Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Lego Santa's Hot Rod

He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice, he’s got a hot rod for crossing the ice, Santa Claus is coming to town!

When Santa isn’t commanding his magic sleigh he’s still got to get around, and – looking as he does like the missing member of ZZ Top – we think he’s probably got a pretty cool ride.

Previous bloggee sm 01 thinks so too, and he’s built Mr. Claus the perfect vehicle for a rockin’ journey across the frozen wastes of the North Pole. You can see more of Santa’s Hot Rod on Flickr at the link above.

Lego Santa Sleigh

Red Letter Day

Lego Cars

It’s been an uneventful few days here at TLCB Towers, as not a single Elf has returned with anything of note. Out of patience, we summoned Mr. Airhorn and chased any remaining Elves out of the office. When they’re hungry enough (which won’t take long) we’ll have some more models to blog…

In the meantime we can keep the cars coming thanks to some of your suggestions.

From left to right; Previous bloggee Alexander Paschoaletto‘s tidy Model Team Koenigsegg CCX, previous bloggee Rage Hobbit‘s remote control Technic Lotus Elise S, and newcomer Ben Smith‘s lovely Model Team Dodge Viper GTS.

You can see more of each of today’s submitted creations via the hyperlinks in the text above, and if you’d like to suggest a creation too you can do so via the Feedback page found in the main menu.

Clean ‘n Chrome

Lego 1930 Ford Coupe Hot Rod

Is this the nicest Town-scale Lego hot rod ever built? TLCB regular _Tiler is the builder behind it, and you can see more of his absolutely beautiful 1930 Ford Coupe on Flickr at the link above.

More Mercedes

Lego Technic Mercedes-Benz Arocs

Following the launch of LEGO’s 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs set earlier in the year the online Lego community has been churning our new variants at a prolific rate.

The latest to feature here comes fitted with a giant piece of Agrar agricultural equipment on the back which is remotely controlled by a Power Functions motor, with another powering its all-wheel-drive, a third controlling the steering, and a fourth operating the transmission.

Technic Mercedes Truck

Eric Trax is the builder behind it and there’s more to see on Brickshelf, the Eurobricks discussion forum here, and in the YouTube video below.

YouTube Video:

Pretty Red Dress

Lego Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia

Volkswagen’s Karmann-Ghia (named after the design studios that created it) may have simply been a Beetle in a pretty dress, but what a dress! The Karmann-Ghia is easily one of the most beautiful cars of the 1960s – itself one of the most beautiful eras of car design – and this gorgeous Model Team recreation of the classic coupe captures the Ghia’s curves superbly. Built by Vibor Cavor and suggested by a reader you can see more at both MOCpages and Flickr.

Hexed

Lego Technic Hexapod Mech

Nope, we don’t know what this is either, but somewhere inside this beetle-like creature is a mini-figure who’s having the time of his life.

You can see more of newcomer Hugolin‘s remote controlled ‘Hexapod’ mech via Eurobricks, and you can see what it can do via the video below.

YouTube Video:

Throw Some Hammers Back There

Lego Dodge Ram 3500

Here at TLCB we don’t like ’90s traditional American pick-up trucks. Because they are – and we can’t state this strongly enough – truly dreadful in every conceivable way. This one, a Dodge Ram 3500, could be ordered with a Cummins diesel engine though, which meant that you could throw the rest of the truck away and at least keep hold of one bit of respectable engineering.

Luckily Ford are now shaking up the lacklustre truck market, with lighter aluminium bodies and smaller more efficient turbocharged engines, meaning that hopefully in a few years time the only naturally-aspirated ugly behemoth you’ll be able to see will be in Lego form like this. Plus your Mom of course. This (excellent) Ram 3500 replica is the work of TLCB regular Ralph Savelsberg, and you can see more of it and his other builds by visiting his Flickr photostream at the link above.

Mini-Fig-ira

Lego Akira Kaneda's Bike

Kaneda’s Bike from Akira has appeared here several times over the years, but no attempt had been made at a mini-figure scale version – so difficult is the build even in a large scale – until now.

TLCB favourite _Tiler, who we think might be the best Town-scale builder anywhere, has finally allowed Kaneda to feature in mini-figure form, and a stunning job he’s done too.

You can see more of mini-fig-Kaneda’s Bike at _Tiler’s Flickr photostream via the link above, where there are also instructions available, and you can see the larger recreations that have featured here in the past by using the search function at the foot of this page.

