Antidote

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Despite what you’d think looking at the cars around TLCB Towers, you really don’t need a Range Rover to drive to the gym. Which is why we love the Suzuki Jimny. Small, light, and vastly more capable off-road than SUVs with five times the power, it’s the antidote to the AMG G-63, BMW XM, and every new Defender that will never ever get a wheel dirty. Yama Jason is the builder behind this one, outfitting his Jimny with a host of off-road goodies and picturing it where you’ll never see an Audi Q7. Join him away from the pavement via the link above.

Gassed-Up

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This is the ‘Blasphemi’, a 1955 Chevrolet ‘gasser’ drag racer run in MotorTrend’s ‘Roadkill’ video series. Beautifully built in Lego form and perfectly presented, _Tiler‘s homage to Roadkill’s famous hot rod captures the moment when 1,100bhp hits the rear tyres and just 8.5 seconds later the car will be a 1/4 mile away. Head to Flickr via the second link above to see more, and click the first to watch the real thing in very noisy action.

Bananas for B-Pillars

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We kick-off 2024 with an example of why LEGO is such a good toy… er, we mean highly sophisticated interlocking brick system. Cue Jonathan Elliott‘s superb Speed Champions scale Lamborghini Countach, depicting an early example before it got all be-winged and silly, and deploying banana pieces for the b-pillars. In fact Jonathan’s build is filled with inventive parts uses to recreate the iconic ’70s shape, and you can take a look at all of the cunning techniques behind it via the link to Jonathan’s photostream above.

2023 | Year in Review

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2024 is just around the corner, and The Lego Car Blog, lodged like a piece of fluff in the internet’s belly-button, has clung on for another year!

Sadly the Queen didn’t though, and thus 2023 saw the coronation of a new king in our home nation, alongside the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic, a titanic submarine implosion, and a Chinese balloon that was just monitoring the weather, honest.

It was also the year when President Putin was usurped as the World’s Biggest Dick (ironically) by Hamas (although Benjamin Netanyahu is surely challenging that now), and in which the head of a national oil company chaired the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Which means we’re still all going to cook or drown, to the surprise of absolutely no-one.

In fact 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded for the earth’s surface temperature, but was it hot for The Lego Car Blog too? Let’s find out…

Stats

After dropping back into six-figure views from our high of over a million a few years ago, we’re almost exactly level from 2022 to 2023. Our viewing figures are directly linked to the amount of content we publish, and we’ve realised that – impressive though seven-figures annually are – we’re much too lazy to keep that pace going. Hopefully we’re publishing enough to keep you all interested (337 posts in 2023), whilst ensuring there’s balance away from writing.

The Lego Car Blog’s readers came from almost every country on earth, led by the U.S, Germany, U.K, Netherlands and Canada, whilst fourteen countries supplied just a single visitor. The most popular post of the year was ‘That’ Toyota Supra, with the Review Library, our 2024 Speed Champions preview, and the Technic 42154 Ford GT set preview also pulling in big numbers.

What’s Next?

If the online Lego Community keeps creating amazing vehicles, then we’ll keep publicising them! We might also finally complete Master MOCers Series II, with just two spaces remaining after Thirdwigg joined the Hall of Fame in 2023, and we’ll probably try to review a few things too.

We continue to be amazed just how many of you want to read the nonsense we write, and if your views and clicks earn a little revenue that we can donate to those more deserving than we are, then that’s all the motivation we need.

Thank you for visiting, if you’d like to get in touch with us you can either leave a comment or send us a message via the Contact Page, and we’ll see you in 2024.

TLCB Team

The Human Centipede

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This TLCB Writer thought they might be still drunk this morning, because what it appeared one of the Elves brought back to the office was – and this is going to sound crazy – a giant train riding not upon wheels and tracks, but fifty protruding centipede-like legs.

After a drink of water and some time away however, we can confirm that much to our surprise it is indeed what the mind of Vince_Toulouse has conjured.

Entitled the ‘Myriapodotrain’, four interconnected carriages are suspended over the aforementioned legs, each of which is a piece from the long (and best) forgotten ‘Insectoid’ range.

