Cheap Thrills

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Lego Technic Porsche 911

Things that do a lot for a little are very much liked here at TLCB. Now we aren’t suggesting that the real Porsche 911 is a cheap thrills option – unfortunately classic cars are being hunted down like Pokemon at the moment, so even the lowest spec, ugliest bumper-ed 911 is worth silly money these days – but this tidy Technic recreation of Porsche’s 964 series 911 shows what can be done with a few bricks and a bit of talent.

Underneath the simple but actually quite effective bodywork is a working flat-6 engine, functioning steering via both hand-of-god and the steering wheel, folding seats, plus opening doors, hood and engine cover. Which means that this little gem has nearly as much going on as the official £250 LEGO Technic Porsche 911 GT3, only it uses about a tenth of the pieces.

You can see the full gallery on Brickshelf courtesy of Atrx, where’s there’s also a link to a video demonstrating the model’s features. Good stuff Atrx!

Red Russian Repeat

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Lego MTZ-52 Belarus Tractor

Following his appearance here last week, Flickr’s Jakeof_ is back with another beautifully recreated Soviet oddity. This is a Belarus MTZ-52 tractor and approximately 200,000 were built from the mid ’60s until production ceased in the mid ’80s. Powered by a 4.7 litre four-cylinder diesel engine the all-wheel-drive MTZ-52 made around 50bhp, giving it a top speed of about… 17mph. Don’t worry though, we’ve sent the Elves out to try to find something fast to rebalance the blog a bit later in the week! You can see more of the Belarus at Jakeof_’s photostream – click the link above to make the jump.

Lego Belarus Tractor

Review Your LEGO Set – Win Loot!

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Lego Set Reviews

Containing over 50 reviews of almost 70 LEGO sets spanning 4 decades, The Lego Car Blog’s Set Review Library is easily the most professional looking part of the entire TLCB establishment*.

Our expert Set Reviewers, shunning the fame and glory normally associated with such a task, quietly and anonymously pick apart The LEGO Group’s efforts, helping you to decide whether or not to open up your wallet.

They’re diligent, knowledgeable, nerdy… and most importantly they’re willing to work for nothing more than a microwave meal and the chance to gaze at TLCB’s intern from across the office.

Seriously though, our Set Reviewers do an excellent job and they really know their stuff, having reviewed everything from LEGO’s first large-scale vehicles from the late 1970s right up to the latest limited-edition Technic flagships. There may even be a famous name or two amongst them. And now we’d like you to join them!

If you own an official LEGO set that you think should be in the Set Review Library, you can help to put it there! We’re looking for funny, articulate writers to help increase the Library’s stock, and in doing so your words will feature on a site reaching over a million annual readers. There’s even some loot up for grabs for the best submission (details of which will follow).

How to Enter

  1. Contact us; either here, via Flickr message, or via one of our Flickr group discussions, stating the LEGO set that you wish to review and providing us with a link to one of your online presences.
  2. Stage 1 Approval; TLCB staff will review your suitability and respond with an acceptance or rejection. Apologies, not everyone will be accepted – please be prepared for a rejection if your chosen set is deemed unsuitable. If you are accepted we’ll ask for you to send us an image of your LEGO set with a unique phrase featuring somewhere in the photo to ensure that you do own the set in question.
  3. Write your Review! You can get an idea of past Set Reviews via the Set Review Library, but you can be as creative as you like!
  4. Stage 2 Approval; TLCB staff will review your Set Review, assessing its suitability for publication. Your words may require editing, and your Review may also be rejected – again, please be prepared for the possibility that your words are deemed to be unsuitable.
  5. Publication! Once your Set Review is accepted it will be published on The Lego Car Blog! You can choose whether you’d like a link to your online presence to be included, or you can choose to remain anonymous.
  6. Win! The Set Review with the highest averaged hits, combined with our judges’ assessment, will earn its writer some of the Lego loot that we have acquired here at TLCB!

That’s it! Simple huh? If you’d like to get your Set Review online for up to a million people a year, increase exposure to your own work, or if you’re just after some loot, then get in touch! Success could also open the door to other opportunities here at TLCB…

Good luck!

TLCB Team

*It’s a very low baseline.

Remote Control Raptor

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Lego Technic Ford Raptor Remote Control

Ford’s Raptor is arguably the most hardcore production off-road pick-up truck on sale. For 2017 Ford are preparing  a new version, ditching the old V8 and replacing it with their new twin-turbo V6 as found in the Ford GT. No doubt some backwards-thinking rednecks will lament this update, but we’re all for it here at TLCB. Previous bloggee Rage Hobbit of MOCpages seems to be too, and he’s recreated the upcoming Raptor in monster RC Technic form.

With twin buggy motors driving a selectable 4×4 system through a 4-speed sequential gearbox, working steering, independent front and 4-link live axle rear suspension, opening (and locking) doors, hood and tailgate, plus a the 2017 Raptor’s Ecoboost V6 up front, Rage’s Raptor replica is one of the best off-roading Lego creations we’ve seen this year.

There’s lots more to see at Rage Hobbit’s MOCpage, including an extensive image gallery, full technical details and a video of model in action – click the link above to make the jump.

