Tag Archives: 8-wide

Taking Out the Trash

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The big news this week is that of a scumbag despot who has massively overreached his electoral mandate being seized and tried by a scumbag despot who has massively overreached his electoral mandate.

The result is that New York City now hosts a Venezuelan President in court facing charges of drug trafficking and terrorism, after previously convicting – on 34 counts – the man that has brought him there.

Which brings us seamlessly to today’s creation, this splendid 1978 Autocar DK Trashmaster garbage truck, for decades the default vehicle for tidying NYC’s streets.

Constructed by previous bloggee Sseven Bricks, this excellent recreation of New York’s most recognisable garbage truck captures its appearance brilliantly, and includes a working trash compactor alongside some wonderful visual attention to detail.

Sseven’s Flickr photostream hosts full details and imagery of the build, and you can take the trash to the curb in NYC (or a president, whether Venezuelan or American) via the link in the text above.

Wait For It…

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These days, everything is turbocharged. Which normally means a tiny engine, often with three-cylinders, fitted under the hood of a homogenous crossover. Sigh. But turbos used to be cool. Albeit laggy.

This is the BMW 2002 Turbo, one of the first turbocharged production cars, and powered by a 2.0 litre engine fitted with a 0.55 bar twin-scroll KK&K turbocharger that boosted power to almost 170bhp. Well, it did once the turbo-lag was over, usually a few seconds after you asked for it.

Launched in 1973, the 2002 Turbo’s arrival coincided exactly with the oil crisis, which meant it wasn’t exactly a success. The technology it pioneered however, is now fitted to almost every new non-electrified car on sale, and with the lag left in the past.

This excellent brick-built homage to the 2002 Turbo comes from brickphisto of Flickr, who has recreated it beautifully in 8-wide form. The doors, trunk, and hood all open, under the last of which is a replica of the M10-turbo engine that powered it, and there’s more of the model to see at brickphisto’s photostream. Put your foot down and wait a few seconds via the link above.

Barracuda*

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If TLCB Elves were to design a car, it’d probably look like a ’70s Plymouth Barracuda. Lime green bodywork, a black hood with a giant scoop in the middle of it, racing stripes, and an enormous V8 engine packing up to 425bhp from over 7 litres, the Hemi ‘Cuda was wildly different to the cars trundling around our home nation at the time.

Cue this splendid Speed Champions scale recreation of Plymouth’s third-generation Barracuda from previous bloggee gnat.bricks, which includes all of the aforementioned attributes plus -and more unusually at this scale – a brick-built drivetrain, including  full-length exhausts, gearbox, driveshaft and differential, and steering arms/suspension. These don’t function of course, but then neither did the steering/suspension of the real ‘Cuda.

There’s more of gnat’s brilliant Barracuda to see at his ‘CUDA SC’ album on Flickr, and you can jump back to ’70s America via the link above, whilst clicking the link below for the most appropriate soundtrack imaginable.

*Today’s excellent title song. Of course.

Rust n’ Dust

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It wasn’t just British and Italian cars in the late-’70s and ’80s that failed to start in the morning and/or dissolved if they got wet. No, the French made some awful cars too, including today’s, the woeful Renault 20.

Sitting at the top of their line-up, there was (much like the aforementioned British and Italian cars) a lot to like about Renault’s executive hatchback, including some innovative engineering that included both crumple zones and side-impact protection.

But none of that mattered when the cars were heroically unreliable, tragically underpowered, and rusted within just a few years of leaving the forecourt, resulting in a resale value of almost nothing at all. Still, there is one Renault 20 we like, the pioneering Turbo 4×4 Dakar, with a 1.6 litre turbocharged rally engine and all-wheel-drive courtesy of the rear axle from a Renault Trafic van.

Constructed by Flickr’s NV Carmocs, this 8-wide replica of the Renault 20 Turbo 4×4 captures the 1982 Dakar-winning car beautifully, thanks in part to a superbly accurate livery and some brilliant photo editing.

There’s much more of NV’s Renault 20 to see at their photostream, and you can head to the desert in 1982 via the link above, where the lack of rain and a whole load of available spare parts were probably sorely missed by every other Renault 20 owner at the time…

Insert Mullet

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Do you wear a mullet, loiter in alleyways chewing toothpick, and think that recycling is a socialist plot? Then we have the car for you!

This glorious black-and-gold 1977 Pontiac Trans Am is the work of previous bloggee RGB900, and – despite being just 8-suds wide – captures every identifier of the real car brilliantly bar a flaming bird motif on the hood.

There’s more to see at RGB’s photostream, and you can make the jump to it via the link above. Mullet optional.

Little Dump

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Sometimes you don’t need a big dump, and a small one will do you just fine. Cue ER0L‘s Peterbilt dump truck, which at only 8-studs wide is indeed rather small. It kinda works though, with both a tipping dumper and sort-of-suspension on the rear wheels. Neat detailing and excellent presentation prove it doesn’t have to be big to be blogged, and you can take a small dump on Flickr via the link above.

Whatta Man

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“How many wheels would you like your truck to have sir?” “…All of them.”

Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg has taken a similar approach to your Mom at the all-you-can-eat buffet with his wheel quantity, with over two-dozen present on his Allelys heavy haulage MAN TGX.

