Tag Archives: 2010s

Insert Midlife Crisis

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This site may have, on occasion, mocked Corvette and muscle car owners. However here in Europe we’re no better, because once a man reaches a certain age – and/or his hairline passes a certain point – he’s almost legally obliged to buy a Porsche Boxster.

This writer is closer to that point than he’d like to admit, but as he has not the funds for Porsche’s entry-level sports car, this will have to do instead.

Built by TLCB Master MOCer Thirdwigg, this brilliant brick-built Boxster (or 718 as they are now called) features a flat-six engine, working steering, opening doors and front/rear trunks, and it includes a working convertible top, for that authentic wind-in-the-thinning-hair experience.

Constructed in an appropriately midlife crisis colour, building instructions are available, and you can join us wondering if buying a Boxster would make us cool again* by clicking here.

*(It won’t. Ed.)

Black Box

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Previous bloggee 3D supercarBricks doesn’t just build, well… supercars. No, he also builds mediocre European hatchbacks, such as this 2010s Opel/Vauxhall Corsa. The model includes a detailed engine, opening everything, and is enhanced by his trademark 3D-printed parts (in this case the door window frames and wheels). Take a look at 3D’s photostream via the link above, where more exotic vehicles are also available.

Desert Lion

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France isn’t known for strong animal symbolism, with a chicken usually being selected as the animal of choice.

Peugeot – weirdly – does have a good animal symbol, what with the marque’s badge being a roaring lion. Cue this rather appropriate Peugeot 2008 DKR, first entered into the Dakar Rally in 2015, when it was, um… held nowhere near Dakar, instead taking place in South America. Where there are no lions.

Oh well, the title would’ve made sense if the rally was still held in Senegal.

No matter, because Peugeot’s desert lion was a cunning thing, being two-wheel-drive rather than four, thus allowing it to adhere to Dakar’s ‘Buggy’ regulations which permitted far more leeway in other areas.

Powered by a twin-turbo V6 diesel, and with in-built hydraulic jacks to change inevitable punctures, the 2008 DKR was… rubbish. But the following year Peugeot returned, and – having worked out the 2008 DKR’s reliability issues – won the race outright, with the 2008’s successor winning again in 2017 and 2018.

This spectacular homage to the wild mid-2010s buggy has been constructed by previous bloggee Lipko, who has not only captured the 2008 DKR’s exterior brilliantly, he’s included the mid-mounted V6 diesel engine, in-built jacks, monster suspension, working steering, and a 4-speed sequential gearbox, plus squeezed in two spare wheels, which was apparently the hardest part of the whole build.

A neat livery, full roll-cage, and a superbly-detailed engine bay and interior add even more realism, and you can check out full details and find further photos of Lipko’s model at the Eurobricks forum.

Click the link above to see more, or on the video below to watch the desert lion in action.

YouTube Video

Street Cat

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American muscle cars are taking the Thundercougarfalconbird approach to their increasingly stupid names, power outputs, and permi-vaping, street take-overing, douchebag target market.

This is one such car, the ‘Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat’, and if that isn’t risible enough, you can optionally add ‘Redeye’ onto the end too, AKA ‘Desperate to Prove Masculinity’.

This one – soon to be found doing poorly executed donuts across an intersection at the hands of a permi-vaping douchebag – is the work of the very talented Mihail Rakovskiy, who has appeared here several times with his superb Model Team modern muscle cars.

Opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a detailed engine, interior, and chassis all feature, and you can stand in a circle at a crossroads shouting “Oooh shiiiit!!” via Mihail’s ‘Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat’ album via the link above.

Toyota-ish

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When is a Toyota not a Toyota? When it’s a BMW or a Subaru… At least if the JDM-fanatics of the internet’s comments section are correct.

They’re not correct of course, because a) the fanatics of any brand are morons, and b) because globalisation is the way the car industry operates, and has done for decades.

There are Toyotas that are Mazdas and vice-versa, Toyotas that are Subarus and vice-versa, Toyotas that are Suzukis and vice-versa… and the list goes on and on, including Peugeots, Citroens, Opels, Fiats, Volkswagens, Daihatsus, Chevrolets…

“But what about the Supra?”, the internet cries! Well that does use BMW bits, but they were arranged by Toyota. And put together by neither company. Plus – whisper it – there are BMWs with Toyota parts too…

Thus we’d happily have a Toyota Supra, or a GT86, each of which shares more than a little with cars from other manufacturers.

Cue newcomer builtbydave_’s awesome modified versions of the Toyota Supra and GR86, er… we mean Subaru BRZ, each wearing a wide-arch body kit that makes them even less Toyotary than when they left the factory.

