Tag Archives: 1970s

Deutschland Duel

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Lego Technic Großer Mercedes 770

Iiiin the red corner, representing West Germany, driven by Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring and Pope Pius XI, and powered through the 1930s by eight cylinders and a supercharger, it’s the Großer Mercedes 770!

Aaaand in the beige corner, representing East Germany, driven by peasants, and powered through the 1950s… and 60s… and 70s… and 80s… and 90s… by two cylinders and hope, it’s the Trabant Combi!

Two very different yet very German cars today, represented by two very different but very excellent Lego creations.

Above we have the Großer Mercedes 770, built by Aleh of Eurobricks in Technic form and absolutely packed with amazing technology. Aleh’s recreation of one of Mercedes-Benz’s most opulent vehicles includes Power Functions drive and steering, an inline-8 engine hooked up to a three-speed+R gearbox, working all-wheel mechanical brakes powered by a Medium motor, all-wheel suspension, LED lights, and SBrick bluetooth control.

At the other end of the automotive scale we have this wonderfully replicated Model Team style Trabant Combi, resplendent in an authentic hearing-aid beige and built by fellow TLCB debutant Dan Falussy. With opening doors, hood and hatchback plus folding seats, Dan’s homage to the world’s finest cotton car (yes really) is about as well equipped as the real thing, and very probably better built.

There’s more to see of each model on Eurobricks (as well as Flickr in the Trabant’s case) via the links above. Take a look and choose your winner!

Lego Trabant

Seventies Supercar Saturday

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Lego Ferrari 308 GTS

Iiiin the red corner, from Italy, with V8 muscle and weighing in at 2,315lbs, it’s the Ferrari 308 GTS! Aaaand in the white corner, from Germany, powered by an inline-6 and weighing in at 2,866lbs, it’s the BMW M1!

Both superb Speed Champions supercars are the work of previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott and you can see more of each, and pick your winner, via the links above.

Lego BMW M1

Three Champions

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Lego Datsun 240Z Fairlady

It’s a bumper haul today at The Lego Car Blog as we have not one, not two, but three superb models to show you. Newcomer Simon Przepiorka recently uploaded a trio of brilliant Speed Champions-style creations to Flickr and is here making his TLCB debut with all three!

Lego Datsun 240Z Fairlady

First up is the wonderful Datsun 240Z pictured in the image above in a retina-searing orange and in the first image in a cool white. Measuring just eight studs wide Simon’s gorgeous recreation of one of Japan’s most iconic sports cars not only looks superbly accurate, it features a plethora of opening panels too, including the doors, tailgate and hood – all of which reveal further detailing within.

Lego Nissan R34 Skyline GTR

Simon’s second creation is another icon from Nissan, this excellent R34 Skyline GTR. One of the most accurate Lego R34s we’ve seen in any scale, Simon’s model includes opening doors, trunk and hood, with a detailed interior and the GTR’s beautifully replicated RB26DETT engine neatly constructed in Lego too.

Lego Nissan R34 Skyline GTR

Simon’s third and final Speed Champions model is another classic, this stunning Chevrolet Camaro SS, again complete with opening everything and with a miniature V8 engine under the hood.

All three creations are well worth a closer look and you can do just that at each model’s Flickr album. Click this link for the Datsun 240Z, this one for the Nissan Skyline GTR, and this one for the Chevrolet Camaro SS.

Lego Chevrolet Camaro SS

Bora Bora

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Lego Maserati Bora

So good they named it twice. The French Polynesian island does look pretty nice, but it’s not quite as lovely as this. This brilliant little Speed Champions style 1971 Maserati Bora comes from previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott and he’s captured the gorgeous Giugiaro design wonderfully. There’s more to see of Jonathan’s 6-wide Bora on Flickr at the link above, where you can also find several other superb Speed Campions classics.

75875 Rewound

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Lego Hot Rod and Pick-Up 75875

LEGO’s 75875 Speed Champions set is a neat officially-licensed product, complete with a modern Ford F-150 pick-up and a retro Ford Coupe hot rod. Previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott is feeling even more retro though and he’s reworked the set backwards by around 40 years to create a 1970s F-150 and a 1925 Ford Model-T racer. Step back in time at the link above.

