Tag Archives: 1980s

The Ultimate Driving Machine

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The future of BMW M-cars is electric. And automatic. The current M2 is already confirmed to be the final manual M-car, and – if the horrendous new BMW XM is any indication – the future of BMW’s M-division looks fat, almost comically ostentatious, and immensely, unfathomably, ludicrously ugly. Make your own ‘Your Mom’ joke.

Which is probably why the original 1980s BMW ‘E30’ M3, weighing under 1,200kgs and powered by a four-cylinder engine that made less than 200bhp, is being seen as something of an antidote to the overblown ridiculousness of today’s M-cars.

This lovely Technic recreation of BMW’s M-car high water mark was found on Eurobricks, and comes from previous bloggee apachaiapachai. There’s remote control drive and steering courtesy of LEGO’s Control+ motors and app, opening doors, and that’s it. Which makes it every bit as wonderfully simple as the real E30 M3.

There’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum, and you can take a look via the link above.

Cool Box

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Like the Ford F-150 in America, the Honda Super Cub in East Asia, and the Toyota Corolla almost everywhere, the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter is background street furniture for a huge proportion of the world.

Built in half-a-dozen countries, across eight generations and six decades, and re-badged as a Hyundai, Nissan, plus a host of other brands, the Canter is one of the most widespread and ubiquitous vehicles on the planet.

This one is a fifth generation fridge truck version, as used in their thousands to deliver food produce in the world’s restaurant back-streets. It comes from Max Ra of Flickr, who has recreated the Canter brilliantly, picking out the details of what is essentially a white box to create an instantly-recognisable brick-built replica.

There’s more of the model to see at Max’s ‘Mitsubishi Canter 5th Generation Refrigerated Truck’ album, and you can take a look at all the images via the link in the text above.

Big Yellow Taxi*

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NYC taxi cabs seem to be less, well… cabby these days. Toyota RAV4 hybrids and electric Nissan vans have taken over from the classic V8-powered three-box sedans, which is of course excellent news for air quality. And quite probably ride quality. But somehow less… cabby.

Of course we’re talking nonsense, because the old three-box sedans weren’t bespoke taxis like London’s ‘Black Cabs‘ anymore than a RAV4 is, and thus you were just as likely to see them being driven by the elderly in Florida as you were in yellow NYC form.

However even now, if asked to picture a NYC yellow cab, we would still think of a shape (and era) like this.

The Chevrolet Caprice was one of several V8-powered three-box sedans used for taxi duty in New York before their electrified replacements arrived, with this superb brick-built version being a 1989 example.

Constructed by previous bloggee Jakub Marcisz, the model captures the classic cab brilliantly, including four opening doors, hood and trunk, working steering, a detailed engine bay and interior, and some wonderfully authentic NYC Taxi License decals.

There’s much more of this Chevrolet Caprice NYC cab to see at Jakub’s photostream, and you can hail a ride in New York sometime in the 1990s via the link in the text above.

*Today’s title song (a cover version that features (we think) this very Chevrolet Caprice taxi in the video. Points for us!).

Ural-4320 6×6 | Picture Special

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This magnificent model is a Ural-4320 6×6 truck, a Soviet-era general purpose military truck first built in 1977, and still in production today.

Powered by a naturally-aspirated V8 diesel or a V6 turbodiesel, the Ural-4320 is very slow, but able to carry a variety of loads, from troops to rocket launchers, over almost any terrain. Well, unless the Russian Army recruits behind the wheel abandon them and run.

Which is what has occurred in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with over six-hundred Ural-4320s destroyed or abandoned, and around fifty captured a repurposed by the Ukrainian military, according to Dutch open-source intelligence group Oryx. Which is marvellous.

This phenomenal fully remote controlled Model Team recreation of the Ural-4320 comes from Russian builder and previous bloggee Michael217, who has brilliantly captured not just the aesthetics of the real truck, but also much of the driveline too.

A LEGO Buggy motor powers all six wheels, each of which is suspended and fitted with a portal axle, there’s Servo steering (that turns the steering wheel too), a high/low gearbox, opening doors and hood, a detailed engine, and an open load area ready to be fitted with a variety of Russian (or Ukrainian…) equipment.

There’s much more of Michael’s amazing model to see at the Eurobricks discussion forum, you can find the full image gallery at Bricksafe here, and you can watch the truck in action via the video below.

YouTube Video

The Ultimate Driving Machine

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BMW’s ‘E30’ generation 3-Series has become a cult car. Small, light, rear-wheel-drive, and without an over-complicated twin-scroll turbo in sight, the E30 is the antidote to whatever horror BMW is making these days.