Photographed brilliantly and featuring some clever building techniques, each ‘Toyota’ is well worth a closer look, and you can do just that at builtbydave_’s ‘Subaru BRZ’ and ‘Streethunter Toyota Supra’ albums respectively. Just don’t look too closely or you might find a BMW logo…

Super Sunday

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If you’re six (or a TLCB Elf), this post is for you. Yes today we have two of the greatest supercars ever made in LEGO form, and best of all they’re tiny, showing you don’t need to have a million pieces to build a blogworthy replica of your favourite supercar.

The first (above) is Jonathan Elliott‘s beautifully presented Lamborghini Diablo GTR, constructed to almost ridiculous accuracy in Speed Champions scale. Parts facing in every direction hint at the complexities within, and there’s more of the model to see at Jonathan’s photostream.

Today’s second small-scale supercar (below) is one from a later decade, the phenomenal Lexus LFA. Also constructed in Speed Champions scale, Flickr’s Tommy ñ has captured the iconic carbon-fibre supercar superbly in brick form, and you can check it out at his photostream via the link above.

Cruisin’

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Toyota like the word ‘Cruiser’ in their model names. The Land Cruiser, so called because it was basically a copy of a Land Rover and ‘Rover’ was already taken, the Urban Cruiser, which sounds like someone looking to pay for, er… night time affection, and this; the FJ Cruiser, which was named after the original Land Cruiser that was itself named to mimic the Land Rover.

Unoriginal naming aside however, Toyota 4x4s are of course superior to Land Rovers in every way, and the FJ Cruiser even added a dose of rare Toyota funkiness, with suicide doors, a contrast roof, a wraparound rear window, and three windshield wipers.

This neat Speed Champions scale recreation of the FJ Cruiser is the work of Ben of Flickr, who has captured Toyota’s most aesthetically interesting 4×4 brilliantly in brick form. There’s more to see at Ben’s ‘Toyota FJ Cruiser’ album and you can cruise on over via the link above.

Flying Across New York

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Many Marvely-type superheros have flown across New York. Or run. Or swung on spiderwebs. Or been propelled by their supersuit/hammer/insertmagicspaceitemhere.

The real heroes of New York however, take the bus.

Nurses, firefighters, police officers, teachers… the people that keep NYC’s engine running, whilst simultaneously not being able to afford to live in it.

Cue the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s New Flyer XD40 buses, transporting hundreds of unsung heroes across New York City every day.

This superb brick-built recreation of true hero transport comes from previous bloggee JLui15, who has not only captured the New Flyer and its MTA livery beautifully, he’s packed it with working functions, including motorised drive, steering, and opening doors controlled via an SBrick.

There’s much more of the New Flyer XD40 to see at Flickr, Eurobricks, and in the video below, and you can join the everyday heroes transiting New York on board via the links in the text above.

YouTube Video

 

Apollo 10

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May 18th 1969, and the tenth Apollo mission departed the Kennedy Space Centre to begin its eight day mission. Only the fourth U.S human spaceflight and the second to orbit the moon, the Apollo 10 mission was a rehearsal for the first moon landing that was to come just two months later, when – on July 20th 1969 – mankind’s relationship with our lunar satellite changed forever.

Cue a tenuous link to today’s car, the Apollo Intensa Emozione. No, us neither, but the Intensa Emozione (or ‘IE’ for short) is a carbon-fibre German supercar, “based on airflow and nature… marine animals in particular”, and powered by a naturally-aspirated Ferrari-derived V12.

Just ten Apollo ‘IE’s will be built, each costing almost $2.7 million (around 1% of the inflation-adjusted cost of the Apollo 10 mission), and having literally nothing at all in common with the moon landings beyond being very expensive. Still, it’s a considerably better name than another more well-known Ferrari V12-powered hypercar.

This exceptional brick-built replica of the Apollo ‘IE’ comes from previous bloggee 3D supercarBricks, who has captured the bodywork-inspired-by-marine-animals brilliantly. Opening gull-wing doors, 3D printed wheels, and superb presentation enhance the realism, and there’s more of the model to see 3D’s Apollo Flickr album. Blast-off to the moon via the link above.

Suggest-a-Supercar

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The models published here at The Lego Car Blog aren’t just those found by our mythical and – importantly – unpaid workforce. No, we want your suggestions too! Because they’re also unpaid.

Whilst the comments section of the Submission Suggestions page has been switched for a Contact Form due to the unsustainably high volume being posted, we genuinely do read every single one. Case in point being the creation you see here, mihao/legobee’s excellent Technic Ford GT, which was suggested by a reader using the aforementioned form.

Looking very much the part, mihao’s recreation of Ford’s 2010’s supercar featuring working steering, a V6 engine, butterfly doors, raising rear wing, all-wheel-suspension, hi/lo gearbox, and the option of adding remote control motorisation via two L Motors and a Servo.

