Tag Archives: Classic Car

In the Pink

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It’s been a decade-and-a-half running this shambles of a website, and we’re still not really sure how to tell the sex of a TLCB Elf.

All we know is that despite the various incidents that occur here, via squashings, dogs, seagulls and so forth, the number of Elves seems to stay relatively stable. And after one particularly traumatic event in TLCB Executive Washroom & Sauna, procreation must play a part in that.

However today – assuming TLCB Elves conform to similar gender stereotypes as humans – we may have got a clue as to which of our smelly little workers are the fairer sex, because a number of them were riotously excited at the arrival of this 1973 Nissan President Type-D ‘Kaido Racer’, which is so pink.

Constructed by Flickr’s mocbyendo, this wildly modified sedan features working LED lights front and rear, custom wheels and decals, an exposed oil-cooler, half roll-cage, and yellow bon-dashi exhausts punching straight through the hood.

Ah, come to think of it perhaps there’s more going on here to excite the Elves than just the two-tone pink…

Whilst we continue to ponder Elven biology you can check out more of endo’s magnificent Nissan on Flickr – click the link above to jump in the pink.

Seventies Inspiration

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BMW, makers of some of the most aesthetically horrifying vehicles of recent times, seem to have finally rediscovered their mojo. Of course they still make a few cars that make us vomit on the sight, but the new 3-Series looks, well… rather like BMW’s used to. Which means all they had  to do was peruse their own museum in order to not build something that looked like it had been dredged from the bottom of the ocean. Something like this, the wonderful BMW 2002 Tii.

This lovely example comes from previous bloggee PleaseYesPlease, who has refined his design for this car over the years (and as LEGO have released new parts) to get ever closer to BMW’s classic icon. The resulting model nails the 2002’s understated brilliance, and you can see lots more at Please’s Flickr album. Click the link above to take a look, and – if you work for BMW’s design team – some inspiration.

Pass the Jeep

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Jeep, that most recognisable of American brands, has been passed around like a bottle of Jack at an underage beach party. From their creators Willys-Overland, the company has passed through five pair of hands before landing with current owners Stellantis, with each taking a swig on the way leaving ever less for the next person. Plus a bit of spit.

Which means we want something from Jeep’s current line-up like we want a venereal disease, but at a push we would take something from fifty years ago, like this marvellous Jeep CJ5.

It comes from Flickr’s Rick Brick making his TLCB Debut, there’s working steering and suspension, and much more to see of this superbly smooth Model Team Jeep CJ at his photostream. Click the link above to take a drink from the bottle whilst there’s still something good in it.

Station Wagon Appreciation Society

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It wasn’t that long ago that we were mocking giant American station wagons. Now though, deep in the era of endless identical electric crossovers, we yearn for them. And this TLCB writer is literally typing this from the seat of an electric crossover whilst it charges…

Whether you know them as Estates, Tourers, or Station Wagons, they are all vastly superior to any modern SUV. Including this one, a lovely 1975 Dodge Coronet by Flickr’s Sseven Bricks.

Constructed in 6-wide, Sseven’s Dodge captures a bygone era of motoring wonderfully, and you can head to a gas station in the ‘70s via the link above, whilst this writer waits for his charge to finish.


Flying Buttress

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The Jaguar XJS is a rare sight these days (away from the banger track at least), and as a result is looking ever more beautiful, especially from this angle. Those are ‘flying buttresses’ and – as is often the way with unique designs – they weren’t appreciated in their own time. They look awesome now though, and Stefan Eekman (aka Sebeus I) has captured them beautifully in brick form as a gift for a colleague. Fly over to Flickr or Eurobricks for more.

Past Master

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TLCB staff do not like the modern Volkswagen Golf GTI. Too heavy, too powerful, too expensive, too automatic, and with cabin controls that even VW themselves acknowledge are total crap, what with them being invisible in the dark. But hey the front grille lights up! Sigh.

Yes we’re grumpy old men today, because we much prefer this, the mid-‘80s Mark II Golf GTI. Low power, low weight, and not a touch sensitive unlit temperature slider in sight. Although they aren’t ’in sight’ in the modern Golf either, which is the problem.

This splendid Speed Champions recreation of probably the best Golf GTI of them all comes from regular bloggee SFH_Bricks, who has nailed the brief.

Just over 300 pieces, instructions are available, and you can head back to when hot hatches didn’t need three sub-menus to change the stereo volume via the link above.

The Streets of San Francisco

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Is there anything more 1970s than a brown police car crashing through some gratuitously placed boxes? Of course not, and Flickr’s SvenJ. takes us straight to ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ with this fabulous early-’70s Ford Galaxie as driven by Lieutenant Mike Stone and Inspector Steve Keller. Usually through some gratuitously placed boxes.

Clever building techniques and wonderful detailing match the top quality presentation, and there’s lots more of Sven’s seventies Galaxie to see via the link above. Plus you can hear tyres squealing on gravel and watch a few shots used twice in the hope TV audiences wouldn’t notice in this glorious ‘The Streets of San Francisco’ montage!

Supernova

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Some cars are just cool. And this is one of them, the tremendous 1969 Chevrolet Nova SS, equipped with a near 400bhp V8 and – in the case of PleaseYesPlease’s brick-built example – dropped to the floor under bulging arches. Never has the office Rover 200 looked more upright. Or slower. Join us imagining we’re cool at Please’s ‘Nova SS 1969’ album via the link.

Cosmic Corvettes

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Corvettes, like Mustangs, are often driven by people who think their car can spin on the spot. Or fly. Or both. They are mistaken.

