My Other Car’s a Land Rover

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The original 1948 Land Rover (long before it was called a ‘Defender’) was a vehicle borne out of necessity. Luxury car maker Rover needed to restore revenue after the war, but with Europe in ruins and steel rationing in place, car production wasn’t going to get running for some time.

The need for a utilitarian off-road tractor was obvious though, and thus – with surplus aluminium and left-over airplane cockpit paint – the Land Rover was born. What is less known however, is that the first Land Rover prototypes used the chassis from another surplus wartime item; the Willys Jeep.

It’s fitting then that this incredible Willys Jeep MB, complete with a Browning machine gun and an M3 37mm anti-tank gun in tow, is constructed solely from the official (and excellent) LEGO Icons 10317 Land Rover Defender 90 set.

Built by TLCB Master MOCer Eric Trax, this astonishing alternate includes a range of wartime accompaniments, from the aforementioned weaponry to jerry cans, radio equipment, and ammunition boxes, with the beautiful Jeep itself also featuring steering and suspension.

The result is so perfect you’d never know it was built using such restricted parts – which makes it much like the original Land Rover – and there’s much more to see, including a link to building instructions, at Brickshelf and the Eurobricks forum.

Bruce Wayne’s Bike

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Batman gets to ride/drive/fly some pretty awesome stuff. But when he’s not at work fighting the seedy underbelly of Gotham, Bruce Wayne might still want access to some cool machinery. Cue 1980SomethingSpaceGuy, who has repurposed the parts from the 42155 The Batman – Batcycle set into this stealthy cafe racer. A V4 engine, steering and suspension all feature, and there’s more to see of 1980’s 42155 B-Model at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.

Is it Real. Is it Recall.

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1990’s ‘Total Recall’ was a brilliant idea made not very well. But it did have Sharon Stone in it. Thus in 2012 Hollywood decided to release a remake, and it was a brilliant idea made not very well. But it did have Kate Beckinsale in it.

Perhaps the third time will be the charm, but the 2012 version wasn’t without merit, and it also included some cool police hover-cars not unlike those more famously featured in another Philip K. Dick book-turned-movie.

This recreation of the ‘Total Recall’ police hover-car comes from cixpack of Flickr, there’s more to see via the link above, plus you can watch the movie version (and Kate Beckinsale) in action by clicking here.

Blues Brothers

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We considered linking to that infernal late-’90s Italian song in the title, and then thought better of it. But by then it was already stuck in our heads, so if we have to suffer you do too. And if you don’t click on that link we’ll still find a way of annoying you with Eiffel 65’s madness later in this post.

Oh yeah, cars. These six brilliant Speed Champions scale classics were discovered by a soon-to-be-very-fat-Elf on Flickr. They come from previous bloggee Thomas Gion, and clockwise from top left – in various levels of blueness – are a ’69 Chevy Nova, a ’63 Chevy Nova ‘Gasser’, a ’66 Buick Riviera, a ’54 Ford Thunderbird, a ’70 Plymouth Barracuda, and a ’69 AMC AMX Superstock.

Each is excellent and you can check them all out via the link above. Da-ba-dee-da-ba-di!

Just a Small Slice

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From yesterday’s vertically-adjusted vehicle to one that’s been altered rather more horizontally. Built for the Tillamook Creamery, several of these drastically shortened cheese-coloured Volkswagen Transporter ‘Yum Buses’ were (and are) used to promote Tillamook’s dairy-based deliciousness. This mightily complicated miniature version comes from regular bloggee 1saac W., who has captured the promotional vehicle beautifully, with a myriad of ‘cheese wedge’ bricks rather appropriately deployed to form the bus’s rounded shape. There’s more to see on Flickr and you can grab yourself a slice via the link above.

Hot Pancake

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This improbably-proportioned creation comes from the aptly-named Drop Shop of Flickr, who has built it in memory of two lost friends. Based on a Ford Model A, Drop’s spidery hot rod features a highly detailed engine, suicide doors, realistic brakes, working steering, and such severely chopped bodywork it likely necessitates the passengers poking out of the top like the dinosaur from The Flintstones.

Excellent building techniques and top-quality photography complete the model, and there’s more to see of Drop’s superbly-presented hot rod at their photostream; make your way flatly there via the link in the text above.

Prime Position

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We’re breaking a few of our own rules today…

This creation is virtual. It features a cartoonish caricature. Oh, and a big bald meathead, who may or may not have LEGO arms.

But seeing as the movies from which it’s inspired are also pretty much virtual (no, physics does not do the things it appears to in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise), feature cars that too are cartoonish caricatures, and that also include the aforementioned big, bald meathead, we’re going to let it pass. In the name of “Family…”, or something.

Built for the ‘Iron Builder’ contest, in which participants must use a usually-obscure LEGO piece (in this case a Spike Prime Colour Sensor), Ivan Martynov’s homage to the most profitable (and worst) movie franchise of all time includes several of the chosen part hidden throughout it, including the Dodge Charger’s supercharger, the floodlights, hidden within the cityscape, and most cunningly as a meathead torso.

There’s more to see at Ivan’s photostream, and you can ignore physics whilst muttering “Family…” for little-to-no-reason via the link in the text above!

Battle of Britain

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There are a few machines of the many that were borne out of the Second World War that changed the course of it. The Russian T34-85 tank, the American Willys Jeep, and this; the British Supermarine Spitfire.

First flying just before Britain entered the conflict, the Spitfire became the backbone of the Royal Air Force’s defence of the skies over the British Isles, which – had they been lost – would have enabled a German invasion and likely a very different world to the one we live in now.