There’s more of the model to see at both Eurobricks and Bricksafe, and if you’d like to check out our Submission Guidelines to see if a model you’ve discovered could appear here, click on these words to find out what we look for.

The Slowest Car in the World

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You might think that the slowest car in the world would be some steam-powered contraption from the late 1800s, or perhaps the thing that moves the space shuttle. But no, if the internet is to believed the slowest car ever is in fact a 200bhp sports car from the late 2010s.

Which just goes to show how the internet’s comments sections are filled with more nonsensical hyperbole than the inside of Donald Trump’s head.

The Subaru BRZ and its Toyota GT86/Scion FRS siblings are throughly brilliant analogue (as much as a modern car can be) rear-wheel-drive sports cars, with low weight, modest power, and – admittedly – the same torque as a smoothie-maker.

Still, that just made getting the most from the sublime chassis even more fun, and we’re pretty sure that when everything is electric, automatic, and festooned with electronic safety interference (which is the reason the car’s second-generation will last just a few short years), the BRZ and GT86 will become highly sought-after classics.

This fantastic Model Team recreation of the slowest-car-in-the-world-according-to-the-internet comes from Flickr’s Mihail Rakovskiy, who has replicated the Subaru BRZ brilliantly. Opening doors, a superbly realistic engine under the raising hood, an opening trunk, and a life-like interior all feature, and there’s lots more to see at Mihail’s ‘Subaru BRZ’ album. Click the link above to make your way very slowly there.

Viva la Revolución

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Pagani somehow seem to have made more ultra-limited special editions than they have cars. And that’s mathematically impossible.

This one is the Zonda Cinque Revolucion, a track-based ultra-limited special edition based on the ultra-limited Zonda Cincque, which is a road-going version of the ultra-limited Zonda R, which was an ultra-limited track version of the Zonda. No, we don’t understand either.

Still, we’re not exactly the target demographic for Zonda ownership here at TLCB, and this Model Team recreation of the ultra-limited version of an ultra-limited version of another ultra-limited version of an ultra-limited hypercar is stunning.

Built by 3D supercarBricks, this incredible replica of the Pagani Zonda Cinque Revolucion captures the insanity of the real deal in jaw-dropping detail, with an engine bay, chassis and interior just as life-like as the wild bodywork.

There’s more to see – including the spectacular under-bodywork detail – at 3D’s photostream; join the revolution (for a very select few) via the link in the text above.

*Today’s punky title song.

Ferrari LaFerrari | Picture Special

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You might think Japan has the stupidest car names. The Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard, the Daihatsu Naked, the Mazda Bongo Friendee, and (most ironically) the Mitsubishi Carisma – to name a few – are all incredibly daft, but the most ludicrous car name of all is surely the Ferrari The Ferrari.

The Ferrari LaFerrari is stupid only in name though, as in all other respects the Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari is one of the greatest hypercars of the modern age.

The first production car to feature an F1 kinetic energy recovery system, the LaFerrariFerrari produced 950bhp from its combination of a 6.3 litre V12 and an electric motor, whilst – somewhat superfluously – improving fuel economy over past V12 Ferraris by around 40%.

This jaw-dropping Technic replica of the Ferrari FerrariLaFerrari comes from T Lego of Eurobricks, who has recreated the 2013 hybrid hypercar in astonishing detail.

An unbelievably accurate exterior, complete with opening butterfly doors, engine cover and  front trunk, hides a modular chassis equipped with a V12 engine hooked up to an 8-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox, dynamic suspension with nose-lift connected to the working steering, a deployable spoiler and aero flaps, and bespoke 3D-printed wheels.

It’s an incredible Technic creation and one you can take a complete in-depth look at via the Eurobricks forum, where a wealth of incredible imagery and full build details can be found. Click the link above to check out T Lego’s amazing model of the car so good that Ferrari named it twice.

Advantage

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We’re rounding out 2022 with exactly the sort of car that this crumbling ruin in the corner of the internet was created for; the mighty Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

Built by previous bloggee Levihathan, this eye-catching Technic recreation of Aston Martin’s 2010s-2020s endurance racer captures the real deal brilliantly, with the aesthetics further enhanced by bespoke decals that add to the race-ready realism.

Inside, Levihathan’s V12 Vantage is just as impressive, with a working V12 piston engine underneath the opening hood, functioning steering and suspension, a detailed race interior, and a paddle-shift gearbox.

There’s much more of the build to see at Levihathan’s ‘Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3’ album, and you can make the jump to all the imagery via the link in the text above.

Black & Blue

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This is a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series. Although it’s blue. But confusing name aside, it is excellent, and been built (with the aid of a few 3D-printed pieces) to replicate a car owned by a YouTube influencer. Previous bloggee 3D supercarBricks is the builder behind it, and there’s lots more to see at his ‘SLS AMG’ album via the link above.