Tag Archives: 1970s

Chocolatey Contraband

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The humble Kinder Suprise egg – one part tasty Italian chocolate, one part crappy plastic toy – is illegal in the United States. Appalling animal welfare and firearms are fine though.

Fortunately for our American readers, the Kinder contained in the back of this superb Scania 1-Series truck and trailer by Vladimir Drozd is all tasty Italian chocolate and no crappy plastic toy (which is the way we prefer it), so you can have munch too.

Recreated in 1:22 scale, Vladimir’s beautifully detailed Scania includes Power Functions remote control drive and steering, suspension on all wheels, and an automatic trailer hitch.

There are more top quality images of Vladimir’s Kinder delivery truck available to view at his Flickr album, and you can find full build details and a link to building instructions at the Eurobricks forum here.

Take look via the links above whilst we work on our elaborate plan to smuggle deadly Kinder Suprise eggs into the U.S inside some harmless assault rifles.

Black Ace

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This is the Grumman F-14A Tomcat, as flown by the U.S Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron 41, the ‘Black Aces’ until he mid-’00s before being superseded by the F-18 Super Hornet.

First flying the in the early ’70s, the F-14 is a twin engine variable-sweep wing fighter that saw deployment in Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and is – somewhat oddly – still in service with the Iranian Air Force today, despite the U.S destroying its retired aircraft to prevent spare parts ending up in Iran.

This spectacular replica of the F-14A resplendent in ‘Black Aces’ markings is the work of Jonah Padberg (aka Plane Bricks) of Flickr, who has recreated the supersonic fighter in breathtaking detail.

Featuring working flaps, ailerons, elevators, rudders and air brake, plus an opening canopy, functions landing gear, and an array of explody things slung underneath, Jonah’s F-14A is so realistic we wouldn’t be supposed if Iran try to buy it for spare parts. Which they can do, as Jonah is making his model available for purchase in kit form!

There’s more of Jonah’s incredible Grumman F-14A to see on Flickr, including detailed photos of the underside and all the explody things too. Click the link in the text above to visit Jonah’s photostream, where a few Iranian aviation maintenance people may also be snooping about…

Soviet Station Wagon

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The Soviets may have hated America, but they sure liked its cars. This is the GAZ-24, specifically the 2402 station wagon produced from 1971 all the way up until the mid ’80s, despite looking like something straight out of America in 1963.

Powered by either a 2.5 litre four cylinder or an American-aping 5.5 litre V8, the GAZ-24 was famed for its toughness, and whilst limited numbers were exported, it wasn’t really available to the common Russian man, being reserved only for those with a special permit that allowed its purchase. Because Communism.

Matthew Terentev has got himself a 2402 though, by building this most excellent Technic recreation, complete with accurate leaf-spring rear and independent front suspension, a working inline 4-cylinder engine under the opening hood, ‘Hand of God’ steering and a working steering wheel, plus opening doors and tailgate.

There’s lots more to see of Matthew’s superb Soviet station wagon at his photostream on Flickr – grab your special permit, click the link, and pretend you’re a 1980s Russian pretending they’re a 1960s American.

Eastern Education

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Every day’s a school day. Following yesterday’s post featuring a vehicle by a successful German truck manufacturer that we’d never heard of, here’s another.

This is an Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau W 50, or ‘IFA W50’ for short, which is what we shall definitely be calling it. Constructed in East Germany from 1965 to 1990, the IFA W 50 was titled simply after the conglomerate that ran all of the East German vehicle manufactures at the time, including Trabant, Wartburg, and a host of other rubbish Communist companies, plus a few designs pinched from West German DKW.

Like many manufacturers behind the Iron Curtain the W 50 was produced in huge numbers, partly because it was built for so long, and partly because, well… you couldn’t buy much else.

Almost 600,000 IFA W 50s were built during its 25 year production run across over sixty body varieties, with up to 80% exported throughout the Soviet Union and sympathetic countries in some years, until Germany reunified and the Union began to collapse, abruptly ending production in 1990.

This neat Lego recreation of the East German truck comes from Clemens Schneider (aka popider) of Flickr and it features a working tipper and a rather accurate drivetrain too. Head to Clemens’ ‘IFA W 50’ album via the link to see all the images.

Death Proof

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“This car is a hundred percent death proof. Only to get the benefit of it, honey, you really need to be sitting in my seat.”

Death Proof isn’t one of Tarantino’s best works (but the bar is unfathomably high), however it’s undoubtedly his best vehicular work.