Lego Hot Rod and Pick-Up 75875

Dodge Challenger R/T – Picture Special

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Lego Dodge Challenger R/T

Launched in 1970 the Dodge Challenger was the Chrysler Corporation’s answer to the Ford’s Mustang and General Motors’ Camaro. To compete with the wide variety of models available from Ford the Challenger could be specified in a myriad of engine and trim options, from a 3.4 litre slant-6 making about 4bhp to the monstrous 7 litre and 7.2 litre Hemi and RB V8s. You can guess which end of this scale we have represented here today!

Lego Dodge Challenger R/T

The original Challenger only lasted a few short years, arriving very late to the muscle car party when most people were already passed out or staggering home. The fuel crisis of the 1970s didn’t help much either and the Challenger was gone by 1974. Despite its short lifespan though, original Challengers are seriously sought-after, and the design made enough of a lasting impression for Chrysler to resurrect it with a retro-styled reboot in 2008, a car which is still available today.

Lego Dodge Challenger Hemi V8

This absolutely spectacular 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T (with the big V8) comes from previous bloggee Dave Slater who has captured the real car beautifully in Model Team form. Opening doors reveal a wonderfully detailed interior, whilst the iconic hood can raise to reveal a stunning (and very orange) replica of the 426 Hemi V8 underneath.

There are lots more brilliant images to see at Dave’s Dodge Challenger R/T Flickr album – click the link above, find an empty and dead-straight road, and nail the throttle.

Lego Dodge Challenger R/T

Teutonic Turbo

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Lego Porsche 911 Turbo

Certain cars are synonymous with the technology with which they popularised. Early on in the SUV’s meteoric rise they were all called Jeeps, whether or not they were made by the Jeep Company, and until recently all vans in the UK were known as Transits, regardless of their actual model name.

And then there’s ‘Turbo’. Back in the ’80s everything was a turbo. Turbo bags, turbo aftershave, turbo sunglasses. Turbo became a synonym for ‘fast’, and everyone wanted to cash in. There was however one car that defined the turbo era. The Porsche 911 Turbo.

Produced from 1975, first with a turbocharged 3.0 air-cooled flat-6 and then a 3.3, the Porsche 930 series was indeed simply badged as ‘Turbo’ in some markets. It was also terrifying. With up to 330bhp on offer – all of which would arrive some considerable time after the driver pressed the accelerator peddle – 930s became the second largest killer of stockbrokers after cocaine.

We’ll stick with this one then, which looks far easier to pilot than the real thing. Built by previous bloggee Dornbi, who’s better known for his superb Lego aircraft, this brilliant Model Team mid-’80s Porsche 911 930-series perfectly captures the real Turbo. It’s even in 1980s white! There’s much more to see at Dornbi’s photostream – take a look via the link above. Just be careful with the throttle.

Lego Porsche 911 Turbo

Yule Mog

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Lego Technic Unimog 406 Remote Control

As you may be able to tell from the falling snow on this page (if you’re visiting at the time of writing), winter has arrived here at TLCB Towers.

This means our microwave will do double duty, both as the sole provider of nourishment for the TLCB Team and as an Elf-defroster, and TLCB vehicle fleet will likely rust even closer to a final drive to the scrapyard. What we need is one of these, a mighty Mercedes-Benz Unimog 406, built from the 1960s all the way up until 1989.

Suggested by a reader (so no Elf smushings today), this spectacular Model Team / Technic replica of the classic ‘mog by Functional Technic packs in just as much winter-beating tech as the real truck, including live-axle suspension, remote control all-wheel-drive courtesy of two XL Motors, steering via a Servo, a Medium Motor powered remotely operable diff-lock controlled by on-board pneumatic valve, a working Medium Motor powered gearbox, and five sets of LED lights.

All that lot is hidden within a wonderfully realistic Model Team-style body and mounted atop four of the huge wheels found within the 42052 Claas Xerion set, giving Functional Technic’s model genuine off-road ability (which you can watch below).

YouTube Video

There’s lots more to see of Functional Technic’s remote control Mercredes-Benz Unimog 406 at his website, including some superb on-location photos plus detailed images of the chassis construction.

There are also downloadable instructions available for some of the mechanisms used within both the Unimog build and Functional Technic’s other creations, including the remotely operable valve, all-wheel-drive system and functioning diff-lock. Head over to www.functionaltechnic.com to see more of the ‘mog and the builder’s other designs.

