Tag Archives: 1980s

Jan 14 2020
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Model Team

F-ing Fantastic

This phenomenal Volvo F12 truck complete with a VBA box and a Dapa drawbar box trailer was found by one of our Elves on Flickr today, and we know it’s early but this is surely already a contender for the best truck of 2020.

Built by Master MOCer and truck-building legend Dennis Bosman (aka legotrucks), this spectacularly presented build perfectly replicates the real trucks that were in use with the refrigerated transport company ‘Sties’ whose livery Dennis has expertly recreated.

Dennis’ 1:13 scale replica of the 1980s truck (making it almost 150cm in length) not only looks absolutely beautiful on the outside, it includes a wealth of features too, including a tilting cab with a fully fitted interior, and highly detailed engine and chassis, and opening cargo doors.

An extensive gallery of stunning imagery showcasing the classic Volvo F12 truck is available to view by clicking here, and you can read Dennis’ interview here at The Lego Car Blog as part of the Master MOCers series by clicking these words to discover how he creates incredible models such as this one.

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Jan 14 2020
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Lego

Flying Dolphin

The Lego Car Blog Elves have never met a dolphin, and thus they have little knowledge of what one looks like. The naming department of Eurocopter must only have had a loose idea too, because the clever aquatic mammals definitely don’t have rotors. Still, we suppose the barracuda doesn’t have wheels and that provided a cool car name for Plymouth.

The Eurocopter HH-65 does have a sort-of-dolphinish nose though, recreated here in superb detail by Robson M of Flickr. As well as the nose Robson has successfully replicated the Dolphin’s complex tail rotor, fitted a complete interior (with neat sliding door too), and has enhanced the accuracy with some excellent custom decals.

There’s more to see of Robson’s wonderfully realistic Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin at his photostream – click the link above to watch it do a backflip for some fish.

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Jan 02 2020
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Model Team

Ageing Orange

Nope, not a play on words for this abomination in America’s history, nor the current President of the United States (we’ve done him already today), but this spectacular classic DAF N2800 truck from previous bloggee and truck-building legend Nanko Klein Paste. Nanko’s creation replicates the 1980s DAF heavy-hauler beautifully, using the livery of a Belgian sand and gravel company ‘Fa. Maes’.

The truck also includes Power Functions motors, allowing it to drive, steer, and tip the chunky container (with its load of c2,500 ‘rocks!) thanks to a motor-driven linear-actuator, plus it includes LED lights, custom decals, and a wonderfully detailed interior too. There’s much more to see of Nanko’s superb classic DAF at his photostream – take a look via the link in the text above.

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Dec 27 2019
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Lego

Holiday Heroes II

Today’s earlier post remembers the heroes of the emergency services, who – unlike the underserving muppets here at TLCB – work over the holiday period keeping us alive. From the amazing National Health Service we enjoy in TLCB’s home nation to the fire, police, mountain rescue and lifeboat services that operate every day of the year, there are heroes in every town, village and street.

However one group that often gets forgotten, particularly in the current woke culture that sometimes attempts to undermine their existence, are the armed forces. They too work over the holidays, unseen, largely forgotten, and ready to protect us turkey-eating muppets on Christmas Day as they would on any other.

This find is one example of that group, the Canadian Armed Forces’ very cool looking Lockheed F-104 ‘Starfighter’ in ‘Red Indian’ Squadron markings. Part of NATO, these F-104s operated out of 421 Squadron in West Germany during the Cold War, following their introduction by the Canadian Air Force two decades earlier.

This superb replica of the CAF Lockheed F-104 ‘Starfighter’ is the work of Flickr’s John C. Lamarck and it captures the iconic aircraft (and its unusual CAF ‘toothbrush’ colour scheme) beautifully. There’s more of the build to see at John’s photostream and you can head to an airbase in West Germany c1983 via the link above.

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Dec 22 2019
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Technic

Back in the USSR*

This is a BRDM-2, which might sound like something from your Mom’s internet browser history, but is in fact an amphibious armoured car built by the USSR between 1962 and 1989, and which is still in production in Poland today. Powered by a 140bhp GAZ V8 the BRDM-2 is capable of around 60mph on roads and a heady 6mph on water, when the engine drives a water-jet.

Like the MiG-29 we featured here earlier in the week the BRDM-2 was exported extensively, and is now in use on both sides of some conflicts, most recently between Russia and Ukraine.

This marvellous Technic recreation of one the Soviet Union’s most interesting vehicles was discovered by one of our Elves on Eurorbricks. Built by newcomer Danifill it packs in all the working functions of the real BRDM-2, besides the ability to float.

Two Power Functions XL motors deliver power to the four-wheel-drive system whilst an L motor drives the steering. All wheels are suspended, there are LED lights front and rear, and turret rotation is motorised too, with a third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery delivering eight times the power of LEGO’s own system plus bluetooth remote control.

