On to another ’80s German automotive icon through the medium of vintage cartoon characters, and this – a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U1700L ex-military truck turned into an off-road camper by a man named ‘Bowser’.
We suspect he’s not the fire-breathing arch-nemesis of an Italian plumber, but he still sounds pretty cool, what with this awesome ’80s Unimog as his home. Sseven Bricks is the creator of this brick-built replica of Bowser’s truck, and you can find it on Flickr via the link above.
Ducks have the best tails of any animal. Fact. And yes, we have seen those stripy lemurs (but The Brothers Brick ruined them).
Anyway, we love ducks’ tails (and Ducktails*), particularly on a car. Some readers (including TLCB Elves) might favour gargantuan spoilers on the back of cars, but they’re wrong. Duck tails are where it’s at.
Cue previous bloggee Laszlo Torma, and his superb Speed Champions duck-tailed Porsche 911. Capturing the definitive ’80s sports car brilliantly in brick-form, you can recreate Laszlo’s model for yourself, as he’s made building instructions available, both with and without the duck-tailed engine cover. But why ever would you option the latter?
You can take a look at all the images of Laszlo’s ’80s Porsche 911 on Flickr via the link above, whilst we look up a certain duck-based cartoon of similar vintage…
Back in the ’80s, motorsport rules were… loose. Group B rallying created monsters beyond anything seen before, and Dakar… well that was even wilder. Entered in the late-’80s, DAF’s unbelievable eleven-ton TurboTwin 95 X1 was powered by two engines with three turbochargers each, producing a combined 1,200bhp, and which – as this infamous helicopter footage from the 1988 event shows – made it so fast it could overtake the leading cars.
Piloted by Dutch legend Jan de Rooy, the TurboTwin won the truck category in 1987, before an awful 180km/h crash killed one of Jan’s teammates the following year, causing DAF to immediately halt all motorsport activities and withdraw the TurboTwin mid-competition.
Sadly we’d not see its like again, but we can still get up close to DAF’s astonishing Dakar racer courtesy of previous bloggee Nanko Klein Paste, and his spectacular brick-built replica.
Constructed in 1:16 scale, Nako’s TurboTwin recreation includes those two triple-turbo engines, complete with intake pipes, radiators and intercoolers, pressure vessels and ancillaries, a removable body liveried with superbly replicated decals, a hugely detailed interior behind opening doors, and full LED lighting from Brickstuff.
On display at the DAF Museum in Eindhoven later this year, there’s more to see of Nanko’s amazing creation at his ‘DAF TurboTwin 95 X1’ album on Flickr, and you can overtake a Dakar-winning Peugeot rally car at 200km/h in an eleven ton truck via the link above.
It’s the ’80s, and everything has a ‘Turbo’ badge, because turbos are cool. But you know what’s cooler than a turbo? Advanced Turbo Intercooling, that’s what. And it wasn’t a European sports car or Japanese techno-fest that pioneered it, but Dutch truck-maker DAF.
The DAF 3600 FTG ATi was one of the first to feature an intercooled turbocharged diesel engine, which – in top trim – made a hefty 370bhp. And it had a hypoid drive axle, which sounds nearly as cool as Advanced Turbo Intercooling.
This incredible Model Team example comes from previous bloggee Nanko Klein Paste, and it is stunning in its realism. Based on a real DAF 3600 FTG ATi operated by ‘G.J. van Die’, Nanko has replicated every detail, including applying excellent custom decals to recreate the livery worn by its life-size counterpart.
Just one image is available at the time of writing but it’s well worth checking out, showing both this astonishing creation as well as the real truck it replicates so beautifully. Click the link above to visit Nanko’s photostream and spool up your turbo.
Short, ugly, slow, and looks older than it is. No no, not this TLCB Writer (and he’s offended you thought so), but this neat render of the UAZ-469, a Soviet-era off-road vehicle that is still in production today. Flickr’s Thinh Thi is the creator of both these soft-topped military and civilian versions, which cunningly include four opening doors, and you can check them out via the link.
