Tag Archives: Beetle

…Otherwise We Get Angry!

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Or ‘…Altrimenti Ci Arrabbiamo!’ in its original Italian, is a 1974 movie – unwatched by TLCB we must confess – starring the two least Italian-sounding actors we’ve ever heard of.

Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, who were actually Italian as it turns out, compete in the film for a Puma Dune Buggy via beer and sausages. Or something like that. Our Italian’s not great.

And despite the Puma looking and sounding as un-Italian as its co-stars, it too was a product of Italy, built on the platform of the Volkswagen Beetle much like the more famous American alternatives.

This excellent Speed Champions example comes from previous bloggee Versteinert, who has captured it (and Terence and Bud in mini-figure form) brilliantly. There’s more to see at Vertsteinert’s ‘Puma Dune Buggy’ Flickr album, and you can win a dune buggy by eating Italian sausage (probably) via the link in the text above.

Sand Green

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Winter is coming here in TLCB’s home nation. The trees are red and yellow, the ground is thick with the shells of various nuts, and a good proportion of the country is under water.

So to cheer us up for the coming weeks when it’ll be dark at 4pm and we’ll be permanently cold, here’s a beach buggy for sunnier climes. Built by Eurobricks’ Jurss it features all-wheel-suspension, working steering, a rear-mounted flat-4 piston engine, plus a removable (and very green) body.

There’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum, and you can pretend you’re somewhere warm and sandy via the link in the text above. Unless you are actually somewhere warm and sandy, in which case can you invite us over?

Beet This

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If you’re a rad So-Cal surfer dude, there is literally nothing cooler than a slammed Volkswagen Beetle with a roof-rack. This TLCB Writer is definitely not a rad So-Cal surfer dude, but despite his doughy Northern European composition, he still thinks this slammed Volkswagen Beetle with a roof-rack is pretty cool. Flickr’s RGB900 is the rad So-Cal surfer dude* behind it and there’s more to see via the link.

*Radical surfness not guaranteed.

Tail-less Cat

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The Meyers Manx beach buggy, named after the tail-less breed of cat to match its truncated rear end, is surely one of the coolest vehicles on the planet. Being based on the Volkswagen Beetle made the Manx cheap, easy to work on, and surprisingly good off road. But it was also based on the Volkswagen Beetle.

Rejoice then, that the rebooted Meyers company has developed a new Manx beach buggy that does away with the noisy Beetle underpinnings, instead ushering in a new era of electric propulsion. And there is probably no vehicle better suited to being an EV than a beach buggy. Provided it can wet of course…

Anyway, this is the noisy, rattly, polluting, slow, and deeply cool Beetle-based original, as built by regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott. Head to the beach via the link above, whilst we dream of owning the electric version…

Topless Curves

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1saac W.‘s superb classic Volkswagen Beetle has appeared here before, but – unlike this TLCB Writer – it looks even better topless. 1saac’s 1950 Hebmüller Cabriolet also allows for a title that’s sure to snare a few newcomers expecting to see something entirely different. There’s more to see on Flickr via the link above!

Beetlejuice

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The Lego Car Blog Elves are rewarded with a meal token and maybe a Smartie when they return to TLCB Towers with a blog-worthy creation. The Elf that found this beautifully presented red Volkswagen Beetle by Flickr’s 1saac W earned itself a red Smartie of course, which – with delightful circularity – are coloured using crushed beetles. Every day’s a school day! There’s more to see of 1saac’s wonderful ’59 Beetle at his photostream, or click here if you’re grossed out by crushed beetles in your candy…

Topless Summer

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It’s summer here at TLCB and it’s HOT. Elves are scattered everywhere panting, and the office ‘air conditioner’ (a fan gaffa-taped to a window ledge) is just moving hot air about like the one in the back of an oven, ensuring everything is equally cooked.

Those of you reading this in sunnier climes than the UK (that’s all of you) will be wondering what all the fuss is about, but this TLCB Writer is well-travelled and no-where gets hot like the UK. Thank the high humidity, limited air conditioning, and buildings designed to keep in, not out, for that.

It also might explain why the British buy more convertibles than the French, Germans, Italians, and Spanish. Put together. Thus we have two here today, and they’re both… um, a bit crap.

The Dodge Viper was basically a truck engine shoved in a kids’ plastic toy, and was predictably rubbish as a result. But on the other hand, it was a truck engine shoved in a kids’ plastic toy, and it was therefore excellent. This superb Speed Champions scale Dodge Viper convertible was suggested by a reader, and it comes from previous bloggee RGB900 who has nailed the 1990s American icon in 6-wide form.

Equally iconic (and rubbish) was the modern Volkswagen Beetle convertible; a bubble-shaped Golf with a pram roof stuck on the back that predictably became the must-have accessory for people that knew nothing about cars.

Fashion is fickle though, and without any substance whatsoever the modern Beetle is now dead, and its customers have all moved on to Mini convertibles. SP_LINEUP hasn’t forgotten it though, creating this excellent brick-built version that was also suggested by a reader.

There’s more to see of each convertible on Flickr via the links, and if you’re wondering why we haven’t featured good drop-tops instead of a kids’ toy and VW pram, just be thankful we didn’t find one of these to post. See, the British do stupid things when it gets hot.

Pill Bug

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Small, grey, and shaped like a ball, Michael Jasper‘s 5-wide Volkswagen Beetle looks a picture of simplicity. Not so inside, where some seriously cunning techniques have been used to turn LEGO’s resolutely right-angled pieces into the famous shape. The knife bumpers might not pass pedestrian crash legislation but otherwise Michael’s nailed it. See how he’s done it on Flickr.

Bugzilla

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There were Elves everywhere.