There’s more to see of Danifill’s brilliant BRDM-2 build at the Eurobricks forum where you can also find a link to a video of the model in action. Click the link above to head back to the USSR.

*Today’s excellent title song.

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Dec 15 2019
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Lego

Cache of Classics

We have a bumper haul for you today! These wonderful classic creations all come from previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott, who has turned his considerable talents to building a range of beautifully photographed and presented vehicles spanning four decades.

From a Fiat Abarth 1000TC (top) via a 1950s panel van (below), a gorgeous 1960s supercar (above), and finally a superb replica of the iconic 1980s Audi quattro (bottom), each has been created using a wide variety of brilliant building techniques and some stunning attention to detail.

There’s more to see of each of Jonathan’s builds featured here, plus a loads more 6-wide vehicles that form his ace back-catalogue, by visiting his photostream on Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look at the Abarth, ’50s van, ’60s supercar and Audi quattro and much more besides.

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Dec 13 2019
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Lego

Vote for Smoke

It’s election night here in TLCB’s home nation, and here is a Toyota Corolla Trueno AE86 pictured in a full ‘Initial D’ drift. Is it swinging from right to left, heading perilously close to the cliff-edge, crashing-out, or gaining a conservative majority? OK, that last analogy didn’t work, but we’re quite proud of the first three! Previous bloggee Simon Przepiorka, now known as SP_LINEUP, is the builder behind this most excellent scene and you can cast your ballot, er… we mean see more of his brilliant drifting Initial D AE86 on Flickr via the link above.

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Nov 20 2019
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News

76897 Speed Champions Audi Sport quattro S1 | Set Preview

The elite team of Elves dispatched over The LEGO Company’s perimeter walls are one by one returning to TLCB Towers, clutching their discoveries stolen from the bowels of LEGO’s R&D department.

A couple may also carry a few bite marks (and some don’t return at all), but that’s why we employ mythical creatures, as there’s no way you’d get us to squeeze through an air-conditioning duct to escape a Danish Alsatian. We’re much too fat.

Anyway, the Elf that returned today came home clutching a new set that has got us very excited, the frankly brilliant looking 76897 Audi Sport quattro (with a little ‘q’) S1 rally car.

The quattro was not the first car to be fitted with all-wheel-drive, but it was the first to take the idea rallying, along with a unique 5-cylinder turbocharged engine that made a truly ridiculous amount of power, allowed thanks to Group B’s incredibly lax rulebook. The result was a car that won the World Rally Championship in ’82 and ’84, with every WRC manufacturer title claimed by an all-wheel-drive car thereafter.

The new 76897 set recreates the Audi Sport quattro S1 which finished second in 1985 season in the hands of Stig Blomqvist and Walter Röhrl, using LEGO’s new 8-wide template to bring more realism to the Speed Champions range. Constructed from 250 pieces, the Audi’s famous livery has been really well replicated, and for once the detail is brick-built rather than being applied by stickers. There are stickers too of course, and they look splendid, adding excellent period authenticity to the set.

Like all Speed Champions sets 76897 also includes a mini-figure driver, but annoyingly no co-driver, despite the 8-wide design allowing one to fit. This is no doubt due to cost, but is nevertheless disappointing from a realism point of view.

Despite this oversight we think the Speed Champions Audi Sport quattro S1 is one of the best products to come from the franchise yet, and – at an expected cost of around $20 when it reaches stores at then end of the year – there’s no cooler set for the money. We’ll just have to add our own second mini-figure to the model to complete it.

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Nov 07 2019
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News

LEGO 76139 1989 Batmobile | Set Preview

Great news for those of you who only work in black! LEGO have revealed their upcoming 76139 ‘1989 Batmobile’ set, at it is really very black indeed. With 3,306 pieces (at least 3,000 of which look to be black), 76139 is one of the largest Superheroes sets to date, and bridges nicely across the DC and Creator car lines.

The model is a faithful replica of the vehicle used in the 1989 Tim Burton movie, and comes with a rotating platform and three slightly superfluous mini-figures (Joker, Vicki Vale (who?!), and Batman himself), which gives away the model’s primary purpose as being a display piece rather than a toy or engineering demonstration. Nevertheless the new set does feature working steering, a sliding cockpit (using a new piece), and pop-up machine guns should Batman decide to go rogue.

The new 76139 ‘1989 Batmobile’ set is expected to cost a around £220/$250 – which is rather a lot – and will go on sale on Black Friday 2019, which seems both appropriate and quite possibly a dark joke considering the price…

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Nov 06 2019
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Technic

Retro Rampage

Whiiiir! Crunch. Whiiiir! Crunch. Elven Screaming. Whiiiir! Crunch.

Sigh. These are sounds we’ve heard too often here at The Lego Car Blog Towers before, and they usually mean we’re going to have to get the carpets cleaned again.

