Anti-Hippy

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Lego VW T2 Pick-Up

Dour grey, hard working, utilitarian… not words you’d usually use to describe a 1960s Volkswagen Transporter. Bought as the default vehicle by trendy hippy types looking to be individual (which is gloriously ironic), the VW Type 2 is typically a vibrant and colourful affair used to ferry people to posh festivals.

However this Volkswagen T2 ‘Doka’ by Jonathan Elliott is the very antithesis of the classic Transporter’s normal role in modern Western society, and for that we absolutely love it.

There’s more to see of Jonathan’s 6-wide Volkswagen T2 pick-up at his photostream – click the link above to check it out.

Cannonball

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Lego Porsche 956 Cannon

Six minutes and eleven seconds. The fastest ever lap of the fearsome Nurburgring Nordschleife, recorded not by a Formula 1 car or a Bugatti Veyron, but way back in 1982 by this; Porsche’s amazing Group C 956.

Powered by a development of the successful 936’s turbocharged flat-6, the 956 took power to over 600bhp and used the world’s first double clutch gearbox to send it to the rear wheels.

Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell debuted the car at the 6 Hours of Silverstone before taking pole, ahead of Porsche’s two other 956s in second and third, at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The race finished as it started, with Porsche taking a 1-2-3 and with Ickx and Bell claiming their third win together for the Porsche team.

This superb recreation of Porsche’s dominant early ’80s Group C Champion comes from Flickr’s Manuel Cara, which despite its small size is  wonderfully accurate, made more so by the authentic-looking period Canon decals. There’s more to see of Manuel’s 956 at his photostream by clicking here, and if you’d like to see the real car in action, take a look here!

Easy Rider

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Lego Easy Rider Motorbike Harley Davidson FLH

‘A man went looking for America. And couldn’t find it anywhere’. The protagonists in Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s 1969 cult movie Easy Rider may not have found America, but they found a lot of other things along the way.

Lego Easy Rider Motorbike Harley Davidson FLH

This brilliant Model Team recreation the Harley Davidson FLH motorcycle that Dennis Hopper rode in the film comes from previous bloggee Andre Pinto, and it not only recreates the bike in glorious detail, it’s been appropriately chromed (and flamed!) too. Hit the road in search of free love and LSD* via either Eurobricks or Flickr.

Lego Easy Rider Motorbike Harley Davidson FLH

*Not the second one. 

Speed in the ’70s

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Lego Historic F1 Car 1970s

This TLCB writer wasn’t alive in the 1970s, but it seemed like a very bleak time. Everyone was on strike and everything was either brown or beige. Apart from Formula 1.

F1 in the 1970s was something of a golden age, filled with colour, danger, and some of the coolest looking racing cars ever to take part in the sport. This top-notch generic 1970s Formula 1 car transports us back to that time, it’s been built by GiantAmbushBeetle of Eurobricks, and there’s more to see via the link above.

(It Doesn’t Matter if You’re) Black or White

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Lego Technic Jaguar XK120

Wise words from the King of Pop there. Eurobricks member martijnnab has used this excellent advice to great effect, building two versions of his gorgeous Technic Jaguar XK120 Roadster in contrasting colours.

Lego Technic Jaguar XK120

Martijn’s Jaguars are inverse to the meaning behind Michael Jackson’s 1991 hit however, as whilst they look the same on the surface they are very different underneath, with the white XK featuring mechanical functions including a straight-6 engine and working steering whilst the black XK includes a fully remote controlled Power Functions drivetrain.

Lego Technic Jaguar XK120

There’s lots more to see of both versions of Martijn’s wonderful Technic Jaguar XK120 Roadster at the Eurobricks forum – click on the link above to make the jump.

Not a Car

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Lego NSW AD60 Steam Locomotive

But one heck of a beautiful steam train. And who doesn’t like steam trains? This particular locomotive is a New South Wales AD60 Class, of which 42 were built in the 1950s. Coming right at the end of the steam’s reign on the railways the AD60 Class were the most powerful locomotives ever used in Australia and this 97 stud long replica packs a punch too, being powered by twin Power Functions XL motors. Alexander of Flickr is the builder behind this stunning recreation of the AD60 and there’s lots more to see, including some ingenious ‘how to’ photos detailing the hidden building techniques, via the link above.

