Hope, magic, and more than a little ingenuity. The Lego Car Blog staff have built a great many things, but none have deployed antenna ball-joints as fenders. There’s so much going on in 1saac W.‘s Volkswagen Beetle there is genuine bafflement here at TLCB Towers as to how it all holds together. Join us trying in vain to figure it out at 1saac’s photostream via the link above.
New cars in TLCB’s home nation are a sea of monochrome. Because the British public are a) unimaginative and b) under the mistaken impression that a black SUV is classy. But back in the 1960s monochrome could look so good, as proven by this fantastic Ford Fairlane.
Constructed in white, black, and grey, builder Jonathan Elliott has presented his model on a curving grey background (a neat trick to avoid corner shadows), adding to the monochrome cool. Head to Jonathan’s photostream for more of his work.
The British motor industry was weird. At one end of it in the 1960s was the fastest car in the world (the Jaguar E-Type), whilst at the other was the smallest. Because, um… honestly we have no idea why Peel decided to make the smallest production car in the world, but make it they did for a few years in the mid-’60s.
Powered by a 50cc scooter engine the P50 could fit only one moderately-sized human, but – as proven in an iconic episode of Top Gear – it could also fit in a lift with a newsreader. Because, um… we have no idea.
This ingenious brick-built example of the world’s smallest car comes from Michael Jasper of Flickr, who has managed to construct it in mini-figure scale. We’re not sure one will fit in it mind…
There’s more (although not a lot more) to see at Michael’s photostream, and you can head to Britain in the mid-’60s for some very small motoring indeed via the link above.
A classic Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R, cyberpunk, bosozoku, and Liberty Walk are quite a lot to squeeze into one model. The result could therefore be described as ‘busy’, but heck it works! This cyberpunked, bosozokued, and Liberty Walk bodykitted Skyline 2000 ‘Kenmeri’ comes from Flickr’s Sergio Batista, and is based on the artwork of Kantaro Gashilo. A glorious mash-up of conflicting aesthetics, there’s more to see at Sergio’s photostream, and you can take a walk through a cyberpunk skyline via the link above.
If we saw a cloud of gas this colour floating our way we probably wouldn’t stop to find out what it smelled like. Still Tim Inman is made of braver stuff than us, because he’s taken one of LEGO’s rarest hues and somehow found enough parts to create this glorious 1933 Willys ‘gasser’ hot rod. With absurd side-pipes, an octuplet of engine trumpets, and packing a parachute, Tim’s ride isn’t messing about, and you can gas your way over to his photostream for a sniff at the link above.
*Today’s
The Triumph 2000-series was, like so many British cars of the time, fantastic. Beautifully styled by Michelotti, powered by a range of smooth 6-cylinder engines, and with over 400,000 built in five countries, it was one of the finest mid-sized saloons of its era.
Which of course meant that British Leyland would go on screw it – and all of Triumph – up, as exemplified by the fact that its predecessor was a Standard and its successor a Rover. And if that makes no sense… you’re right, it doesn’t.
But let’s not get bogged down in the collapse of the British automotive industry, because back in the late-’60s and early-’70s it was still riding high, with the Triumph 2000-series a big part of that success.
This one is a 2500S estate, as superbly recreated in digital form by Lego Professional Peter Blackert (aka lego911). Alongside the excellent exterior the doors, tailgate and hood all open and there’s a detailed engine and interior too, with more to see of Peter’s virtual Triumph at his photostream. Take a look via the link whilst we fantasise about buying the real thing…
The 1940s to 1960s were not just the peak of American automotive design, but perhaps the peak of all automotive design. Even cheap American cars were penned with absolute joy, with fabulous curves, chrome highlights, and brilliant two-tone paint, as evidenced by this gorgeous 1940s Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback.
Powered by an inline-6 and built in half-a-dozen factories across the US, the Fleetline accounted for almost a third of all Chevrolets sold at the time, with this lovely Model Team recreation coming from Vibor Cavor of Flickr.
Working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a wonderfully lifelike interior and engine all feature, and you can head back to when even base American cars were things of beauty via the link to Vibor’s ‘Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback’ album above.
A lot of 1970s American cars are described as ‘boats’. It’s not a compliment. However Buick, in a brief moment of unusual inspiration, decided to go all-in on the boat theme with their third-generation Riviera, giving it a spectacular ‘boat-tail’ design from ’71-’73.
The result is one of the most dramatic and iconic American automotive shapes of the ’70s, which became an immediate favourite of this TLCB Writer as a child due to its recurring appearance in an excellent early-’90s TV show.
This superb homage to the third-generation Riviera comes from Jakub Marcisz, who has captured the fabulous shape brilliantly in brick. Working steering, a detailed engine and interior, plus opening doors, hood and trunk all feature, and with building instructions available you can recreate it for yourself.