Stuntman Mike’s 1970 Chevrolet Nova appears in Lego form courtesy of Jonathan Elliott, and you can see more at his photostream. Just make sure you don’t sit in the passenger seat.

Red Square

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The Swedes must have really liked straight lines in the ’70s and ’80s. Volvo of course became famed for their boxiness, but Scania were just as rigid, as proven by this remarkably upright LK 141 truck by Flickr’s Vladimir Drozd. It’s a build that’s also remarkably detailed, looking almost photo-real thanks to exquisitely smooth building techniques. Power Functions motorisation and working suspension also feature and there’s more to see of Vladimir’s red square at his ‘Scania LK 141’ album. Click the link above to head straight there.

Lego Land Rover

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This TLCB Writer is starting to see the new Land Rover Defender all over the place and, egh… he’s still not sure about it. As a cantankerous old goat he would rather have this one, from back before the Defender was even named as such, the Land Rover Series II.

This superb Technic recreation of the classic 4×4 comes from Kent Kashiwabara of Flickr, who has not only replicated the iconic look beautifully, his soft top ’90’ Landy also includes all-wheel-drive, working steering, an inline-four engine, and live-axle suspension.

There’s more to see of Kent’s model at his ‘Series II’ album via the link above, and with LEGO now having a partnership with Land Rover, perhaps an official classic Land Rover set is in the making…

The Van

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Almost every car manufacturer makes vans these days, however in Europe there was a time when there was pretty much just one; the Ford Transit.

So ubiquitous was Ford of Europe’s product that for decades the words ‘van’ and ‘Transit’ were interchangeable, like ‘vacuum cleaner’ and ‘Hoover’, or ‘hot tub’ and ‘Jacuzzi’.

Those days are long gone with the Transit now one of many, but Flickr’s Jonathan Elliott remembers a time when the Blue Oval had van market domination with his wonderfully pretty 6-wide Mk1 Transit.

Jonathan has captured the original Transit beautifully and there’s more to see at his photostream here.

Pontiac Firebird Trans Am | Picture Special

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This might just be the most American thing we’ve ever seen. Apart from Police brutality of course. This is the late ’70s-early ’80s second generation Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, GM’s sister car to the Camero, and the Mustang’s fiercest rival.

Powered by an expansive choice of enormous V8 engines ranging from 4.3 to 7.5 litres, plus some marginally less enormous six-cylinder motors, all of which produced about as much horsepower as a European or Japanese engine half the size, the Trans Am completely erased the words ‘oil crisis’ and replaced them with a giant flaming bird motif. Because America.

The iconic slant nose arrived in 1977, bringing with it huge sales numbers, with this iteration of the Firebird selling between 150,000 and 210,000 units annually until emissions regulations finally caught up with it in 1980. The Trans Am’s starring role in Burt Reynolds’ 1977 movie ‘Smokie and the Bandit’ can’t have hurt its popularity either, a film basically about little more than trucking, car chases, and beer*. Because America.

Recreating this icon of American automobiles is TLCB Master MOCer, regular bloggee, and all-round excellent human being Firas Abu-Jaber, who has captured the ’77 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am in astonishing detail. Firas’ model replicates the Firebird’s famous exterior beautifully, with opening doors, trunk, and hood (complete with giant flaming bird motif), plus an amazingly accurate interior, and with presentation as stunning as the model itself.

Over a dozen spectacular images are available to view at Firas’ Pontiac Firebird Trans Am album on Flickr, where a build commentary can also be found. Click the link above to take a closer look, and the first link in the text to read Firas Abu-Jaber’s Master MOCers interview here at TLCB to learn how he creates incredible creations like this one.

*Well, Coors, which is nearly beer.

My Other Car’s a Camper

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You may not be familiar with Matra, but they’re probably the most important car company you’ve never heard of. Enormously successful on track, Matra won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1969, and the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1972, ’73 and ’74. They designed the first MPV, the first crossover, and – for a while – they made this, the delightfully weird three-seat Bagheera sports car.

Powered by 1.3 or 1.5 litre Simca engines, the lightweight Bagheera was faster than most other European small sports cars of the time, and cheaper too. It was a trend-setter in other ways however, being appalling built to the point of winning the ‘Silver Lemon’ award in 1975 for poorest quality, which when combined with a chassis without any rust protection whatsoever, makes the Bagheera a very rare sight today.

One Bagheera that won’t rust is this excellent Model Team version by previous bloggee monstermatou, who has constructed his entirely from the parts found within the Creator 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper set. Following his stunning Citroen DS19 built for TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model competition, Monster’s Matra continues his weird-French-cars-built-from-LEGO-sets theme, and his run of incredible B-Model builds that you can find at his photostream.