An exterior of deep red and gold, domed windows, and some delightfully extravagant mini-figures add to the whimsy, and you can climb aboard Vince’s remarkable transportation system via the link in the text above.

Sabre-Rattling

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McLaren have released more near-identical looking cars than even Porsche, despite only being around a sixth as many years. Cue another modern McLaren we’ve never heard of nor will ever see, the Sabre.

Built only for the American market, the Sabre is powered by the same V8 as every other recent McLaren, but looks very slightly different. Which means McLaren can charge $3million for it, as there will be enough rich idiots… er, we mean collectors, keen for some one-of-fifteen exclusivity.

Well, one-of-sixteen, as 3D supercarBricks has created this one. 3D-printed wheels and what look to be custom door frame pieces help to recreate the Sabre’s aesthetic, and there’s more of the model to see at 3D’s photostream. Click the link above to take a look at the most exclusive McLaren there is, before the brand reveals another one sometime next week.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

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We’re back! With the alcohol in our blood gradually being displaced by hazy memories and regret, The Lego Car Blog Elves – imprisoned over the holidays – have been released, and are keen to recommence their hunt for the best Lego vehicles on the ‘net. By which we mean, they’re keen to earn something to eat.

One of their number was super quick off the mark, already returning to TLCB Towers with this gorgeous vintage truck diorama entitled ‘Country Roads, 1933’ by Flickr’s Nicholas Goodman. With beautiful presentation and photography matching the superb construction techniques, it’s an excellent first blog-worthy creation, and you can take the country roads home via the link above, whilst we award an Elf a well-deserved meal.

*Today’s title song.

Merry Christmas!

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It’s the night before Christmas
And all through these pages
No Elves are stirring
‘Cos they’re shut in their cages
The Lego Car Blog Team
Will be off getting fatter
So spend some time off the ‘net
With the people that matter

We’ll be back in a few days, until then, we wish you all a very Happy Christmas : )

TLCB Team

Christmastime

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How does Santa get around the whole world delivering toys on one night? He doesn’t of course. He’s magic, and it’s probably a year-round job. But if he did have to visit every house in one night without his magic to help him, this is the vehicle he’d need to do it.

Able both to fly and time travel, the DeLorean time machine from ‘Back to the Future – Part II’ is the only car we can think of that could compete with Santa’s sleigh, and to be honest the luggage space is rather more limited, what with it being filled with a flux-capacitor and whatnot.

Suggested by a reader, this awesome Speed Champions recreation of Doc’s DMC-12 is best suited to time-travelling then, so we’ll leave the yuletide present delivery to Father Christmas and his twelve levitating reindeer. Head to barneius‘ photostream to see more of the DeLorean though, including in its BTTF Part I and Part III forms.

Mechanical Master MOCer

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You thought we’d forgotten about the Master MOCers Series hadn’t you? Well, um… we had. But no longer! Because a builder who has appeared here so frequently over the years he’s got his own section in our Archives has become the latest builder to join the Master MOCers Series 2 Hall of Fame!

Kyle Wigboldy, better known as Thirdwigg, creates some of the best all-mechanical Technic models anywhere in the world right now, and they’re being built all around the world too, as he also produces top quality building instructions to accompany them. Best of all, many of these are downloadable for free (a hundred TLCB points to Thirdwigg!).

From supercars to off-road trucks, and everything in-between, Thirdwigg’s enormous back-catalogue is filled with superb mechanically-driven creations, and you can find out what makes him tick in our 9th Master MOCers interview of Series 2.

You can read Thirwigg’s LEGO-building story via the link below, where you might find a few models that you’d like to build for yourself at home!

Master MOCers [Series 2] | Thirdwigg

Super 8

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The Lego Car Blog Elves are winding down for Christmas. They don’t need to of course – they’re Elves, basically designed to work during the festive period. And they don’t have rights.

However, we (TLCB Team) do shut up shop for the holidays, and thus we set the cat-flap to operate in-only, so as they return to TLCB Towers in the run up to Christmas they can’t get back out again.

Which means there are rather a lot of them in the office right now. This is a) very annoying, and b) means that if one of their number returns with a remote controlled creation, there is going to be considerable Elven carnage.

