his wheel quantity, with over two-dozen present on his Allelys heavy haulage MAN TGX.

There’s more to see at his Flickr album (along with the MAN’s counterpart Mercedes-Benz Arocs that appeared here a few months ago), where a ginormous load is surely soon to appear too. And if you made another ‘Your Mom’ joke there, that one’s on you.

Mr. T

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Bicycle wheels, a Fabuland middle, and a flag for a scarf. It’s the little pieces that make the whole, and there’s more to see of _Tiler‘s wonderfully presented Ford Model-T here.