There’s more to see of monstermatou’s Matra Bagheera on Flickr via the link above, along with a host of other ace alternates including the aforementioned Citroen, a Morgan built from a Mini, and a Fiat 500 constructed from the same Camper set as this classic French oddball.

Why Do Only Fools and Horses Work?

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Britain has many famous TV cars. Ford Capris, Jaguar MkIIs, Volvo P1800s, and, er… the Reliant Regal Supervan. Yes, they really called it that, meaning it held the most ironic name in vehicular history until it was finally surpassed by the Mitsubishi Carisma in the late ’90s.

Flickr’s de-marco has captured the classic three-wheeled delivery van to perfection, and only the addition of ‘Trotters Independent Traders’ to the sides could make it any more cushty.

Click the link above to head to Peckham sometime in the 1980s. Lovely jubbly.

(If you have absolutely no idea what we’re on about, click here…)

My Others Car’s a Porsche 911 GT3 RS

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After revealing the brand new LEGO 42115 Technic Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 (what?) set yesterday, and wishing it was a Lamborghini we’d actually heard of – like a Miura – Flickr’s James Tillson has risen to the challenge with extraordinary timing by uploading his entry into TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition which is… a Lamborghini Miura. And it’s orange!

Thanks to the 42056 Porcshe 911 GT3 RS brick source, James’ Lamborghini B-Model is as searingly orange as one of the Miura’s actual paint options, and it manages to replicate the real car’s swoopy bodywork rather well too. The model also includes working suspension, functioning steering, opening doors, engine cover and front clamshell, and there’s more to see of James’ excellent alternate on Flickr. Click here to head to James’ photostream, here to read how to enter your own B-Model into the competition, and here to see the prizes on offer!

What’s in a Name?

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‘Gran Sport’ itself is not a bad name. However it does have certain connotations that may be hard to live up to. You probably wouldn’t want to attach it to a lumbering barge of Americana with about as much sporting pretension as a fridge full of cake for example.

Still, that’s what Buick did – without a hint of irony – in 1973, attaching the ‘Gran Sport’ name to their third generation Century, a car with a three-speed gearbox and as little as 190bhp. In body roughly the size of a grocery store. Full of cake.

That said, the ’73 Century GS did look rather wonderful, at least compared to most of the other crap General Motors was building at the time, and Flickr’s Thomas Gion has done a splendid job recreating it in Lego form. Head to his ‘Buick Gran Sport’ album via the link to see more (and find a link to building instructions), whilst we go an eat some cake.

Lancia-Italia Fulvia HF Rally Car | Picture Special

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It’s not often that TLCB Team are stunned by a model brought back by one of our smelly little workers. We are of course experienced professionals, experts in Lego creations, and with a wealth of building talent ourselves. Oh, sorry – that’s the Brothers Brick – we’re still as incompetent as ever, but nevertheless it takes a lot to genuinely excite us, so blasé have we become through years of blogging. Today however, we are all spectacularly impressed, thanks to All.About.Lego and his amazing Technic Lancia Fulvia HF rally car.

Built for the current Eurobricks small car contest, this incredible recreation of one of rallying’s all-time-greats not only looks absolutely wonderful (and superbly accurate, despite being the difficulty of being a Technic build), it features more working functionality than models five times its size. So much in fact, that this tiny Lancia really is a Technic ‘Supercar’.

A working V4 engine is driven by the front-wheels (yup, the fronts, as per the real Fulvia and we have no idea how All.About.Lego has managed it), whilst a rear-mounted gearbox (technically a two-speed transaxle) can be controlled via the cabin gearstick.

Working leaf-spring suspension and functioning steering feature too, completing the Technic ‘Supercar’ necessities, plus the model features opening doors, hood and trunk, as well as an accurate period livery complete with superbly replicated decals.

It’s a phenomenal build and one that will start a riot here in TLCB office if it doesn’t win the Eurobricks Small Car Contest. Head to Flickr or the Eurobricks forum to see more of All.About.Lego’s spellbinding creation and LEGO, make this a set please! We’ll buy eight.

Blue Monday*

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We round off today’s creations with one of our very favourite vehicles ever, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. Created by TLCB Regular Simon Przpiorka (aka SP_LINEUP) this gorgeous 1:24 Lego replica of the legendary 4×4 evolves his previous tan version with the addition of a bright blue paint job, one of the FJ’s most iconic hues, and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link.

*Title song. Naturally.