Tag Archives: Chevrolet

Bored in ’64

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These days a cream station wagon would be a rather interesting vehicular sight, surrounded by a sea of grey SUVs. Back in ’60s America however, and they were the byword for boring.

Even the name of this one was uninspired. American car companies are usually quite good at exciting names, but – whilst this would eventually be called the ‘Nova’ – to begin with it was simply known as the ‘Chevy II’, which is almost Sovietly insipid.

Flickr’s Tim Inman is the builder behind this marvellous Model Team recreation of the Chevrolet Chevy II station wagon – which he’s created for the ongoing Festival of Mundanity competition – complete with a beautifully built interior and exterior, opening doors, raising hood, and a life-like engine. Which appropriately is not the optional V8. That would be too interesting.

It’s a fabulous build – although we’re not sure how many mundane points it will earn seeing as today a Chevrolet Chevy II station wagon would be a rather cool sight – and there are lots more images available to see at Tim’s photostream via the link above.

If you’d like to enter your own boring build there are still several weeks of the contest left to go, and some awesome prizes on offer for the winners, with Tim entering into both the Vehicle and Object categories. His object entry might just be the most default and uninspired item in the history of mankind too. Excellent!

El Camino

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Car-based pick-ups have been a strangely transient body style over the years. Currently popular in South America, previously popular but now dead in Australia, and returning once more after a long hiatus to the U.S.

This new crop of car-based pick-ups being marketed in the U.S includes the new Ford Maverick and the decidedly strange-looking Hyundai Santa Cruz, and it could mean there’s room for the famous of them all to make a comeback; the mighty Chevrolet El Camino SS.

Based on the Chevrolet Chevelle, the El Camino swapped the traditional sedan/station-wagon bodywork for a two-door cab with a pick-up bed, and it could be bought with Chevrolet’s most powerful engine of the time, a 13-second 1/4 mile 450bhp V8.

Despite this prodigious power, suspension and steering were still, well… it had them we suppose, and disc brakes were an optional extra. Handling was clearly not an El Camino strong-suite then, but if it could stop and go round corners quickly all your stuff would fly out of the bed, so perhaps Chevrolet were cleverer than we’re giving them credit for. Or it could be that American consumers only cared about big power and racing stripes…

This wonderful recreation of the definitive muscle-car-pick-up comes from Jakub Marcisz, who has replicated the 1970 El Camino SS brilliantly in brick-form. Jakub’s model includes (somewhat superfluous) working steering, the requisite big piston engine connected to the rear wheels, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and – most importantly of all – racing stripes.

There’s lots more to see at Jakub’s ‘Chevrolet El Camino SS’ album, and you can make the jump to ’70s racing-striped muscle-car-based-pick-up wonderfulness via the link above.

Wheat Season

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It’s wheat season. Not here in TLCB’s home nation, where everything is under a thin layer of ice, but somewhere it probably it is.

Regular bloggee 1saac W. is bringing in the wheat harvest back in the 1950s, with his lovely brick-built Ford 8N tractor and ’49 Chevrolet pick-up.

A neat Technic-pin field of wheat stands behind the classic farm due, and there’s more to see of both the Ford 8N and the Chevy at 1saac’s photostream.

Grab your hay fork and head to 1950s rural America via the link in the text above.

My Other Car’s a Porsche

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LEGO’s excellent 10295 Creator Porsche 911 set has produced some wonderful alternates to date, and this might be our favourite so far.

The Chevrolet Corvette C3 was America’s answer to the Porsche 911 of the time, and is – at least in the eyes of this TLCB writer – still one of the best looking American cars ever made.

Capturing the C3 Corvette brilliantly, and using only the pieces from the 10295 Porsche 911 set to do so, is Lego-building legend and TLCB Master MOCer Firas Abu-Jaber.

Firas’ expertly presented creation recreates the iconic classic Corvette in T-bar form, with pop-up headlights, opening doors and hood, a superbly detailed engine bay and interior, and a removable targa roof.

It makes for one of the finest alternates from any set that we’ve seen yet, and best of all if you own the 10295 Porsche 911 set you can turn it into a Chevrolet Corvette C3 yourself, as Firas has produced building instructions too.