Black and Gold

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Lego 911 Targa

First debuting around a decade ago (like today’s rather excellent title song), The Avro Brothers’ Porsche 911 targa is something of a legend within the online Lego Community. Recently updated, the Brothers have now released their incredible classic Porsche in a brilliant black and gold colour-scheme, and they’ve made building instructions available too.

Lego 911 Targa

There’s more of this incredible Porsche 911 Targa to see at the Brother’s photostream, where you can also find a link to The Avro Brothers website and the aforementioned building instructions. Make the jump to Flickr via the link above.

Lego 911 Targa

6×5(Wide) II

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Lego Town Skip Lorry

Flickr’s de-marco is becoming a regular here at The Lego Car Blog with his ever-growing garage of superb 5-wide Town vehicles. Here are no less than six of our favourites from his latest batch, all of which are available to view at de-marco’s photostream and many include building instructions too!

Lego Fire Truck and Ice Truck

As well as brilliant 5-wide cars and SUVs de-marco has built some of society’s more unusual vehicles, which are of course the ones we’re featuring here. Yes, we know we’re a bit odd. From a functioning skip lorry (top), to a fire engine (above left), freezer-truck (above right), and airport step truck (below) all de-marco’s builds are wonderfully creative, instantly recognisable and – most importantly – playable miniaturisations of their life-size counterparts.

Lego Town Airport Step Truck

All of de-marco’s builds include a few neat working features and they’re also packed with the related paraphernalia associated with their task, including traffic cones and roadsigns in the rear of the highway maintenance truck (below left) and a hand-truck for delivering water-cooler bottles attached to the water delivery truck (below right). Which as everyone knows is a pointless tool, because water-carrying trucks are always annihilated by passing car chases. 

There’s more to see of each truck at de-marco’s Flickr photostream by clicking here, where you can also find links to building instructions so you can build these for yourself. Click the link above to take a look!

Autosan H9-21 – Picture Special

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Lego Autosan H9-21 Bus

This absolutely beautiful creation comes from previous bloggee Eric Trax, and it’s a near-perfect replica of a Polish Autosan H9-21 39-seat intercity bus produced from the 1970s until the early 2000s.

Powered by a 6.5 litre turbodiesel the Autosan H9 only had 150bhp, but it was reliable, easy to repair, and could handle near constant use on poor quality roads, making it an ideal export around the world, carrying passengers in the USSR, Eastern Europe, North Africa, South America, Korea and China.

Lego Autosan H9-21 Bus RC

Eric’s wonderful Model Team version of the popular Polish bus recreates the exterior and interior brilliantly in Lego form, and the model also includes remote control drive, steering, a 2-speed gearbox, opening doors, a detailed engine under the raising engine cover, and opening luggage compartments.

There’s lots more to see of Eric’s Autosan H9-21 at Flickr, Brickshelf, and the Eurobricks forum, where you can also find a video showing the model in action. Hop on board via the links above.

Lego Autosan H9-21 Remote Control

Gymkhana 7

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Lego Ken Block Ford Mustang

Ken Block’s Gymkhana series is a YouTube phenomenon. A series of expertly choreographed driving stunts seamlessly sewed together, Ken’s online exploits have created a worldwide army of fans. TLCB Elves are included in this, and each new Gymkhana video release is followed by days of Elves riding anything with wheels (and a few things that don’t) around the office, annoying everybody.

Gymkhana 7, published three years ago, has racked up over 43 million views on YouTube alone, and stars an 800+ bhp all-wheel-drive 1965 Ford Mustang and some enticingly deserted Los Angeles streets.

It’s this video that builder Primoz Mlaker has chosen to recreate in Lego form, building both part of the Los Angeles set and Block’s ferocious classic Mustang. But it’s not just a static diorama…

Lego Ken Block Mustang

Yup, thanks to some hidden Power Functions motors Primoz’s Mustang can throw down the moves from the film, including the obligatory Gymkhana donuts and also the opening seen from the video involving the Mustang’s unique all-wheel-drive system and a very strong chain…

You can see all the images and videos of Primoz’s brilliant moving diorama on Flickr by clicking here, plus you watch the original Gymkhana 7 film on which this creation its based by clicking the link above.