What’s strong, handsome, nearly 6ft, and born in the ’80s? No no, it’s not this TLCB Writer (although thank you for thinking that), but this astonishing Peterbilt 359.
Constructed by TLCB Master MOCer Dennis Bosman (aka legotrucks), this stunning creation is based on a real 359, and – at 1:13 scale – measures an enormous 5ft 10″ from bumper to bumper.
Pulling a Fontaine 53ft trailer loaded with a whole lotta pipe, Dennis’ Peterbilt is one of the most intricately and accurately detailed models this site has ever published, and includes a hugely detailed Caterpillar V8 under a front-opening hood, working steering, a wonderful interior complete with opening doors and sleeper, plus chromed exhaust stacks, mirrors, steps, wheels, horns, lights, and bumpers.
It’s a truly spectacular creation, with more stunning imagery available at Dennis’ ‘Peterbilt 359’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look at one of the most life-like Lego trucks ever built.
The Ferrari F40 is probably the finest Ferrari ever made. And therefore it’s possibly the finest automobile ever made too. The F50… isn’t. Still, they’ve both been built by Flickr’s RGB900 and you can see more of one the all time greats, and the F50, via the link above.
This amazing machine is a Kenworth 993, a cab-over, six-wheel-drive, heavy duty truck designed in the 1980s to move heavy equipment. And, in one extraordinary case, a nuclear reactor.
We say ‘cab-over’, but the cab was not in fact over anything, as the 700bhp Cummins V12 that powered the 993 was too large to fit under the it, instead being mounted directly behind.
Capturing this unusual design is TsungNing Lee, who has recreated the Kenworth 933 in spectacular detail. Enormous third-party tyres afford a scale that enables incredible realism, with TsungNing both building and presenting his creation in stunning fashion.
There’s much more to see, including work-in-progress photos, at TsungNing’s photostream, and you can take a closer look at this remarkable truck via the link above.
The Trabant 601 may not have seemed a formidable police car, but seeing as most of the East German population would have had, at best, their own Trabant 601, and more likely a crappy motorcycle or a pushbike, it was probably a sufficient deterrent.
Perhaps less so by the early ’90s though, when – after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany – East German criminals suddenly had access to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
This example comes from _Tiler, who’s been sitting on some official LEGO ‘Polizei’ stickers for a decade just for this moment. Join him keeping the streets of East Germany safe via the link above.
The holiday season is near its end, and thus we’re already thinking about the next time we can escape this crumbling ruin of an office filled and the mythical creatures within it (the Elves, not TLCB staff).
Cue recent bloggee Nick Kleinfelder‘s recreation of his own 1980s Volkswagen T3 Westfalia, complete with a boot-rack, a pop-top, and a delightful beige hue that could have been marketed as ‘Infant’s Nappy’.
There’s more of the model to see at Nick’s photostream, and you can holiday in an ’80s VW via the link above.
Most Chevrolet Corvette owners would, we suspect, happily swap their American sports car for one wearing the prancing horse. But perhaps not this Corvette for this Ferrari.
The early-’60s ‘C1’ Chevrolet Corvette is one of America’s greatest cars. The Ferrari 308 is not one of Italy’s. Still, it looks good in Lego form, at least at the hands of Firas Abu-Jaber, who has used only the parts from the LEGO Icons 10321 Chevrolet Corvette set to create this superb 308 B-Model.
Less pretty, less powerful, and less reliable than the two-decade-older ‘Vette, the 308 still wears that famous prancing horse, and thus if you’d like to swap your American classic for an Italian one you can take a look at Firas’ photostream, where all of the excellent images of his 10321 alternate can be found.