Head over to Firas’ ‘Corvette C3’ album on Flickr for the complete gallery, you can find the building instructions at his website here, and you can click here to read Firas’ interview in the Master MOCers series if you want to find out more about how he creates his amazing models such as this one.

I Met Her in a Club Down in Old Soho…

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We often get asked to feature more digital builds, but, well… we just prefer the real thing. So too did Ray Davies, who – in his 1970 hit with The Kinks – rejected the advances of Lola, despite later addressing the controversy around his lyrics by stating “It really doesn’t matter what sex Lola is, I think she’s alright”.

Cue a seamless link to ‘LOLA’ from Marvel’s ‘Agents of Shield’, a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette that hides some rather trick abilities, as recreated here in this marvellous image by Flickr’s Vaionaut.

Like Ray’s admirer in that Soho club, Vaionaut’s ‘LOLA’ doesn’t feature the real pieces you’d expect, but it looks so good we can’t help but think it’s alright too. It’s also capable of doing a few things that a brick-built creation can’t, being rendered in flight in a way that’s very probably more realistic than if it had been constructed from real bricks.

Somewhere in all that there’s a metaphor for accepting someone for who they are, and you can see more of Vaionaut’s digital Chevrolet Corvette ‘LOLA’ via the link above, whilst we ponder it.

*Today’s title song.

Flame Grille

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A flame paint-job is worth at least 150bhp, according to TLCB maths. That puts it right up there with a supercharger, side pipes and nitrous in TLCB’s list of go-faster things.

Laszlo Torma’s Speed Champions ‘57 Chevy is therefore very powerful indeed, being equipped with at least two of the above.

A brilliant brick-built grille and a pair of appropriately cool looking mini-figures complete the build, and there’s more to see of Laszlo’s flaming Chevy – including a link to building instructions – on Flickr via the link above.

Venom (Unverified)

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Several cars currently claim to be the fastest ever produced. The race for the highest top speed has brought about some incredible machines, but it’s also reached a fairly pointless level, as a whole pit crew, the hiring of a desert, plus bespoke tyres, fuel, and fluids are all required. If TLCB were in charge of the record, a car’s run would only stand if it was filled up on the M32, just outside Bristol, and driven by an elderly lady plucked at random from a nearby bowls club.

Hennessey somewhat understandably chose not to take this approach, going the whole pit-crew-desert-bespoke route when they beat the Bugatti Veyron’s record last decade, reaching an official top speed of 270mph in what was basically a Lotus Exige with an LS in it.

Bugatti have since upped their game but – not counting SSC’s recent slightly embarrassing and completely unverified claim – no production car has yet hit a verified 300mph.

Hennessey aim to do so imminently though, with this; the 1,800bhp Venom F5.

Built in England (as most American supercar icons seem to be), and powered by a hugely reworked Chevrolet LS (as most American supercar icons seem to be), just twenty-four Venom F5s are due to be produced, each costing $2.1m, and each capable (if Hennessey’s maths are proved correct) of a record-breaking 301mph top speed.

We’ll find out if the claims are true when the Venom F5 records a verified run, so until then we’re happy to focus on a rather smaller version, as built in 1:8 scale by previous bloggee Jeroen Ottens.

With all-wheel-suspension, a V8 engine, working scissor doors, functioning steering, and an 8-speed sequential gearbox, Jeroen’s Technic Venom F5 is certainly every bit as impressive as an on-paper top speed of 301mph.

You can also build Jeroen’s model for yourself, as it’s constructed mostly from the various green pieces (and variously green pieces) from the 42115 Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 set, with instructions available at Jeroen’s website.

There’s more to see – including the complete gallery and full build details – at both Flickr and Eurobricks – Click the links above, grab your pit crew and some bespoke tyres, and probably/possibly/maybe hit 301mph!

Skull and Crossplane

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Americans, like TLCB Elves, are excited by decals. There’s the Pontiac Firebird’s Giant Flaming Bird motif, the Ford Mustang’s twin stripes, aircraft with teeth, and many more besides.