Brick-Bean

Lego Mr. Bean Mini

LEGO’s 10242 Mini Cooper set received an excellent review here at TLCB earlier in the year, but Flickr’s Dornbi decided that his copy could benefit from a few, er… ‘household’ modifications… modifications that Mr. Bean was forced to put into practice back in 1994 following an eventful trip to the January sales.

You can see more of Dornbi’s brilliant modified 10242 set on Flickr at the link above, and the unique approach to automotive packaging by Mr. Bean on which this model is based by clicking here.

Streaky Bacon

Lego Porsche 917K Herrmann/Attwood

This stripy porker comes from TLCB favourite Greg998, who has added another gorgeous classic racing car to his already impressive stable.

His latest model is a recreation of one of the most successful (and dangerous) endurance racers of the 1970s; the incredible Porsche 917. This example was driven by Herrmann and Atwood for Porsche Salzburg in 1970, giving Porsche their first ever overall Le Mans victory.

Beautifully built and decaled, you can see more of Greg’s stunning Porsche on Flickr – click here to make the jump to his epic photostream.

Hello Boys*

Lego technic VAZ-2101

It’s a rare event when a Lego creation shares something in common with Wonderbra, so this wire-framed VAZ-2101 by Desert752 Kiril marks a TLCB first. The interesting bodywork design is employed for essentially the same reason as Wonderbra’s patented underwiring; to lift its contents as much as possible.

However, unlike Wonderbra’s garment of lies, Desert752’s VAZ is using its wiring technology to offer you much more than you’d expect… because its lightweight minimalism allows it to drift!

Without the weight of thick plastic bricks to overcome, the VAZ’s Power Functions motors can have a riot on shiny surfaces. You can see the VAZ in glorious sideways-y action at Desert752’s MOCpage, or via the Eurobricks discussion forum here.

Lego Technic Drift Car

*Also, this ad.

Tilting Tatra

Lego Tatra Tippier Truck

How many The Lego Car Blog Elves can you fit in the back of remote controlled Model Team Tatra 815 tipper truck?

As it turns out, lots. Which makes it all the more amusing when said truck is driven to the TLCB Towers door, its tilting load bed is deployed, and the Elven cargo is dumped outside.

We should get some peace in the office for a bit now, and you can check out this most excellent Tatra 815 tipper truck at Jarda‘s Brickshelf account.

Hoverescue

Lego Hovercar

Yesterday‘s blogged builder has the unusual privilege of featuring here twice in a row, thanks to another gorgeous Town-scale hovercar, this time targeting the well-to-do family man. Jerac’s beautifully presented ‘Epsilon Dynamics Aeris’ features an interior as attractive as the exterior and can be seen in more detail on Flickr.

Lego Hover Truck

But what if your hovercar is Italian, and thus inevitably breaks down we here you say? You can’t attach a hook to the front and tow it back to the shop. Well Jerac’s got that covered too, with his excellent ‘Clobbergoot Hover Tow Truck‘, perfect for all your hovercar breakdown needs. See how it works at Jerac’s photostream via the magic underscored words above.

Lego Hover Truck

 

Float On

Lego Hover Car

2015 is the year Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel forward to in Back to the Future Part II, but we still don’t have a hovercar. We think it’ll be quite some time before we do too.

This lucky mini-figure has already got his yellow clamps on one though (an Epsilon Dynamics Athame apparently), and it looks really rather nice. Jerac is the builder and there’s more to see here.

Lego Hovercar

Tadano AR-1200M – Picture Special

Lego Tadano AR-1200M Crane

Following our massive LEGO Technic crane comparison review it’s time for one of yours. Considerably bigger, more detailed, more technical and more awesome, this spectacular Tadano AR-1200M by TLCB debutant Beat Felber would win against any of the official LEGO competition.

Lego Tadano AR-1200M Crane

There are sixteen remotely controlled functions, including drive, steering on all axles with four steering modes, a two-stage telescopic boom and two-stage telescopic jib, tilting cab, rotating turntable, twin winches, stabilisers with pneumatically powered supports, working lights and an electronically moving counterweight.

There’s a whole lot more too, making this one of the most impressive pieces of Lego engineering that we’ve found this year. See it all at Beat Felber’s photostream – click the link above to make the jump.

Lego RC Crane