This glorious 1950s tow truck by Flickr’s Redfern1950s is already making us feel like a slightly classier blog. Despite the sombre paint job and rusty chain it’s just so cool. There’s more to see at Red’s photostream – click the link above if you love this as much as we do.
We’ve publicised loads of Lego Ferrari 458 Italias over the years (like this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one). The Lego Community isn’t short of 458s then, but this beautiful Technic Supercar made us all stop and take notice.
Built by previous bloggee Jeroen Ottens it’s a commission piece in 1:10 scale, and not only does it look fantastic, it’s packed with working technical features too.
Independent suspension on all wheels, working steering with Ackerman geometry, a mid-mounted V8 piston engine connected to a functioning sequential gearbox, opening doors, hood and trunk, and the 458 Spider’s party-piece folding hardtop roof are all present.
Jeroen’s has photographed his Ferrari 458 Spider superbly and it’s available to view on both Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum – take a look via the links above.
Britain in the Second World War was under siege. V1 flying bombs dropped out of the skies, the Luftwaffe bombed cities relentlessly, and a deadly terror lurked unseen under the waves offshore…
Germany’s U-Boat, shorthand for Unterseeboot (which literally meant ‘under sea boat’ – the allies were definitely better at naming things) was a stroke of genius. Able to destroy a military ship (plus a few civilian ones too…) almost undetected, it must have been a terrifying time to navigate the cold waters of Northern Europe.
Awfully effective though the U-Boat was, it’s not often we see one in Lego form. Discovered by one of our Elves today, this superb mini-figure recreation of U-Boat VIIc comes from Luis Peña of Flickr. Beautifully constructed inside and out Luis’ model features a wonderfully detailed interior underneath the cleverly sculpted hull, including a submariner using a torpedo for weights training, the captain manning the periscope, and a fully stocked galley complete with rat (aka tomorrow’s dinner).
It’s a stunning build and we highly recommend visiting Luis’ photostream to see the complete gallery of images. Get ready to dive via the link to Flickr in the text above.
So good they named it twice. The French Polynesian island does look pretty nice, but it’s not quite as lovely as this. This brilliant little Speed Champions style 1971 Maserati Bora comes from previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott and he’s captured the gorgeous Giugiaro design wonderfully. There’s more to see of Jonathan’s 6-wide Bora on Flickr at the link above, where you can also find several other superb Speed Campions classics.
Yea, uh huh, you know what it is
Black and yellow
Black and yellow
Black and yellow
Black and yellow
The words of well-known poet Wiz Khalifa there, rapping about wasps, or taxis, or school buses, or Watford Football Club. Whatever he’s on about we have two black and yellow creations for you today, and each is miles better than Wiz’s affront to lyricists everywhere.
First up (above), suggested by a reader, is Nathanael Kuipers’ Renualt RS2027 Vision, and if it’s the future of Formula 1 after the introduction of cockpit canopies we’re all in. See more on both Flickr and MOCpages.
Today’s second creation (below) comes from Brick Knight of Flickr, who has equipped those thieving space pirates at Blacktron with one hell of a cool ride. There’s more to see more of his beautifully photographed Blacktron Scout Buggy via the link above.
Now where were we? Oh yes…
Black and yellow
Black and yellow
Black and yellow
Even your Mom hasn’t seen one this big.
This is a Liebherr LR 11000 crane, and it’s seven and half meters tall in its full configuration (or 2.5 metres when indoors so it fits!). Built in 1:24 scale, this brick-built behemoth weighs 27kg, including 5kg of lead ballast. Other than that lead weight, some string, and a few 3D-printed pulleys, the entire model is completely constructed from standard LEGO pieces. Which makes it even more astonishing that this enormous replica works.
Dawid Szmandra is the engineering genius behind the build, and yes this 27kg Lego creation really does work. With four Mindstorms EV3 processors, nine motors, seven light sensors and a touch sensor, this incredible creation can do everything that the real Liebherr LR 11000 can do. Only at one twenty-fourth the scale. Which is still massive.
The drive to the tracks comes from two EV3 Medium Motors, whilst another can rotate the entire superstructure. Five Large Motors plus another Medium power the six separate winches, whilst the sensors can measure the load and winching distance.