This morning has been a stressful one here in TLCB Towers. Maybe we got complacent. Maybe we thought the Elves had wised up to the threat of remote control creations. Or maybe we’d simply forgotten this particular narrative, but whatever it was we were rudely and wholly reminded of the Elves’ propensity to smash one another to bits if given the opportunity.

The ‘opportunity’ arrived in the form of this, Michael217’s incredible Volkswagen Beetle monster truck ‘Bugzilla’, as featured in the video game ‘Wreckfest’.

All-wheel-drive via a Buggy Motor, Servo steering, enormous suspension above even more enormous wheels, and a slew of body-mounted spikes give Michael’s creation almost mythical Elf-squashing abilities, which were used to full effect by the one at the controls.

At least a dozen were flattened in the corridor with amusing cartoon tyre prints running down their lengths, a few were splatted against the skirting boards, and a handful were even impaled on ‘Bugzilla’ itself thanks to the spiky bricks mounted all over it.

Of course the Elf that found Michael’s creation was ecstatic about the whole event, which seeing as it’s likely a victim of multiple past smushings itself is probably understandable.

We have much cleaning up to do now, which probably includes a few trips to ‘Elf Hospital‘, so whilst we do that there’s loads more for you to see of Michael’s brilliant ‘Bugzilla’ build – which includes a V6 engine, opening doors and hood, and a detailed interior too – at the Eurobricks discussion forum, with the complete image gallery available on Bricksafe.

Click the links above to make the jump.

Alt’s Alright

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‘Alternative’ can mean many things. It’s a category of music that’s really rather mainstream (but pretends otherwise because it’s cooler that way), it’s the self-awarded title of a group of far-right nationalist scumbags, and it’s used to describe girls who look slightly different yet somehow all look exactly the same.

We’re a Lego blog though, so here it means none of the above, instead being used to identify a creation built only from the parts found within an official LEGO set.

Somehow we’ve posted three such creations today, making this alternative Baja Bug – like alternative music and alternative girls – the opposite of its literal meaning. Nevertheless it fits within the brief, being constructed only from the pieces found within the 42122 Technic Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.

Builder “grohl” has not only managed to turn that resolutely square set into something rather more curvy, he’s equipped his model with both front and rear suspension, a 4-cylinder engine driven by the rear wheels, a working winch, functioning steering, plus opening doors, bonnet and engine cover.

This means this alternate somehow features more technical functions than the set that donated its parts, and there’s more to see – including a link to building instructions – at “grohl”‘s photostream. Click the link to go alternative.

Baja Bug

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Snow is falling outside TLCB Towers today, so here’s a VW buggy built to race in the desert. No we couldn’t think of a Christmas link. And we’re really cold.

Anyway, this Speed Champions style ‘Baja Bug’ comes from regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott, it’s rather excellent, and there’s more to see at his photostream. Click the link above and pretend you’re somewhere hot. Unless you’re already somewhere hot, then you can just click the link.

VAG BUG

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Today’s creation might sound like something you picked up on that trip to Thailand, but it is in fact the dubious name given to this marvellous Technic Volkswagen Beetle buggy by its maker, februar88. Stupendous in its appearance, februar88’s creation includes four drive motors – with one L Motor powering each wheel, plus Servo steering, a V8 engine (turned by a Medium Motor), mega suspension, opening and locking doors, LED lights, and SBrick programmable bluetooth control. There’s lots more to see – including a video of the bug in action – at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Take your penicillin and learn a valuable lesson about using protection via the link above.

CARtoon

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How do you see where you’re going when your dragster’s pulling a wheelie? Krass & Bernie have the answer, with their patented Beetle Dragster! A piece of automotive artwork from George Trosley in the ‘CARtoons’ magazine, Krass & Bernie’s creation was powered by both a huge mid-mounted V8 and the engine from a Volkswagen Beetle, which we don’t suspect is adding much.

Canter-levered out the back, with a precarious chain linking the Bug’s engine to the rear wheels (which are kinda the Beetle’s front wheels), the Volkswagen’s shell becomes a level cockpit when the dragster’s front wheels are pointing at the sky. Genius! We think…

This brilliant recreation of Trosley’s unique design comes from Brick Flag (making his second appearance today), and he’s even built cartoon hot rodders Krass & Bernie to go with it. Head to a very tilted drag strip somewhere in a CARtoons magazine via the link above!

More Than Meets the Eye

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It’s a happy day for the Elves here at TLCB Towers as a number of them found these brilliant Transformers Autobots by Flickr’s Alex Jones (aka Orion Pax). Normally this would have led to an Elf fight, but in a rare moment of Elven cooperation they approached us with their finds collectively, in the hope that Transformers cartoons would be played. Their peaceful approach has been rewarded, with the discovering Elves duly awarded a meal token each and all Elves here at the Towers now contentedly watching Transformers cartoons. You can thank Alex for the harmony via the link above, where you can find his excellent transforming Ironhide, Cosmos, Powerglide, Mirage, Hoist, Jazz, Blaster, and Bumblebee Autobots.

My Other Car’s a Beetle

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LEGO’s 10252 Creator Volkswagen Beetle set is not the first source of parts we’d think of when designing a truck. Resolutely rounded, and with a surfboard on the roof, it is a most un-truck-like vehicle. However that hasn’t stopped Flickr’s Serge S from designing this superb cab-over truck using only the parts found within the 10252 set.

So good is Serge’s design that had he not included a note to the parts source within the description we’d have published this without ever knowing the origin of its pieces. Head to Serge’s photostream via the link above to see more of this remarkable Alternate, and if you own the Creator Volkswagen Beetle set give it ago yourself and see how versatile LEGO bricks can be!