Cue TLCB favourite Thirdwigg, who has recreated the late-’80s BMW 3-Series brilliantly in Technic form. Built in both sedan and estate forms, Thirdwigg’s E30s are subtly modified with lowered suspension, a modest body-kit, and – in the case of the sedan – a V8 engine swap.

We’d rather take the estate’s Inline-6 though, and with free building instructions for both (a hundred TLCB Points Thirdwigg!), presumably you can switch out the sedan’s V8 engine with ease. There’s also working steering, opening everything, and much more to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks. Jump back to a time when BMW’s marketing tagline actually meant something via the links above.

Rockin’ Robin

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Here at The Lego Car Blog we spend a lot of time mocking other countries’ cars, mostly because you don’t know who we are or where we live. However our home nation isn’t immune from making a vehicular anomaly or two, so today we’re very much looking in the mirror and  sheepishly recognising the plastic three-wheeled catastrophe peering back at us. Yup, it’s the Reliant Robin.

Britain produced a huge variety of tiny three-wheeled cars in the post-war years, a time when materials were rationed, many people were poor, and many more didn’t have driving licenses. Three-wheelers were one solution, requiring fewer parts (a 25% reduction in wheels alone) and only a motorcycle license to operate.

By far the most successful of these was the Reliant Robin, which was so numerous it remains the second best-selling fibreglass car of all time. This success led to it sticking around far longer than it should have done however, when Reliant – once Britains second-largest car maker by volume – really should’ve invested in other things. Production (and the Reliant company) finally ended in the early-2000s, and another British car manufacturer disappeared forever.

Today we’re paying homage to the humble slightly-rubbish British icon thanks to EvilEnderman and this heroically unstable BuWizz-powered Technic recreation, which is equipped with far more power than its three-wheeled chassis can handle. Cue a great degree of crashing, which you can watch at the Eurobricks forum here, plus you can find more images of the remote control Reliant at Bricksafe.

And if you want to see the real thing falling over, a lot, click on these words…

*Today’s title song, from way back when pop music could literally be about nothing more than the habits of a garden bird.

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.

Pick-Up Bricks

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This is a 1980s Toyota Hilux, and it is the best pick-up truck ever conceived.

Slow, small, and seemingly unbreakable, the ’80s Hilux is the pinnacle of Toyota over-engineering. It also wore some excellent side stripe decals, which immediately makes it cool, as does (and is) this brilliant Model Team replica of the iconic 4×4 from previous bloggee Vladimir Drozd.

Underneath the wonderfully accurate exterior – resplendent with period-correct stripes, roof lights and fender extensions – is a Technic chassis with both steering and suspension, and there’s much more of the model to see on Flickr.

Take a look at Vladimir’s brick-built version of the best pick-up ever made via the link above.

Stranger Danger

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This classic Ford Econoline van, complete with some, er… ‘tasteful’ period modifications, was found by one of our Elves on Flickr, who clearly hadn’t listened to the office talk on stranger danger.

Driven by Brad, who makes a living selling foreign narcotics part-time, and his girlfriend Tiffany, who works in ‘entertainment’, this modified late-’70s to mid-’80s Econoline has got more red flags flying than a minefield.

But it’s also got a wicked three-tone stripe, side-pipes, a moon window, and is blasting Buckcherry out of the stereo, so maybe it’s worth a closer look after all… no. NO.

HCKP13 is the builder, and if you’re old enough there’s more to see of their superbly built and beautifully presented creation on Flickr, where alternatively if you’re not yet of age (or you’re a TLCB Elf), there’s also a bitchin’ monster truck version.

Variable Geometry

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This is a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23, a 1970s Soviet fighter and fighter-bomber, and the most-produced variable-geometry fighter in history. Over 5,000 MiG-23s were built, with hundreds sold around the world to various scumbaggy dictatorships, some of whom still fly the aircraft today. This excellent brick-built version comes from John C. Lamarck and it includes the MiG-23’s variable wing sweep, working landing gear, and a variety of exciting looking weaponry. There’s more of the model to see at John’s ‘MiG-23 MF’ album on Flickr and you can take a look at cutting-edge Cold War aeronautics via the link above.

Grand Veneer

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From one nuclear-armed Cold War superpower building a 1960s design for about two decades too long to another, and the Jeep Wagoneer.

Launched in 1963, the first generation SJ-Series Wagoneer was built all the way until 1991 and – despite it being as American as hot dogs and unnecessary gun ownership – it was also produced in some interesting markets outside the US, including Argentina (military dictator), Egypt (military dictator) and Iran (military coup d’etat). America’s veneer as the leader of freedom is about as thin as the Wagoneer’s wood.