Lego Technic Unimog 406 Remote Control

Econoline in ’75

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Lego Technic Ford Econoline Van 1975

We like humble, basic, and sometimes downright crappy vehicles here at The Lego Car Blog. It’s vehicles like these that make the world go round, and Ford’s ’75 Econoline van fits this brief beautifully.

This neat Technic version of the classic workhorse comes from Arsman604 of Eurobricks, and in keeping with the vehicle on which it is based his recreation eschews fancy features in favour of honest simple mechanical engineering. Working steering, opening doors and hood, and a removable body are included and there’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.

Tuesday Trio

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Lego US Navy Aircraft

Flickr’s Dornbi has appeared here numerous times with his stunning Lego aircraft. He’s recently pictured three of his historic US Navy planes together, with the F14a Tomcat, A-6E Intruder and A-7E Corsair all faithfully recreated in grey and white bricks. There’s more to see of each at Dornbi’s photostream – click there for the full set of images.

Classic Speed

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Lego Speed Champions Cars

We have a very happy Elf here at TLCB Towers today, having found no less than six superb cars in one go. All come from Flickr’s Jonathan Elliott who has appeared here several times over the years with his wonderful Speed Champions style replicas. He’s recently photographed six of his most recognisable classics in one shot, and if you’re as automotively nerdy as we are you’ll be identify all six with no problem at all. Head over to Jonathan’s photostream via the link above to see how many you get right!

Speed in the ’70s

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Lego Historic F1 Car 1970s

This TLCB writer wasn’t alive in the 1970s, but it seemed like a very bleak time. Everyone was on strike and everything was either brown or beige. Apart from Formula 1.

F1 in the 1970s was something of a golden age, filled with colour, danger, and some of the coolest looking racing cars ever to take part in the sport. This top-notch generic 1970s Formula 1 car transports us back to that time, it’s been built by GiantAmbushBeetle of Eurobricks, and there’s more to see via the link above.

Autosan H9-21 – Picture Special

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Lego Autosan H9-21 Bus

This absolutely beautiful creation comes from previous bloggee Eric Trax, and it’s a near-perfect replica of a Polish Autosan H9-21 39-seat intercity bus produced from the 1970s until the early 2000s.

Powered by a 6.5 litre turbodiesel the Autosan H9 only had 150bhp, but it was reliable, easy to repair, and could handle near constant use on poor quality roads, making it an ideal export around the world, carrying passengers in the USSR, Eastern Europe, North Africa, South America, Korea and China.

Lego Autosan H9-21 Bus RC

Eric’s wonderful Model Team version of the popular Polish bus recreates the exterior and interior brilliantly in Lego form, and the model also includes remote control drive, steering, a 2-speed gearbox, opening doors, a detailed engine under the raising engine cover, and opening luggage compartments.

There’s lots more to see of Eric’s Autosan H9-21 at Flickr, Brickshelf, and the Eurobricks forum, where you can also find a video showing the model in action. Hop on board via the links above.

Lego Autosan H9-21 Remote Control

Piggyback

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Lego Nasa Space Shuttle Boeing 747

This remarkable airplane is a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), based on the Boeing 747 airliner and pictured here piggybacking the Space Shuttle. It’s been built by Lia Chan of Flickr, who has appeared here before with his incredible Shuttle launch scene. There’s more to see of Lia’s spectacular replica of SCA NA905 on Flickr, where the album includes images of the model alongside its enormous real-life NASA counterpart shot on-location at the Houston Space Centre. Click the link above to visit the full gallery.

Lego SCA NA905

Squarange*

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Lego Volvo 240 DL

Contrary to today’s other post, this slice of orange magnificence is not of interest to the Elves one bit. It is however, so our kind of car! Old, square, and with the design aesthetic of an East German office block, the Volvo 240 DL and TLCB Towers have much in common.

This wonderful recreation of one of the finest lumps of Swedish steel comes from LegoJalex, and never has the humble LEGO brick seemed more suited to a vehicle. Opening doors, hood and trunk-lid all feature, as does a deliciously brown interior. If you’re as much of a fan as we are (and therefore probably a bit odd), you can see more of this classic Volvo on Flickr via the link above!

*Because it’s square. And orange.