A weary trudge to the corridor outside the office revealed the cause, and to our surprise there wan’t just one, but three. Three Elves were each controlling three separate (and rather impressive) Technic Monster Trucks, bashing them into one another and occasionally adding variety to the proceedings by driving them at and over the Elves who had come to watch the spectacle.

It admittedly looked like great fun, so Mr. Airhorn was deployed to break up the ruckus, the injured were patched up with Pritt-Stick and plasters, and we’ve taken control of the trio of Technic trucks for ourselves.

Each truck comes from Technic building legend Madoca77 and wears a gloriously retro livery, including the famous Ford ‘Big Foot’ colours and Toyota’s wonderful ’80s ‘pick-up’ stripe, and the three models are all remotely operable via bluetooth thanks to two SBricks.

These control the four XL motors (one per wheel), the two Servo motors that steer both the front and rear axles, the Medium motor that switches between crab steering and normal steering modes (just like LEGO’s excellent 40254 Claas Xerion 5000 set), and the Medium motor that operates the clamshell bodywork lift.

Madoca’s builds also include LED headlights, opening doors and dropping tailgates, plus – most importantly – a mega suspension setup which includes portal axles. They easily make it into our favourite creations list of 2019, and if you like them as much as we do then head to the Eurobricks discussion forum via the link above to read more about the builds and to watch a video of Madoca’s vintage monster truck design in action!

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Oct 20 2019
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Lego

Initial D AE86

Just like people, some cars are born into greatness. They might have limited talent and have achieved little, but a family name goes a long way (we’re looking at you Bentley Bentayga and Rolls Royce Cullinan). Others have become great, either through their own endeavour or through blind luck and a random affiliation. This is the story of the latter.

The Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno was a good car in the same way that most Japanese cars of the 1980s were; well priced, fuel efficient, and far more reliable than its American or European counterparts.

And that is where the story should have ended, with the AE86 just another Japanese compact quietly getting on with not breaking down or falling apart. But in 1995 the AE86 got a shot at fame. At ten years old it became the star of a Japanese comic called ‘Initial D’, in which 18-year old Takumi Fujiwara slid sideways up mountain passes delivering food behind the wheel of his father’s AE86 Sprinter Trueno.

By 1999 ‘Initial D’ had become an anime production, viewed not just in Japan but around the world, and Toyota’s humble hatchback – now long out of production – had become a megastar. The popularity of drifting has continued unabated, leading to the AE86 becoming one of the most sought-after and iconic Japanese cars in history.

This superb recreation of the Toyota Corolla AE86 as it appeared in ‘Initial D’ comes from Peter Blackert (aka lego911) of Flickr, who has captured the world-famous car brilliantly in Lego. His design appears in the new book ‘How to Build Brick TV and Movie Cars’, which includes building instructions for the Sprinter Trueno pictured here (along with many other iconic cars) so that you can create your own version at home for drifting around your desk.

Peter’s Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno model is available to view at his photostream via the link above, and you can find the book in which the instructions for this model features by clicking here.

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Oct 07 2019
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Model Team

Ride an Adonis

That title got your Mom’s attention. This is a BMW R80 RT by Dutch customisers Moto Adonis and it’s been recreated beautifully by Andre Pinto (aka brickthebrick). Based on the 750cc twin-cylinder BMW touring bike of the 1980s, the R80 RT Adonis was built as a one-off for a client to compliment their architecture business. Andre’s highly detailed Model Team version captures the look brilliantly and there’s more to see at both Eurobricks and on Flickr via the links.

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Oct 04 2019
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Town

Speed Communists

We continue the small-scale theme with this, László Torma‘s ace Speed Champions scale Trabant 601. An unlikely race car, László’s Trabant uses a be-stickered curved brick for the doors which he kept because his son said they were cool (the Elves agree by the way), and thus the Trabbi has a slightly more sporting nature than was originally intended. Clever techniques have been used throughout the build to recreate the communist car’s famous shape and there’s more to see of László’s 601 in both race and road car specification on Flickr – click the link above to take a look.

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Sep 23 2019
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Lego

Thunderbolt II

One of the most ‘interesting’ looking aircraft, the A-10 Thunderbolt II is certainly a tricky beast to build in Lego. However we have our second Thunderbolt in a month today, as Flickr’s Lennart C (aka Everblack) has constructed this brilliant mini-figure scale version, complete with an array of wing-mounted weaponry. Head to Lennart’s photostream via the link above for all the photos.

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Sep 21 2019
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Model Team

Stagefright

Produced by Hot Wheels from the late ’70s to early ’80s, ‘Stagefright’ brought Jack Keef’s 1849 Concord Stagecoach hot rod to bedroom floors everywhere. TLCB debutant Tony Bovkoon has brought it back, capturing the insanity of the Hot Wheels toy (and the real car on which it was based) beautifully in Model Team form. A flip body, mid-mounted V8, and some highly dubious ‘suspension’ all feature, and there’s more to see at Tony’s ‘Stagefright’ Flickr album via the link above.

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