MOCpages’ B. Rick (which we’d love to be his real name!) makes his TLCB debut* with a beautiful little Ford Model A hot rod. See more of his classic V8 roadster at the link.
*We think. B. Rick’s name isn’t conducive to an accurate search through our archives as our search engine returns almost every post we’ve ever published. Apologies Mr. Rick!
Here at TLCB we rarely get to LEGO Events. This is mostly because the Elves have a habit of sneaking into our bags and that doesn’t tend to end well in public spaces. Luckily for us though we have some lovely people amongst our readership who can attend on our behalf. One such reader is previous bloggee Chris Elliott, who recently attended (and displayed at) Brickfair 2014. Over to Chris to take us through what was there…
Hi! I’m Chris, and I’m honored to be back again guest-blogging for TLCB! Today I’m writing a recap of Brickfair New Jersey 2014 from the perspective of a car guy. Brickfair NJ is a relatively large event, and in 2014 there were several really good vehicle displays to be enjoyed by the car connoisseur. First, I should probably disclose that I was there displaying as well! If you’re interested, you can find me on Flickr for more of my work with minifig-scale cars.
ChrisElliottArt’s (hey, that’s me!) car display
We’ll start start things off in one of the most popular scales at Lego Shows, with I Lug NY‘s superb mini-figure Town display. This featured a whole host of realistic city scenes accompanied by an assortment of top Town vehicles. In no particular order…
Emergency Response Team responding to a fire at the Safety Inc. building
Prison Transport transporting, I assume, prisoners (though I’ve been wrong before)
A pair of squad cars
Avenue full of vehicles, and a few trains too
There were a couple of real gems hiding in this display (I’m sure you don’t need me to identify them for you but I will anyway, because that’s my job!). Here are a few highlights;
Minifig-scale Hummer H1
DeLorean DMC-12, with a few modifications…
And now for some of the bigger creations. Continue reading
They may be building in space but we’d bet they can still put a spade through your broadband connection. You can see more of TLCB favourite billyburg‘s classic space construction crew on Flickr.
Audi’s original quattro (without a capital letter) is currently seeing something of a resurgence in popularity thanks to a starring role in the hit BBC show ‘Ashes to Ashes’. However for those in the know the ’80s coupe has been a legend for 30 years.
Built back when Audi was a quiet, understated*, and slightly boring manufacturer of grey saloons the quattro came from nowhere to take the rally world by storm, and in doing so changing the sport forever. No two-wheel drive car would ever win the World Rally Championship again.
The quattro wasn’t actually the first all-wheel-drive production car (although Audi like to make us think it is), that honour goes to the Jensen FF, but it is probably the car that brought the virtues of four-driven-wheels to the masses. Now almost every manufacturer can count an all-wheel-drive model in their range.
This excellent recreation of Audi’s icon is the work of Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg, and you can see more of his Ashes to Ashes spec quattro here.
*Imagine that!
Swiftly replaced by the 650S, the MP4-12C is probably the least sexily named car ever made (Soviet and Chinese cars excepted of course), but it has brought an exciting new player onto the Italian-dominated supercar pitch. There’s a lot more to come from McLaren over the coming years too, and all of it will be based on the MP4’s remarkable carbon-fibre tub and 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 engine, meaning the MP4-12C will leave quite a legacy.
You can see more of this brilliant Model Team version courtesy of Flickr’s (FLAVIO), click the link to see all the photos.
With the news that FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is putting the world’s largest manufacturer of crappy branded merchandise – Ferrari – up for sale, we thought we’d step back to a time when the prancing horse built cars, and only cars. This was one of their finest, the glorious 288 GTO. Senator Chinchilla – who’s becoming something of a regular here – is the builder, and you can see more of his Model Team 288 GTO on Flickr at the link.
Back in the early post-war decades America made some cracking cars. This was one of them, the beautiful Oldsmobile ’88’ Rocket Coupe. This great recreation of the classic V8 is the work of Flickr’s Peter Blackert, making his second recent appearance here.
The ’88’ Rocket became one of the cult cars of the 1950s, and was probably the peak of Oldsmobile’s cool. By the late 1970s though, the U.S auto industry was struggling to make anything cool at all, and in 2004 General Motors folded the troubled brand. We have cars like this one to thank for that. Still, whatever has become of the Oldsmobile company, the Rocket will always remind us of a time when to drive American was a very good thing indeed.
Like magpies, the Elves are attracted to pretty, shiny things. This lovely little truck by South Korean builder bigcrown85 was an instant success with them. It features a neatly detailed body, with some novel parts usage such as the steps and the hammers to which the mirrors are attached. Fortunately the hammers are minifig scale. This allowed only slight damage to be inflicted in the ensuing Elf-fight over the green Smartie that the finder was rewarded with.