And so it proved today, as this mighty Tatra 813 8×8 Kolos thundered into the cage room where a number of Elves had gathered to watch terrible Hallmark Christmas movies, and were promptly squashed where they sat. Still, that’ll learn them for making poor cinematic choices.

Samuel Nerpas is the owner of the machine responsible, which is packed with multiple motors, eight-wheel-drive, twin-axle-steering, and incredible suspension, and there’s more of this amazing model to see at his photostream.

Take a look via the link above, whilst we tidy up the mess and get ready to turn the lights out…

Once You Go Black…

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Flickr’s Rubblemaker has appeared here at TLCB several times with various sci-fi builds that we don’t understand. His latest creations are apparently his favourites to date, and seeing as they all have very big guns indeed, who are we to disagree?

Entitled ‘Blacktron Fleet 2023’ and with names including ‘Ballista’, ‘Mohawk’, and ‘Bulldog’, each is a fantastic example of a genre of which we know nothing, but we do appreciate in our ignorance.

Cunning techniques, clever parts usage, and a paint-scheme straight from the baddie playbook make for an impressive fleet, and you can go black at Rubble’s photostream via the link above.

On Green… I’m Going for It

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The immortal words of Dominic Toretto, back in 2001 when he was a common street-racing thief and not an international spy or whatever the hell he’s supposed to be now he’s ten movies in.

Of course things didn’t end well for Dom after the lights did turn green (there’s a lesson there kids; real racers keep it at the track. And they don’t just race in a straight line), but fortunately Brian O’Conner was on hand to resupply the overgrown baby with another ‘ten second car’.

And fortunately for fans of the franchise (or those of you simply wanting to smash into a Dodge Charger with a freight train) previous bloggee IBrickedItUp has created both of the star cars from ‘The Fast and the Furious”s final scene in 6-wide Speed Champions form.

Building instructions are available so you can recreate the aforementioned scene at home, and you can live your life a-quarter-mile-at-a-time via the link above.

The Last RWD Champion

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From one wild almost-unrestricted racing car to another; this is the Lancia 037, the last rear-wheel-drive car to win the World Rally Championship, and one of the earliest entrants into the insanity that was Group B rallying.

Powered by a mid-mounted supercharged 2.0 engine and built from kevlar and fibreglass fitted around a space-frame, the 037 won half of the events it entered in the 1983 season, enough to take the Championship ahead of the all-wheel-drive Audi quattros.

This excellent Technic recreation of the iconic Group-B racer was discovered by one of our Elves on Eurobricks, where it was posted by newcomer Shuzbut.

With a working mid-mounted engine complete with supercharger, a 5-speed gearbox, all-wheel suspension, steering, a functional hand-brake, sprung pedals, and opening bodywork, it’s quite a debut, and there’s more of this incredible creation to see via the link above.

Orange Squash

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This incredibly low – and incredible orange – car is a 1972 McLaren M20, one of the stars of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (or Can-Am) racing series that ran from 1966 to 1974. With no limit on engine size (in fact, with few regulations at all of any kind), Can-Am became an almost unrestricted racing series, with the cars even out-performing Formula 1.

The results were wild, often using the largest engines available (usually Chevrolet), and with many drivers coming from Formula 1 and Le Mans, including a few that would become champions of each.

McLaren won the series five times, with Bruce McLaren himself taking the driver’s crown twice. The M20 didn’t make it a sixth Can-Am championship for the British team however, as its 1972 debut coincided with the arrival of Porsche’s monstrous 917, powered by a 900bhp flat-12 that was rumoured to make up to 1,500bhp in qualifying trim.

The M20 still took two wins during the 1972 season however, finishing a distant second in the championship behind the Penske-Porsche, before McLaren left the series as a works-team to focus on Formula 1.

This spectacular Model Team recreation of the final McLaren Can-Am racer comes from Luciano Delorenzo, who has captured the M20 brilliantly in brick-form. The accurate bodywork includes authentic decals, there’s working steering, and a highly detailed replica of the 8.3 litre Chevrolet V8 is fitted underneath the removable rear section.

There’s more of the model to see at Luciano’s ‘1972 McLaren M20’ album on Flickr, and you can jump back to the mightiest racing series there’ll probably ever be via the link in the text above.