There’s more to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, plus if you’re nostalgic for early-’90s crime television you can head Due South via the first link in the text above!
This splendid Speed Champions creation is a 1970s Porsche 911 Targa, and – being yellow – we can’t help but think of an iconic (if ropey) 1980s movie car chase.
Previous bloggee SFH_Bricks is its maker and you can try to outrun Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Sunbeam Alpine in your miraculously self-damaging / self-healing Porsche 911 via the link above.
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.
Ripping the piston-engined heart out of a classic Alfa Romeo to replace it with batteries and an electric motor is either a brilliant modernisation or an abominable travesty, depending on your school of thought. Now we’ve started that fight, here’s an example of a car that’s done just that (at least, a stunning Lego Technic replica of one); this is Zeta Racing‘s fantastic Totem Automobili Alfa Romeo Giulia GT Electric.
Replicating their jaw-dropping resto-mod of Alfa Romeo’s classic sports saloon, Zeta has recreated every curve of Totem’s wonderfully restyled Giulia GT brilliantly in Technic form, with working steering, suspension, and a superbly detailed interior too.
The hood raises (although of course there’s no engine underneath it), and the doors and trunk open too. In fact Zeta has photographed his incredible creation in the front trunk of the real Totem Giulia GT Electric (where its engine once lived), making us wonder if he could build a smaller version of his own model to place under its hood…
Travesty or brilliance, Totem’s electric Alfa Romeo is certainly exquisitely engineered, and you can see more of the real car plus this equally spectacular Technic replica at Zeta Racing’s photostream. Click the link above to go electric.
The BMW M3 is now in its eighth generation. Powered by a 470bhp turbocharged inline-6, weighing 1.7 tons, and fitted with the largest nostrils in the automotive industry. Which means it interests us not one bit.
But rewind nearly forty years and the M3 interests us very much indeed. Launched in 1986 the ‘E30’ generation M3 was built for German Touring Car Championship (DTM) homologation, featured a multitude of bodywork and chassis adaptations, plus BMW’s new S14 2.3 litre 4-cylinder engine making around 200bhp.
That might not sound a lot today but it was a serious figure for the 1980s, particularly as it used no forced induction, and it only had 1,200kgs to move – a full half-a-ton less than the latest M3.
The result was (and remains) one of the finest drivers’ cars ever produced, and this brilliant homage to the original M3 was constructed as a commission for (we presume) one very lucky owner of the real deal.
Flickr’s Leo 1 is its maker, who has captured the definitive ’80s sports sedan perfectly in Lego form. Ingenious construction techniques replicate both the E30’s famous shape and interior, and you can recreate them for yourself as Leo has made building instructions for his M3 available.
Head to Leo’s photostream to take a look at all of the stunning imagery, and to find the aforementioned instructional link so you can create BMW’s best M3 for yourself.
“Why don’t you post digital creations?” we get asked here at TLCB. Well mostly it’s because they rarely look like this.
These two spectacular ’59 Cadillacs come from serial bloggee 1saac W., who has put down his real pieces to painstakingly build each design in Studio before rendering it in Blender. As you can see here, the results look phenomenal, with ingenious parts choices and some deeply complex ‘SNOT’ techniques used in their creation.
Inevitably AI will soon be producing ‘Lego’ creations by the thousand that look like this, so enjoy the talent in these two at 1ssac’s photostream by clicking these words. These Caddies may be digital, but they’re no less magnificent for it.
*Today’s slightly butchered but nevertheless excellent title song.
At the time of writing, everything BMW makes (and it’s a rather long list) is a very expensive, very heavy, overly powerful, visual assault. BMW’s tagline might still be “The Ultimate Driving Machine”, but their cars sure aren’t.
Which is why today we’re travelling back to the late-’60s to early-’70s, when BMW made joyous cars such as this, the fantastic 02-Series.
This one is a two-door 2002, being powered by BMW’s then-new ‘M10’ engine making between 100 and 120bhp. It was a peach of an engine too, becoming one of the first to offer fuel injection and turbocharging, and in production for a quarter of a century. It was also developed into BMW’s 1980s F1 engine, making an unbelievable 1,400bhp in qualifying trim…
But back the 2002, and this lovely Speed Champions scale example comes from The G Brix of Flickr, who’s captured the sporty compact sedan beautifully in brick form. There’s more to see at G’s photostream, and you can jump back to when BMW did indeed make “The Ultimate Driving Machine” (and not whatever this is supposed to be) via the link above.
Sounding like a whimsical children’s book, today’s post captures two sub-cultures of the car community superbly in Lego form. A brilliant Chevrolet Impala lowrider and rat rod couple, both come from previous bloggee ER0L, and you can take a closer look at this delightfully odd animal pairing on Flickr via the link.