Lego Gymkhana 7

Blue Comet

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Lego Blue Comet Steam Train

Operating from the late 1920s until the early 1940s in New Jersey, the Blue Comet pulled carriages between New York and Atlantic City, taking just three hours to complete the journey (including a ferry crossing to Manhattan Island), and able to reach speeds of over 100mph. This magnificent recreation of one of America’s most beautiful locomotives comes from Flickr’s Cale Leiphart who has faithfully recreated not just the locomotive, but the tender and carriages too. An extensive gallery of superb images is available to view at Cale’s photostream – click the link above to buy your ticket.

Lego Blue Comet Locomotive

Sit and Swivel

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Lego Dodge Power Wagon

Launched in the 1940s the Dodge Power Wagon was a robust if unremarkable truck, with all-wheel-drive, a ladder chassis and a choice of inline-6 or V8 engines. It was produced up until the ’80s when the model was superseded by the Dodge Ram, however in the 1950s the Power Wagon was available with probably the weirdest, and coolest, optional extra ever fitted to a vehicle.

The Willock Chassis Swivel may sound like an old-timey dance (or something much ruder…) but it was in fact an articulated joint that allowed the front and back half of the truck to rotate independently, twisting the chassis to keep all four wheels on the ground no matter the terrain. Under 100 Willcock Chassis Swivel Power Wagons were produced between 1952 to 1958, and whilst the Willcock company no longer exists the swivel technology is available to buy today. You know what to spec on your next Camry!

Oh the model! This excellent recreation of one of America’s more unusual trucks comes from previous bloggee Pixel Fox, and there’s more to see of his wonderful mini-figure scale Dodge Power Wagon W300 with Willcock Chassis Swivel on Flickr – click the link above to take a look!

The Other Jeep

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Lego Technic Jeep Cherokee

Jeep Wranglers and CJs appear regularly here at The Lego Car Blog in Technic form, yet oddly the brand’s most popular model, the Cherokee, has appeared just once (in Grand form, when we mocked it). This is probably because the Cherokee is seen as a bit of a Soccer Mom’s car in the U.S, used exclusively for taking Ethan Jr. to football practice and picking Alicia up from the mall.

However despite the Cherokee’s usual life of suburban drudgery it’s actually a very capable ‘proper’ off-roader. Which of course makes it horrible for use on the road where Soccer Mom’s spend all of their time. The American consumer makes zero sense. Anyway, damianple of Brickshelf has not only built a Lego Jeep Cherokee, he’s got it doing the things it was meant to do. Remote control steering, all-wheel-drive and an operable winch all feature, as do opening doors, a raising hood and an opening tailgate.

There’s more to see of Damian’s off-road ready Jeep on Brickshelf where it’s been photographed on-location (and not at the mall) – click the link above to check it out.

Piggyback

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Lego Nasa Space Shuttle Boeing 747

This remarkable airplane is a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), based on the Boeing 747 airliner and pictured here piggybacking the Space Shuttle. It’s been built by Lia Chan of Flickr, who has appeared here before with his incredible Shuttle launch scene. There’s more to see of Lia’s spectacular replica of SCA NA905 on Flickr, where the album includes images of the model alongside its enormous real-life NASA counterpart shot on-location at the Houston Space Centre. Click the link above to visit the full gallery.

Lego SCA NA905

Squarange*

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Lego Volvo 240 DL

Contrary to today’s other post, this slice of orange magnificence is not of interest to the Elves one bit. It is however, so our kind of car! Old, square, and with the design aesthetic of an East German office block, the Volvo 240 DL and TLCB Towers have much in common.

This wonderful recreation of one of the finest lumps of Swedish steel comes from LegoJalex, and never has the humble LEGO brick seemed more suited to a vehicle. Opening doors, hood and trunk-lid all feature, as does a deliciously brown interior. If you’re as much of a fan as we are (and therefore probably a bit odd), you can see more of this classic Volvo on Flickr via the link above!

*Because it’s square. And orange.