This splendid Model Team recreation of the ’91 ‘Grand Wagoneer’ from its final year of production comes from Flickr’s Jakub Marcisz, who has replicated the luxury 4×4 brilliantly in brick form. Opening doors and hood, a dropping tailgate, working steering, an excellent interior and engine, and wonderfully authentic faux-wood panelling all add to the realism, and there’s much more to see at Jakub’s photostream via the link above.

Back to dodgy dictatorships, and what with there being a rather more strained relationship between Iran and the USA today, the Iranian company that built the Jeep Wagoneer for over a decade in the ’60s and ’70s now builds Renaults instead. The same Renault that just lost $2billion pulling out of Russia. Perhaps with those morals they deserve to lose £2billion after all…

Life Begins at Forty

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Or so people in their 40s like to say. For Ferrari however, it’s very probably true, as – despite their amazing pre-1980s back-catalogue – the Maranello marque’s all-time high water mark came in 1987 with its fortieth birthday present to itself, the astonishing F40.

Pioneering twin-turbochargers, a kevlar and carbon-fibre body, and semi-flat under-tray, the F40 was the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive Ferrari yet, and the last to be personally approved by Enzo Ferrari himself before his death in 1988.

All of which means F40s are now worth around $1.5million, even though they are not – at least in supercar terms – rare cars, with over 1,300 produced during the model’s five year production run.

Unfortunately the result of such iconic status is that even TLCB’s executive team can’t afford one, despite the immense riches that blogging about Lego brings, but no matter because today we have the next best thing; Lachlan Cameron’s brilliant Technic Ferrari F40 replica.

Utilising the latest parts from the official LEGO Technic 42143 Ferrari Dayton SP3 set, Lachlan has faithfully recreated the definitive Ferrari in brick form, complete with a v8 engine and 5-speed gearbox, working steering and suspension, opening clamshells and doors, a highly detailed interior and engine bay, and pop-up headlights.

Accurate decals, chromed pieces, and printed tyres maximise the realism, and there’s lots more to see of this incredible creation at Lachlan’s ‘Ferrari F40’ album on Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum.

Join Ferrari’s fortieth birthday celebrations via the links in the text above, plus you can find out Lachlan builds amazing models like this via his interview here at The Lego car Blog; click these words to read more.

Brown Range

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It’s FebRovery, but it’s not all sci-fi lunar rovers here at TLCB. Nope, because here’s the real deal. Launched in 1970 the Range Rover took the immensely successful Land Rover, added coil springs, a luxury-ish interior, and a 3.5 litre V8 engine to create arguably the world’s first luxury off-roader.

Which means of course that the Range Rover is responsible for more hateful gargantuan vehicular atrocities than probably any other car in history, as its success led to the ever increasing SUV arms-race that has culminated in vehicles like this. Apologies if you’re eating whilst reading this.

Still, that’s not exactly the Ranger Rover’s fault, particularly as early 3-door cars were – by modern standards – tiny. And excellent.

Cue this fantastic (and fantastically brown) Creator-style version of the early first-generation Range Rover, as created beautifully by 1corn of Flickr.

Opening doors, hood and split tailgate, a detailed engine and interior, and working suspension all feature, and there’s more to see of 1corn’s superb recreation of the difinitive luxury 4×4 at his ‘Range Rover’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look.

Cooler Box

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We don’t care what anyone says, this is the coolest car we’ve ever posted. Yes, this magnificent slab of Swede, a Volvo 242, is so deeply cool that The Brothers Brick can’t look at it directly. We on the other hand, being connoisseurs of cool, can’t get enough of Stephan Jonsson’s glorious grey box. Even more so as it’s the ‘Coupe’ variant.

Of course being an ’80s Volvo the 242 is the single squarest coupe ever devised, and – unlike every other Volvo of the time – your Ikea boxes have to go on the roof rather than in the boot, but that just makes it cooler.

A beautifully detailed engine, opening doors, hood and boot, a spectacularly orange interior, and accessories like a roof rack and tow bar add to our delight, and there’s more to see of the coolest car we’ve ever posted at Stephan’s ‘Volvo 242 Group H’ album on Flickr. We like really like old Volvos.

Old Lady’s Bathroom

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This is a Trabant 601, accurately resplendent in the colour of an old lady’s bathroom, and made from a similar material too. Created by László Torma in Speed Champions (ironically) scale, this neat miniaturisation of the rubbish East German people’s car captures the original wonderfully, and there’s more to see – including a ‘Combi’ station wagon version – at László’s photostream. Click the link above for more Hearing-Aid-Beige communist wonders.