The truck’s wheels are very delicate and we suspect the application of a bit of “Kragle” to achieve this. However, we’re not too purist at TLCB* and so we’re happy to feature this neat build. Click this link to Flickr to see details of the chassis and the alternative van version.
We’ve previously featured bigcrown85’s superb Dakar Support Truck, when the Elves found it on MOCpages. You can now revisit it on Flickr and view its amazing detail in high resolution by clicking this link to bigcrown85’s Photostream.
*We can’t be, we work with the Elves.
We love small nimble cars here at The Lego Car Blog, and one of the best is Ford’s Fiesta. First launched in 1976 the Fiesta is now in its seventh generation, and it’s been the best selling car in TLCB’s home nation in almost every month since the current version was launched back in 2008.
The Lego recreation of the little Ford pictured here is the work of Peter Blackert (aka lego911), who has built the Mark 7 Fiesta in ‘Zetec S’ specification. There’s a whole gallery of further images available on Flickr – click here to see more.
This beautiful MAN 8×4 tow truck is the work of Flickr and Brickshelf‘s Marek Markiewicz (aka M-Longer), and it’s one of the finest looking Model Team trucks of the year. But its beauty is much more than skin deep. Within the wonderfully replicated bodywork sits one of the most advanced Technic systems we’ve seen to date.
Thirteen separate functions are generated by a variety of Power Functions motors and Technic pneumatics, which are all remotely controlled through LEGO’s infrared receivers. These include drive, steering, working stabilisers, raising and extending the boom and under-lift, four separate winches, plus an electrically driven pneumatic compressor with auto shut-off.
The only way to do this incredible engineering feat justice is through a video, and fortunately Mr. Markiewicz has created just that. Watch below, be amazed.
YouTube Video:
Well, yesterday, but we weren’t paying attention. Anyway, yes – The Lego Car Blog is now three years old!
In the past 36 months we’ve blogged over 1,000 creations, approved over 2,000 comments, and received visitors from almost every country on earth. We’re also raising some useful money for charity too, thanks entirely to your visits and clicks.
You can let us know how we’re doing so far by adding a comment to the Feedback Page, you can share any post you see here via the buttons underneath each one, and if you’ve seen your work blogged here you can join your fellow bloggees on Flickr at the ‘Blogged by TLCB‘ group.
A heartfelt thanks to every reader
TLCB Team
Following our review of LEGO’s own 42030 Technic Volvo Front Loader set it’s time for one of yours! This little front loader by TLCB debutant Appie might be much, much smaller than LEGO’s flagship set, but it packs very nearly as much inside. A pneumatic raising/lowering and tipping a bucket, all-wheel-drive connected to a working piston engine, articulated steering connected to the steering wheel and pendular rear suspension are all squeezed in. We think it would make a most excellent official set. See more on Eurobricks by clicking Appie’s name above.
After ridiculing the automotive efforts of communism earlier in the week here’s a car that proves a) we occasionally show a BBC-like impartiality here at TLCB, and b) capitalism can get it just as wrong.
It is of course a Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon, and it typifies everything about American cars that makes Europeans chuckle. Boat proportions? Check. Ladder frame chassis? Check. Wheezy V8? Check. That V8 was an utterly ridiculous 5.7 litres, and it produced… 180bhp. Our office food blender makes more power than that.
To put that figure into perspective a similar vintage BMW 540i made over 100bhp more. Even the basic 525i was more powerful.
So would we like to own a Roadmaster? You bet! Yes it’s a compete turd, but with the Elves in a box in the trunk just look at how far away they’d be from us in the front!
Oh, this Lego version is the work of Ralph Savelsberg on Flickr, making one of his regular appearances. See more at the link.
In contrast to the feature packed Technic models of our recent posts comes a pair of builds from Gene 3S. Gene’s Flickr and MOCpages listings feature an array of cute vehicles, with his latest including LEGO’s pullback motor for added fun. Tamiya’s Wild Willy and Lunchbox radio controlled cars have been delighting drivers both young and old for 15 years now. The Jeep also features a roller on the back to hold in position as it wheelies across the floor, as do both of Gene’s cars.
The Elves who found these builds have been giggling all day. This is partly because of the sugar rush from the yellow Smarties that they were rewarded with and partly because of the rather rude names that Tamiya chose for these RC vehicles. The Elves have minds almost as dirty as their smelly, unwashed bodies and enjoy a good double entendre. They’ve also been having fun trying to recreate Gene’s brilliant YouTube video, which you can watch below or click this link to see more photos on MOCpages.