Lego Technic Ford SVT Raptor 2017

Spideria Ferrari

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Lego Ferrari Mecha

Formula 1 – po-faced, over regulated, and completely devoid of originality – needs a kick in the ass. TLCB debutant Gamabomb may have the answer. Or maybe not, but it’s fun to imagine! This is his ‘Ferrari SF48-0’ built for the Mecha Racing League, and it’s a wonderfully pointless thing. More like this please interwebs! Check it out on Flickr at the link above.

Lego Ferrari F1 Mecha

The Secret Life of Pets

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Lego Pet Mech

…isn’t like the movie. Not in Galaktek‘s world anyway. Puff the Poodle and Fluff the Cat have got their paws on some spectacularly lethal looking pet mechs, and bath time and vet trips have just got a whole lot more difficult. See more at Galaktek’s photostream via the link above – just don’t mention the ‘B’ or the ‘V’ words…

Lego Pet Mech

Red Russian

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Lego DT-75 Bulldozer

This magnificent DT-75 vintage Belarusian bulldozer comes from TLCB favourite Jakeof_, and it’s glorious! But then, we are sometimes a bit odd here at TLCB, as obscure pieces of agricultural machinery from behind the Iron Curtain shouldn’t really excite anyone. If you’re as sad as us though you can see more of Jakeof_‘s excellent recreation at his photostream via the link above.

Lego DT-75 Tractor

Parts Shop

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Lego Town Parts Shop

This superbly detailed Town-scale auto-parts shop comes from Flickr’s sanellukovic, and the inside is as good as the outside too. Check it out at the link above.

Spacists

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Lego Futuron Space Tank

The peaceful Futuron people from LEGO’s veteran space era seem to have got a whole lot more fighty in recent times. Suggested by a reader this mighty Futuron space tank comes from previous bloggee and Master MOCer Andrea Lattanzio aka Norton 74, and it’s here to finally kick some Blacktron ass.

We’re going to use this post to suggest that despite their longstanding bitterness the black side and the white side are actually exactly the same underneath their spacesuits, and that guns do not, have never, and never will, solve any community division. Seriously America, the rest of world is watching and wondering what the hell you’re doing to each other.

Anyway, you can check out Futuron’s bold new militarised direction at Norton’s photostream – click here to take a look.

Lego Space Hangar

Pork Chop

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Lego Police Chopper Motorbike

Redfern1950s continues his run of beautifully designed motorcycles with this absolutely gorgeous police-issue chopper. Redfern is very probably the king of motorbike detailing at the moment, and his latest work also comes in civilian flavour too (see below), but that one doesn’t allow for a witty title. You can see more of both builds at Redfern’s photostream – click here to make the jump to Flickr.

Lego Chopper Bike

UMM…

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Lego UMM Alter II

This slightly sad looking vehicle is an UMM Alter II, built from ’86 until ’96 by Portuguese metal-works União Metalo-Mecânica, primarily for use in utilities and military applications.

Based on a design bought from France and mostly fitted with Peugeot engines the UMM Alter was a surprisingly tough and capable machine, with 10,000 finding a home in UMMs markets around the Mediterranean and Africa.

This perfectly recreated Model Team replica of the UMM Alter II is the work of Flick’s Biczzz and it features working steering, rear suspension and opening doors and hood. There a large gallery of images available and you can see more via the link above.

Lego UMM Alter II 4x4 Biczzz

Rotary Renown

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Lego Mazda 787B Rotary Le Mans

This remarkable car is Mazda’s 1991 Group C Le Mans winning 787B, to this day the only Japanese car ever to win the famous 24 hour race and the only non-reciprocating engine powered car to do so too. This stunning replica of Mazda’s greatest triumph is the work of TLCB favourite Greg998, and he’s recreated the 900bhp carbon-composite monster in jaw-dropping detail.

Underneath the brilliantly recreated bodywork – complete with Mazda’s tricky ’91 livery and period-correct decals – Greg’s 787B features working steering, all-wheel suspension, working headlights, and a Lego version of Mazda’s unique (and mental) 4-rotor engine. There’s lots more to see on Flickr, Eurobricks and MOCpages – click the links to see full details and imagery.

Eight by Four

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Lego Technic RC Truck

It was a very Technic-y last week here at TLCB, but you don’t need a billion bricks to make a decent Technic model. Suggested by a reader, this little remote control 8×4 truck by TomasHubik makes a lot out of a little. A single Medium motor provides drive, a Servo provides the steering, there’s pendular rear suspension, and that’s about it. You can see more via Eurobricks – click here to make the jump.

Dig This

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Lego Technic RC Excavator

It’s not all exotic supercars and space-based ants here at TLCB. Sometimes we like humble workhorses too, like this mini excavator, as found on small building sites the world over. This Technic version, pictured here removing Elf droppings, has been built by Anto of Eurobricks and it’s a miracle of packaging, with no less than nine working functions.

Two infrared receivers control four functions each, and a gearbox adds a ninth, allowing the model to drive and skid-steer via independently controlled tracks, rotate the turret, raise, lower, rotate and extend the arm, raise and lower the front blade, and pneumatically open and close the bucket. How all that fits inside is a mystery that the collective mind of TLCB is unable to fathom, but if you’re smarter than us you can give it a go via the Eurobricks discussion forum – click the link above if you dig it.

Lego Technic Remote Control Excavator Power Functions