Despite this clear appreciation for decal work, that most American of cars – the Chevrolet Corvette – isn’t really famous for any stickers at all.

Fortunately László Torma is here to correct this, by equipping the unloved LS1 crossplane-engined C4 Corvette (see, the title does make sense!) with a giant skull on the hood.

You can also build both the aforementioned skull and the car wearing it at home, as László has made building instructions for his C4 Corvette ‘Skull Edition’ available. Go on, get a boner via the link above!

Off-Road at Any Speed

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The 1961 Chevrolet Corvair was a brilliantly interesting car. Designed to take on Volkswagen, the Corvair was powered by a rear-mounted air-cooled flat-6 engine, which even came with the option of turbo-charging (the first production car in the world to do so).

Unfortunately however, the Corvair also featured a significant design flaw; the suspension tried to kill you.

The bean-counters at GM omitted anti-sway bars to save cost, which – when combined with that rear-mounted flat-6 engine and swing-axle suspension – caused the wheel camber to vary drastically when cornering. This created a car with wildly unpredictable handling, and therefore one that crashed a lot.

In 1965 attorney Ralph Nader published a book on the Corvair titled ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’, and Corvair sales plummeted. Of course GM did the default ‘evil corporation’ thing and attempted to smear Nader rather than fix the car, before conceding and equipping the Corvair with independent suspension.

The damage had been done though, and the Corvair carries a crashy reputation to this day. Cue Flickr’s Volker Brodkorb, who has fixed his Corvair station wagon’s handling issues by, well… turning it into an off-road monster truck.

OK, if anything the handling would be even worse, but look how cool it is! Volker’s model is in fact based on a real Corvair monster truck, which has got the Elves very excited. There’s more to see of Volker’s version via the link above, and you can check out a video of the real-life monster truck on which Volker’s model is based by clicking this link, where – amazingly – no one is killed at all.

Yel-Low

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Today’s find is yellow and a hot rod, which – if you’re a TLCB Elf at least – is about as good as it gets. Regular bloggee 1saac W. owns the hands behind it and there’s more to see of his Chevrolet pick-up ‘show rod ‘at his photostream via the link.

Ghostly Antelope

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“Hello, who are travelling with today?” “My brother.” “Did you pack the car yourself?” “Yes sir.” “Carrying anything back there? Live animals, fruit, explosives, weapons?” “Er…”.

This is a 1967 Chevrolet Impala, from back when large American cars were really cool. It was also the vehicle chosen as the star car for the TV show ‘Supernatural’, in which it’s used to hunt down various other-worldly monsters that are running amok.

This means a trunk full of paranormal paraphernalia, which previous bloggee Tony Bovkoon has duly recreated in Lego form to complete this superb Model Team replica of the Supernatural Impala.

There’s lots more of Tony’s creation to see (including the occult contents of the Chevy’s trunk) at his ‘Impala ’67 Supernatural’ album on Flickr – Click the link above to have an interesting conversation with the border guard…

We’ve Got Gas

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Well, Thomas Gion aka HotDogSandwiches does, in the form of this marvellous 1960s Chevrolet Nova ‘Gasser’ style drag racer.

Thomas’s Speed Champions scale build features removable front bodywork, a brilliant brick-built engine, flame-shooting exhausts, wheelie bars, plus a range of wonderfully life-like tools and equipment.

There’s more of the build to see at Thomas’s ‘1963 Chevrolet Nova Gasser’ album – click the link above to take a look!

Sportvan Delux

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The ’60s was an era full of wildly optimistic names. This is a 1965 Chevrolet Sportvan Delux, which Chevy’s marketing department must have spent literally minutes working on, before going outside to smoke a pack of cigarettes or three.

Still, it looks cool, particularly with a trio of surfboards on the roof. Flickr’s Tim Henderson is the builder and there’s more to see of his wonderfully built but stupidly named creation via the link above.

And surely no-one would be silly enough to give something a name as utterly pointless as ‘Sportvan’ these days…

Speed Champions 2021 H2 | Set Previews

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The Elves have been busy! A crack team of ‘volunteers’, sent into the bowels of The LEGO Company’s HQ, have returned, some of them without any German Shepherd teeth marks at all! The fruits of their mission are six new Speed Champions sets for 2021, and – more excitingly – two brand new manufacturer partnerships.