The result is a crane, built entirely from little plastic bricks remember, that can lift a chair. There’s only one way fully appreciate what this incredible creation can do and that’s to view it in action. Join us watching in amazement via the video below, and you can see all the images of Dawid’s unbelievable model at his Flickr photostream and via the Eurobricks discussion forum.
YouTube Video
We don’t often post railway-related builds here at The Lego Car Blog, but when we do they’re good. As demonstrated here by William Dumond‘s beautifully recreated Town-scale Bangor & Aroostook BAR X127 wrecker. Clever building techniques are in evidence throughout the build, and it functions too. See more on Flickr via the link above.
The Lego Car Blog staff might all have clothes slightly too small for them after Christmas but the Elves, locked up over the festive period, are hungry. Imagine the delight of the first Elf back then, when it was awarded not one but four meal tokens. Will it spread its four meals out, or binge on four dinners in one go? I think we all know the answer to that.
The cause of this Elven gluttony is Vibor Cavor (aka Veeborg) who has built four beautiful versions of the mid-1940s Chevrolet Fleetmaster. Clockwise from top left is a police fastback, a taxi sedan, a fire chief coupe, and a delivery-bodied ambulance conversion. Each model is wonderfully detailed inside and out, includes opening doors, hood and trunk/tailgate, and features hand-of-God steering.
There’s more to see of all four Fleetmasters at both Vibor’s Flickr photostream and MOCpage – click the link to check them out.
The Lego Car Blog staff, including most of our Elves, have survived another year! With 2018 just a round the corner we take a look at the past 12 months…
Stats; 2017 featured nearly 500 posts and one million views, with fewer than a dozen countries on earth yet to discover us (come on North Korea!). The most popular visitor nation is the United States of America, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France. A special mention goes to the one visitor from Somalia, proving LEGO fans can be found (almost) anywhere!
Creations; Hundreds more cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft, plus the odd spaceship, have appeared here at The Lego Car Blog over the past twelve months. Our Elves continue to scour all of the best Lego-sharing resources – not just Flickr – to enable us to publicise the very best Lego vehicles that the web has to offer. As long as the Lego community keeps building them, we’ll keep blogging them next year.
Interviews; The Master MOCers Series returned for a second season! Three more of the world’s very best builders entered the Master MOCer Hall of Fame this year, with eight more places remaining in season two. Who will join the ranks in 2018?
Reviews; Even more reviews both of official LEGO sets and third-party products were added to the burgeoning Review Library. You guys even wrote a few yourselves! We aim to keep adding to this in 2018, and if you’d like to help we’d love to hear from you!
Adverts; We’ve also raised some cash for good causes thanks entirely to your visits and clicks. The revenue generated by the small amount of advertising we allow here at The Lego Car Blog has been distributed to those in need, from right outside TLCB Towers to the other side of the world. From all of us here – thank you!
Social; The Lego Car Blog is now on Facebook! Search for us, click ‘Like’ and ‘Follow’ us for new posts. All the cool people are doing it.
Wishing you a very happy New Year and a fruitful 2018!
TLCB Team
It seems like almost every week that a new supercar with a million horsepower and a VMAX of the Speed of Light is revealed in some sketchy form. Most of these (thankfully) come to nothing, but occasionally one such car does actually make it to production. This is that car.
Hand-built by some clever Danes, the Zenvo ST1, and then the later TS1 pictured here, fits every criteria for the ‘not gonna happen’ supercar going. 1,100bhp? Check. Carbon-Fibre bodywork? Check. 230mph+ top speed? Check. Only the Zenvo did get built, and continues to do so in upgraded TS1 form.
Only 15 ST1s and a similar number of TS1s are expected to be completed, and a few of those have met untimely firefly deaths, but nevertheless Zenvo have managed to build – almost completely in-house – one of the gnarliest and fastest road cars in existence. Except for when they catch fire.
This stunning Model Team recreation of the Zenvo TS1 comes from previous bloggee Alexander Pascholaletto and it captures the aggressive design of the real car brilliantly. It’s also a lot less likely to spontaneously combust. Head over to Flickr via the link above for all the shots.
*Today’s title song, if you’re feeling brave, can be found here.
Yes, it’s that Set Review you’ve all been waiting for; the 42058 Technic Stunt Bike! Ok, maybe not… But we have a copy, so we’re going to review it anyway, you lucky people!