There’s more to see at his Flickr album (along with the MAN’s counterpart Mercedes-Benz Arocs that appeared here a few months ago), where a ginormous load is surely soon to appear too. And if you made another ‘Your Mom’ joke there, that one’s on you.

Duck Tails*

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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…

*Woo-oo!

Fish Face

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This TLCB Writer never particularly liked the McLaren Mercedes SLR. It looked like some kind of sad deep-sea fish. But no matter, because if you do like Mercedes-Benz’s mid-’00s collaboration with their then Formula 1 partner McLaren, previous bloggee Fabrice Larcheveque has recreated it brilliantly (sad fish face included) in 8-wide Speed Champions form, and with building instructions too. Find all the imagery and that link to instructions at Fabrice’s ‘McLaren Mercedes SLR’ album above.

Build Your Own Supercar

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If we could write to Santa to ask for anything, a supercar would be near the top of the list. It’s probably a good thing he only gives toys though, as if we all got our wishes the world would likely be much worse for it.

Cue today’s creations, which – whilst they are toys – do help us into the world of supercar ownership, as each as been published with building instructions so you can build them at home too!

Above is Nathanael Kuipers‘ Ferrari La Ferrari, which he has built entirely from the parts from the official LEGO Speed Champions 76914 Ferrari 812 Competizione set, whilst below is Fabrice Larcheveque‘s fantastic Lamborghini Diablo, which recreates the ’90s supercar icon beautifully in 8-wide brick.

There’s more to see of each via the links above, where building instructions can also be found, so you too can own a supercar this Christmas.

Brown Town

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It’s the early-’90s, but no-one’s told Buick, who are continuing to make cars as if it’s 1978. Enormously-sized, enormously-engined, and wearing the hues of two separate but equally disgusting diapers, the Roadmaster was an ode to America’s automotive wilderness years. And yet… now, when everything is an abysmally dreary crossover SUV, Buick’s Roadmaster suddenly looks like the coolest family hauler on the road. Even in baby-poo brown. See this one courtesy of 1saac W.

€2m Statue

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The attribute that matters least with the world’s fastest, best driving, and highest performing cars is… the way they drive. Allow us to explain.

Bought alongside seventeen others by the super-rich, such cars are simultaneously placed on a balance sheet by an incredibly boring accountant, and in a sealed storage unit by company that specialises in not driving cars.

Thus when Ferrari announced a hypercar that couldn’t be driven, was stored by them, and cost over €2 million (back in 2015), it was perfect for their ultra-wealthy client base.

Based on the Ferrari LaFerrari, the FXX-K produced over 1,000bhp from a race-derived 6.3 litre V12 and Kinetic Energy Recovery System (fancy speak for ‘Hybrid’), wore specially developed Bridgestone tyres, featured uniquely engineered Brembo brakes, and generated nearly half-a-ton of downforce from an extreme aerodynamic package.

None of which mattered of course, for what is essentially a €2 million statue.

Cue previous bloggee Fabrice Larcheveque (aka ABFab74), who has recreated the Ferrari FXX-K brilliantly in 8-wide Speed Champions form. Presented superbly, there’s more of the model to see at Fabrice’s Flickr album, including a link to building instructions so you can create your own FXX-K at home. Whereafter – for the authentic FXX-K experience – you can pay someone €2 million to put it into storage…

Dedicated Follower of Fashion*

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American automotive design was at its most outrageous by the late ’50s. Increasingly wild shapes, jet engine tail lights, and tail-fins half the length of the car were redrawn every two years, with manufacturers reusing the same (often rather tired) underpinnings underneath constantly new fashion-conscious exteriors. ’50s American cars had lifecycles as short as LEGO sets…

Of course there’s probably a metaphor there somewhere about what actually matters being what’s on the inside, as by the ’70s the wheels were starting to come off, but in 1959 no-one was thinking that far ahead. In fact no-one thought further than the next 24 months.

Today’s creation epitomises this time; the fabulously extravagant 1959 Dodge Coronet. The fourth generation car we have here lasted from just 1957 to 1959 (with its predecessors each lasting no more than two years also), measured nearly 6 meters long, and was powered by a range of six and eight cylinder engines, some of which dated from the 1920s.

This lovely 8-wide Speed Champions recreation of the ’59 Coronet comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks, who has added it to his ever growing roster of classic automotive Americana. With so many short-lived designs crammed into America’s golden age, SFH has no shortage of real-world cars to replicate, and you can check out this wonderful Dodge and much more besides via the link in the text above.

*Today’s title song.

Old Man Semi

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We’re not all racing cars, sports cars, and monstrous off-roaders here at The Lego Car Blog. Nope. Because today we have a road-worn ’80s MAN truck. And a title referencing erectile disfunction.

This battered MAN F90 ‘cab-over semi’, or just ‘truck’ to our European readers, is the work of Sseven Bricks, who has deliberately constructed it to look well used. And to great effect. Cunning techniques and excellent presentation make this worth a closer look, and you can click the link above to see more of Sseven’s old MAN semi.

8-Stud Huayra

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LEGO are yet to release a Speed Champions Pagani Huayra, but if they do it’ll have to be quite a set to beat this one.

Constructed by Flickr’s Fabrice Larcheveque, this 8-wide homage to the wild Italian hypercar captures the real car brilliantly, including a detailed engine and interior, and with building instructions available you can recreate it for yourself too.

Head to Fabrice’s Flickr album to take a look.