76900 Koenigsegg Jesko

The first of the two new manufacturer partnerships is the hardest to spell. Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg have been a bedroom wall staple for years, and 76900 will bring Koenigsegg’s 1,300bhp (and rumoured 300+mph top speed) Jesko to bedroom floors too when it arrives alter this year. The Speed Champions version includes 280 pieces and – to our eyes – really looks the part. Expect it to cost around $20/£15 when it hits stores, and for bedroom floors to be a much faster place.

76901 Toyota GR Supra

The second new partnership is the one we’re most excited about, although perhaps not the first model to come from it. 76901 marks the first officially licensed Toyota set, and brings their spectacularly styled fifth generation Supra into the Speed Champions line-up. It’s a shame then that the resulting model looks so awkward, in particular the dodgy-looking stickered headlights. Still, LEGO know what sells, and we suspect that 76901 will be mighty popular. Plus, if it opens the door to a Technic or Creator Toyota Land Cruiser, Le Mans racer, or Yaris WRC car, we’re all for it. Aimed at ages 7+, expect 299 parts and the usual $20/£15 price-tag.

76902 McLaren Elva

The third new set in the 2021 Speed Champions line-up recreates yet another McLaren in brick form. The near $2million Elva is one of far too many real-world McLaren special editions, giving LEGO a vast range of McLaren cars to turn into sets. It’s not one of our favourites this one, although the wing-mirror looks cool. Less stickers (good), less parts (bad), and likely the same price-tag as the sets above.

76903 Chevrolet C8.R & ’68 Chevrolet Corvette

This is more like it! The first double-car set of the 2021 Speed Champions range, 76903 brings the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R racing car and ’68 Corvette C3 to the line-up, and they both look fantastic. The modern C8.R shows how stickers should be applied (i.e. to create a livery, not as a substitute for the brick-built basics), whilst the classic C3 might be one of the nicest Speed Champions road cars ever. 76903 includes 512 parts, two mini-figures, and is expected to cost around $40/£35 when it arrives later this year.

76904 Mopar Dodge Top Fuel Dragster & ’70 Dodge Challenger

The American road and racing car combo continues with 76904; Dodge’s iconic ’70 Challenger (in their excellent ’70s purple!) alongside an enormous Mopar Top Fuel dragster. Unlike the larger sets from previous years no gantry or starting lights are included (which is fine by us as they always look a bit rubbish), but the size of the dragster alone increases the piece count to 627. Two mini-figures and a lot of stickers for the dragster are included, and we expect 76904 to cost around $60/£55.

76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition & Bronco R

The final new set in the 2021 H2 Speed Champions range continues LEGO’s successful partnership with Ford, recreating the Ford GT in Heritage Edition spec and the brand new Ford Bronco. The GT features as many stickers as the rest, although they do work well here, whilst the Bronco R is covered in even more. They kind of suit the Bronco though, which also includes a very cool looking blue roll cage, sump guard, and spare tyre cage too. Like the other double vehicle sets, 76905 is aimed at ages 8+, and actually includes the most parts at 660 (although many are small pieces). Expect 76905 to cost around $55/£50, and for that Bronco to be used to jump over all manner of household objects after it goes on sale later in the year.

Seventies Stripes

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That’s probably not what the ‘SS’ part of the Chevrolet Chevelle SS’s name stood for, but it may as well have been if you’re a TLCB Elf. They really like stripes.

This magnificent fully RC recreation of the 1970 Chevelle SS by Jakub Marcisz features two most excellent stripes over its hood and trunk, which by TLCB maths add at least 50bhp.

Power Functions remote control equips Jakub’s model with drive and steering, there’s a two-speed gearbox, all-wheel suspension, opening doors, hood and trunk, and LED lights.

A sizeable gallery of images is available via Jakub’s ‘Chevrolet Chevelle SS 1970’ album on Flickr, plus you can see full details and a video of the model in action at the Eurobricks discussion forum here.