Produced throughout the entire conflict, both the Spitfire and the formidable Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that powered it were upgraded and improved multiple times in just a few years, with the design operating not only with the Royal Air Force but with several Allied partners, with this example representing a unit flown by the Canadian Air Force.

It’s the work of Juliusz D., who has captured a ‘clipped wing’ variant of the Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe beautifully in brick form.

Wonderful building techniques, excellent decals, and top quality presentation make this a model worth a closer look, and you can take to the skies over Europe in 1944 in the defence of liberty via the link above.

Technic 42156 Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar | Set Preview

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LEGO’s extensive catalogue of officially-licensed vehicle sets has brought many amazing real-world racers to bedroom floors, including the 42141 McLaren Formula 1 Car, 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE AF Corse, and the 42096 Porsche 911 RSR.

Today we can reveal that LEGO are not only bringing another real-world racer to the Technic range, but a whole new manufacturer too! This is the brand new 1:10 scale, 1,775-piece 42156 Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar.

Yes, we finally have a top-tier Le Mans Hypercar in brick form, although with LEGO also having licenses with rival teams Toyota, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, and Ferrari, hopefully we could see the whole Le Mans grid in time.

The Peugeot 9X8 entered the championship this year, looking to challenge the dominance of Toyota at the front of the field, and combines a V6 engine with a Hybrid KER system and four-wheel drive.

The new LEGO 42156 set aims to recreate the functions of the real Peugeot 9X8, with working steering and suspension, a V6 piston engine, 7-speed transmission, and – mysteriously – replicating ‘the low emission hybrid powertrain system’, although we’re not sure what that means.

The set also features glow-in-the-dark headlights and a myriad of authentic decals, and is expected to cost around £170 / $200 when it reaches stores in time for the 2023 24 Heures du Mans race this summer, in which Peugeot Sport might get a little extra support from LEGO fans…

Sub-Optimus Prime

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If the Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ movies were directed by the people that make ‘Bob the Builder’, the result might look a little something like this.

Replacing angry alien robots with, er… cute alien robots, Angus MacLane has optimised the adorability of the leader of the Autobots, and there’s more to see of his charming ‘Sub-Optimus Prime’ transforming truck on Flickr.

Click the link above for the cutest robot in disguise you’ll see today.

The Best a Man Can Get

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There seems to be only one measure when it comes to marketing razors; The More Blades the Better. “You have three, well we have four.” “Well now we have five.” “Alright then, six.” It’ll only end when razors have a different blade for each individual hair on your face.

Trucks are much like razors, being marketed primarily as masculine tools, and where – at least according to Flickr’s Martin Nespor – more is more.

Cue Martin’s excellent fully remote controlled cab-over dumper, with not two, nor three, but five axles. It’s the Gillette razor of trucks.

All five axles are suspended, axles three and four are powered, whilst axles one, two and five are steered. There’s also a huge tipping dumper, operated via a linear actuator, with a self opening and closing bucket door cleverly linked to the tipping mechanism.

Well presented on-location in a sandpit, there’s more to see of Martin’s razor… er, truck at his photostream, and you can take a look via the link in the text above before someone builds one with six axles to beat him.

Gaseous Emissions

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A fart on a bus is a most unwelcome travelling companion. Although it is immensely funny if you cut one just before your stop. Anyway, here’s a bus powered by compressed natural gas, being a Gillig CNG. Emitting around 20% less CO2 than diesel equivalents, CNG buses run mostly on the same stuff that exits your body, with this one (the bus, not a fart) being formed by previous bloggee 1saac W. of Flickr. There’s more to see at 1saac’s photostream and can toot on over via the link above.

Easter Cors-Hare

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Today’s title is about as tenuously linked to Easter as it’s possible to get, but seeing as egg-laying rabbits have about as much to do with Easter as a 1940s fighter aircraft, we’re going with it.

This is a US Navy Vought Corsair, made Eastery with only a minor spelling amendment, created and presented in this wonderful vignette by Nicholas Goodman of Flickr. Pictured in the Solomon Islands in 1944, Nicholas has deployed superb attention to detail, using fantastic building techniques, custom mini-figures, and hiding a few period-correct easter eggs in the vignette too.

See, it was Eastery all along!

There’s more to see at Nicholas’ photostream and you can head to the Solomon Islands in 1944 via the link in the text above, or alternatively click here for something actually Easter-related.

No Innuendo Here

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This is a DAF A 1600 DD truck, a rather funky-looking 1960s cab-over, and it’s doing things that may flag your content filter at school or work. There looks to be considerable pumping, some kind of load sharing between the truck and drawbar trailer, and it has a name like that movie that’s named after something else. But it’s easter, so there’ll be no innuendo here!

Previous bloggee Arian Janssens is the builder, and he’s uploaded a wealth of imagery to his ‘DAF A 1600 DD’ album, including the truck solo, with its myriad of compartments wide open, and with the drawbar trailer connected both behind and in front. There’s much more to see on Flickr and you can make your way there via the link above.

Build-an-F40

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Ferrari may have built a surprisingly large number of F40s, but even with our big-time Lego Blogging Money, owning one is considerably out of reach. However this stunning Technic version is rather more attainable, and it features a working V8 engine, 5+R gearbox, independent suspension, opening clamshells, and pop-up headlights just like the real thing.

Eurobricks’ sebulba56 is the designer, and they’ve made building instructions available so you can create your own brick-built replica of Ferrari’s legendary 40th-birthday-present-to-itself too.

Full details can be found at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, where images of mechanical break-downs, a complete description, and a link to building instructions can all be found.