Launched at the start of 2017 the Stunt Bike and its pull-back twin form the entry to the LEGO Technic line-up. Aimed at ages 7+ they’re colourful, cheap, and very playable.
The heart of 42058 and the part to which everything is attached is the pull-back motor, which powers the rear wheel via a set of gears. It works well enough and allows the bike to jump over the cardboard ramp that comes included in the set with ease, and thanks to the very un-motorcyle-like wheels it’ll stay upright nine times out of ten too (slightly less if you’re playing skittles with unsuspecting Elves).
Aside from the pull-back motor though, that’s your lot, as there are no other working functions at all. That might be OK if 42058 looked like a real motorcycle, but due to the need to stay upright when being propelled by the pull-back motor, that’s not possible.
This TLCB writer remembers when the Technic starter sets might have included a piston engine, steering, even suspension… but those days are long gone. It’s not LEGO’s fault of course, they’ll probably sell ten times more pull-back toys than a model with a fiddly and complicated-to-build piston engine, but this writer knows what he’d rather have…
Still, if you’re looking to start off in Technic building or you’re looking for a gift for a child ready to make the step up from City, Star Wars or Ninjago, you could do worse than the colourful and be-stickered 42058. You could also do a lot better.
42058 may include a ’40th Anniversary of Technic’ brick, but there are much better starter sets in those 40 years than this one. Head to eBay and take a look. 3/10
Back in the 1960s a rather special deal was done. Hertz, recognising the interest in Ford’s new muscle car, signed a deal with Ford, who provided the company with 1,000 specially-painted Mustang GT350s. The cars joined the rental fleet and immediately gave both companies marketing gold, allowing almost anyone to drive the hottest car in America for a day.
After the rental arrangement concluded the cars were refurbished (hopefully very throughly!) and sold on as the Mustang GT350-H. Some of these cars survive complete with their iconic black and gold liveries, and they look gloriously cool in today’s world of white and sliver.
This spectacular replica of one of the original 1,000 Hertz Mustangs comes from previous bloggee Pawel Kmiec (better known as Sariel) and it captures the famous livery beautifully.
Sariel’s GT350-H isn’t just beautiful on the outside either, as underneath the removable bodywork sits a fully remote controlled drivetrain, with twin Power Functions drive, remote steering, plus a working V8 piston engine and front and rear suspension.
There’s lots more of Pawel’s brilliant Ford Mustang GT350-H to see on Flickr at his photo album, you can read our interview with him as part of the ‘Become a Professional’ series by clicking here, and you watch the model in action via the excellent YouTube video below.
YouTube Video
*Something about your Mom.
We’re back! After a few days getting drunk helping the less fortunate, TLCB Team are back in the crumbling ruin that is TLCB Towers. With the Elves re-released (and very hungry) we can expect them to return with finds soon, but in the meantime here’s one of your suggestions. Built by Andreas Lattanzio, Father Christmas is already back in the North Pole getting ready for next year in style, using a hot rodded sleigh to traverse the frozen polar landscape. There’s more to see of this neat mini-figure scale scene on Flickr – click the link above to make the jump.
The detritus from office Christmas party has been tidied away (although the regret still lingers), The Lego Car Blog Elves have been re-captured and returned to their cages, and we’re about to turn the lights out here at TLCB Towers.
Before we go here’s one final festive creation, revealing that Santa is moving with times to keep up with increasing Christmas demands. Rod Gillies has equipped Saint Nic with his own present-delivering spaceship, allowing the Reindeer to relax this festive season. There’s more to see of Santa’s hangar on the night before Christmas (complete with Elves that look nothing like ours) by clicking here, we wish you the very merriest of Christmases, and we’ll see you soon.
TLCB Team
This incredible model is a classic FTF F8.8.20D, recreated perfectly in bricks for hauling… bricks. The strange-looking yellow device mounted in the rear allows heavy loads to be unloaded swiftly and the model is packed with a vast amount of other authentic detailing.
TLCB Master MOCer Dennis Bosman is the builder behind it, having recently updated his model with LEGO’s latest parts. A large gallery of stunning imagery is available to view on Flickr, and you can read our interview with Dennis revealing how he builds his amazing models such as this one by clicking here.