But not today! Because we have two Corvettes that can do just that. Previous bloggee Sergio Batista has taken the 76903 Speed Champions Corvettes set and added a whole lot more vertical ability, with inspiration from artist Alejandro Burdisio, the ‘Blade Runner’ movies, and a heap of unusual LEGO Bionicle and Exo-Force pieces.

LED lighting adds to the aura, and there’s more to see of both the Corvette Stingray hover car and Corvette C8.R ‘Spinner’ at Sergio’s photostream. Click the links to take a look, or here for another bonus Corvette crash.

It Was a Good Day

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I gotta go ’cause I got me a drop-topAnd if I hit the switch, I can make the ass dropCube’s Impala is the base
Sergio Batista’s even added his faceLow ‘n slow wins the race
Chrome bricks, printed rims and paint, for purists this Chevy ain’tBut listen homies, that’s not a complaintBounce over to Flickr, so you can acquaint.

Yes we’ve murdered Ice Cube’s ‘It Was a Good Day’, but with Sergio’s ’64 Chevrolet lowrider straight from the ’92 video we were pretty much obliged to. Click here to make the ass drop.

Nomadic Lifestyle

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It’s funny how words change over time. What once meant herding livestock across the Mongolian steppe, living in a tent and drinking yaks milk, now means sitting on a beach in Bali selling crap digital marketing / lifestyle coaching / crypto courses to the terminally gullible.

There must be a middle-ground…

Fortunately there is, and today we’re showing you how to have a nomadic lifestyle whilst neither freezing in a tent in Mongolia nor becoming an insufferable digital douchebag. This is the Chevrolet Nomad.

Based on the Chevrolet Bel-Air and featuring a gorgeous two-door two-tone station-wagon body, the V8-powered Nomad was the height of ’50s ‘Motorama’ design. Growing to become an equally dramatic four-door station-wagon from ’58, it’s the ’57 model-year we have here, courtesy of previous bloggee Tony Bovkoon and his fabulous Model Team recreation.

Opening doors, hood and tailgate all feature, as does a superbly replicated V8 engine and interior, with lots more to see at Tony’s ‘Chevrolet Nomad’ album. Building instructions are available too so you can go nomadic for yourself; click the link above to find out more, no yaks milk or dodgy digital marketing course required.

Don’t Tell Ferrari’s Lawyers

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A pen has just been dropped by a grey-suited lawyer in Maranello. He looks up. He can sense something is wrong. Somewhere, someone has used the F-word without his permission.

Ferrari do not like it when their logo is applied to something they haven’t built (or even if it’s removed from something they have), so they’re really not going to like this Ferrari Dino 246 GTS by Flickr’s Nathanael Kuipers. Because underneath, this Ferrari is a Corvette.

Yes this Dino 246 GTS is constructed entirely from the pieces found within the Icons 10321 Chevrolet Corvette set, and includes opening doors, engine cover and front and rear trunks, a removable roof, and a detailed interior, with all of it rebuildable at home as Nathanael has published building instructions too.

There’s much more to see at Nathanael’s photostream and you can take a closer look – and maybe recreate it for yourself – via the link above, before Nathanael is handed a Cease & Desist notice by a disgruntled Italian lawyer.

LEGO Icons 11381 Jaguar E-Type | Set Preview

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Jaguar don’t actually make anything at the moment. Which means that if they and LEGO wish to continue their partnership they’ll need to look backwards. And look back they have, to – in the words of Enzo Ferrari – the most beautiful car ever made. This is the brand new LEGO Icons 11381 Jaguar E-Type!

Constructed from 1,673 pieces, including a new windscreen, wheel arches and wheels, 11381 attempts to recreate the E-Type Roadster’s spectacular curves in brick form and… well, it’s perhaps not the most beautiful LEGO set ever, despite the source material.

Like the previous 10262 Aston Martin DB5 set, 11381 proves that 1960s curves are tricky to create from bricks, but it is nevertheless instantly recognisable, and includes working steering, a folding roof, a detailed straight-6 engine under the forward hinged hood, opening doors, and an opening trunk complete with a toolbox (it is a classic Jaguar after all).

Aimed at ages 18+, the new LEGO Icons 11381 Jaguar E-Type is expected to cost $140 / £130 / €140, and you’ll be able to get your hands on it later this year.

Super Nova

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Here in TLCB’s home nation we know the ‘Nova’ as an early-‘80s to early-‘90s supermini that was everywhere, and then nowhere, as rust and neglect killed – like all ‘80s economy cars – almost every last one.

In 1960s America however, an ‘economy car’ meant something rather different, and General Motors used the same nameplate for the Chevrolet Nova, the base engine for which was more than twice as big as the largest engine ever fitted to its later Vauxhall namesake.

But we’re not interested in the base Nova, not when there was a V8 engine of over five litres available in the Super Sport variant. Imagine that in a Vauxhall shopping car…

This beautiful ‘67 Chevrolet Nova SS is the work of Flickr’s PleaseYesPlease, and it’s about a billion times cooler than the Novas we got. Superbly built and presented, there’s more to see at Please’s photostream and you can take a look via the link.

Get Your Skates On

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From one beautiful classic car to another, only this one isn’t real. But gosh we wish it were.

Created by Flickr’s SHARPSPEED, this gorgeous classic coupe has notes of Corvette, Volvo P1800, E-Type, Aston Martin, and many others, with our particular favourite elements being the conical rear lights and ice-skate grille.

There’s more to see at SHARPSPEED’s photostream and you can take a look via the link.