And now for something that every one of our British readers will immediately recognise, the optimistically named Reliant Regal Supervan. Most famously wearing ‘Trotters Independent Trading Co’ livery, the Supervan was one the stars of the cult comedy ‘Only Fools and Horses’, in which it carried all manner of dodgy wares around Peckham, including – in this case – blow-up dolls that took their brief rather literally…
Newcomer BobKickflip is the builder behind this one, who has replicated it, its iconic ‘Trotters’ livery, and its payload of explosive replica females brilliantly. There’s more of the model to see, including a link building instructions, at Bob’s photostream, and you can head to Hookie Street via the link above.
The SUV dominates today’s new car market. Whether they’re four-wheel-drive or only look like they’re four-wheel-drive, all are tapping into the marketing of an outdoorsy lifestyle. Which usually means adverts showing impossibly handsome people parked at the beach. Or going hang-gliding off a mountain. Or unpacking some kayaks.
Of course the most adventurous thing the owners will actually do is watch a nature documentary on Netflix, but that hasn’t slowed the unstoppable rise of the pseudo-4×4. Today though, we have two proper all-wheel drive icons, the legendary Audi quattro, and the evergreen Jeep Wrangler.
The Audi (above) comes from Sam Andreas (aka Sseven Bricks), who has placed his superb Speed Champions Audi quattro Sport in its natural environment, navigating a perilous icy mountain pass high above Monaco. It’s here the quattro demonstrated to the world the benefits of all-wheel-drive in a performance car, and today almost every high performance saloon, estate, and yes – SUV, is driven by all four wheels.
At the other end of the four-wheel-drive scale is the Jeep Wrangler, a car derived from a vehicle so synonymous with off-roading it became the catch-all name for anything 4×4. This brick-built version of the Wrangler’s latest incarnation (below) is the work of yelo_bricks, who’s captured the ‘JL’-series in Speed Champions scale with aplomb.
There’s more to see of both four-wheel-drive icons on Flickr. Take a look via the links above whilst we – as SUV owners – go hang-gliding off a mountain or something.
With under three-hundred 288 GTO units produced, each now valued at around $2.5million, Ferrari’s mid-’80s homologation special is slightly out of reach for most of us. But not today, because this fantastic Speed Champions Ferrari 288 GTO by Flickr’s László Torma is entirely recreatable at home. Able to fit two mini-figures side-by-side and utilising common pieces found within the Speed Champions range, László has released building instructions for his 8-wide 288 so that you too can own one. Join the 288 GTO Owners club via the link above.
Britain’s new car market was once filled with light, nimble, rear-wheel-drive sports cars. Dozens of different models were produced, and there was room for all of them… until the arrival of the hot hatchback.
Killing off the sports car in just a few short years, the hot hatchback became the affordable driver’s car of choice, and – to some extent – still is, despite the seemingly unending march of the SUV. Thus here are three of them (although one isn’t technically a hatchback), all created digitally by Flickr’s Peter Blackert, and each was another nail in the sports car coffin.
First up (above) was Ford’s Fiesta XR2. Released in 1981, the XR2 added a 1.6 litre crossflow engine (and some black plastic, stripes, and extra lights) to Ford’s humble supermini, creating a car that could out perform any comparable sports car of the day, and yet could seat four and their luggage.
Of course small quick cars didn’t start with the Fiesta XR2, having been around since the Mini Cooper of the early ’60s. Austin and Morris – now morphed (along with many other brands) into the dysfunctional behemoth British Leyland – continued with their own sporty offering, the Mini Clubman 1275 GT. Effectively the same car as the decade-old Mini Cooper, the Clubman wore a squared off front end to make it, um… marginally uglier. The ’70s were weird.
Our last hot hatchback comes from one of the genre’s giants; Peugeot. But this isn’t their iconic 205 GTI. The 104 arrived a decade earlier, with this example being the strangely truncated three-door ‘Coupe’ version (which was some rather optimistic marketing on Peugeot’s part). A 205 GTI it was not, but it set the scene for what was to come, and you can see more of it plus Peter’s other virtual recreations of sporty seventies’ superminis at his photostream via the link above.
