LEGO do not make enough types of windscreen. A million types of curved bows, lift-arms, and foliage yes. Windscreens, no.
So regular bloggee _Tiler has flipped a standard 6-wide clear screen 270° to make it fit his wonderful ’64 Chevrolet Impala Convertible.
Ingenious building techniques and/or magic hold it in place, and you can see more of _Tiler’s brilliant solution to LEGO’s chronic windscreen shortage on Flickr via the link above.
Crappy communist cars such as this, this and this weren’t just made out of old Fiats. No, because there was an exception! Dacias were made out of old Renaults.
Based on the Renault 12, Dacia produced the 1310 from 1979 until 1999, before Renault took over the company from the Romanian state and, well… just continued making it for another seven years. Small revisions to the design were made over that lengthy production run, although all were somewhat ungainly, with the 1980s example pictured here looking particularly tragic.
Still, when you’re part of a communist dictatorship choice is somewhat limited, and thus over two million Dacia 1310s were sold.
This superb replica of the 1310 is the work of previous (but newly named) bloggee blockostalgia, who has done a tremendous job of recreating the humble Romanian people’s car in brick form. Everything opens, there’s a detailed interior and engine bay, and presentation is top shelf. Literally.
There’s lots more of block’s delightful Dacia to see on Flickr via the link above, and if you’re wondering what became of the brand after Renault’s take-over… well they now make the best selling car in all of Europe.
Here in Europe we have strict pedestrian safety regulations. This is good news for two reasons; firstly that if you get hit by a car it’s designed to do as little harm as possible, and secondly that we won’t ever have to see a Tesla Cybertruck, which has seemingly been designed to cause the maximum chance of fatalities and is thus illegal.
Taking the Cybertruck approach to vehicle design is the appropriately-named Bloodred_Bricks, who has created this quite fantastically aggressive post-apocalyptic vehicle based on the muscle cars of decades past.
Armoured with a be-spiked bull-bar, wheels mostly made of knives, and some kind of rear-mounted rotavator, Bloodred’s ‘Mad Max’-esque build looks only marginally less lethal than Musk’s stupid truck.
Which of course means TLCB Elves love it, and are now running around the office smashing into one another armed with various pieces stationery equipment.
We’ll clear them out with Mr. Airhorn shortly, so whilst get on with that you can check out Bloodred’s wild post-apoc ride on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look – just don’t step out in front of it.
Things are not always what they seem. And not just in today’s terrifying world of AI, but in decades past too. Because the ‘Ferraris’ used in the famous TV series ‘Miami Vice’ were not actually Ferraris at all, but Chevrolet C3 Corvettes.
Cunning modifications transformed the then-ageing Stingrays into prancing horses, but we think we actually prefer the ‘Vettes to the Italian supercars they became. This one comes from previous bloggee Sseven Bricks and there’s more to see of his Speed Champions C3 on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look.
There aren’t many car we’d trade an Aston Martin DB5 for, but this is one of them. Particularly today, as we’re swapping the DB5 from LEGO’s Creator 10262 ‘Goldfinger’ set, which is gloriously playable, but also slightly tragic to look at…
Built only using the parts from the 10262 set, Flickr’s Nathanael Kuipers (aka NKubate) has recreated the magical Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’, and it looks, well… quite a lot better than LEGO’s attempt at that iconic Aston Martin.
Admittedly Nathanael’s creation does forgo 10262’s gadgets, but rarely does an alternate look better than its parts source, and that’s certainly the case here.
Building instructions are available and there’s more of the Mercedes to see at Nathanael’s photostream. Click the link above to switch your Goldfinger for a Gullwing, or this bonus link to find out more about the builder behind it.
American cars in the late-’70s through mid-’80s were rubbish. They were rubbish long after the mid-’80s too of course, but even the iconic Ford Mustang was a throughly mediocre specimen in its early-’80s guise.
Base on Ford’s then-new ‘Fox’ platform, the third-generation ‘Foxbody’ Mustang could be had as a prosaic coupe, a dreary hatch-back or a lacklustre convertible, and was powered by an array of engines ranging from an inline-4 that produced no horsepower whatsoever to a 5.0 V8 that produced no horsepower whatsoever.
Getting with the times however, and Ford did add a 4-cylinder turbo, which did produce some horsepower – briefly – before it broke.
You may have guessed we’re not fans of Ford’s third-generation ‘stang, and we’re not. Until that, is comes to its 1986 facelift.
Adopting Ford’s ‘aero’ design, the Foxbody instantly went from dreary to desirable, and even the engines got a glow-up, with the 4-cylinder breaking the 100bhp mark (up from a miserly 88) by the early-’90s, and the 5.0 V8 surpassing 200bhp.
This excellent Model Team recreation of the Foxbody Mustang captures the facelift’s sleek exterior brilliantly, and comes from previous bloggee Szunyogh Balázs (aka. gnat.bricks). There’s an opening hood (under which can be slotted both a V8 or 4-cylinder engine as Szunyogh has created both), opening doors and trunk, and a superbly life-like interior.
There’s more of the model to see at Szunyogh’s ‘Lego Mustang – Foxbody’ album on Flickr, and you can take a look at the moment when America’s automotive malaise era finally ended via the link above.
The Lego Car Blog is a site with humble beginnings. We’re not famous Lego Show exhibitors, Lego User Group leaders, or even upstanding members of the Online Lego Community. Nope, this site was created by idiots, but look how far we’ve co… Wait, that probably isn’t a good example.
But there are great examples of automotive humble beginnings, including two now-titans of the German motor industry; Porsche and BMW.
Porsche’s first car (depicted above) was the 356, which looked a lot like the Volkswagen Beetle, because… well, it kinda was one. BMW on the other hand began by making aero engines during both World Wars. Fortunately for this site’s home nation, the military machine to whom they were supplied didn’t win either of them, and strict metal rationing after Germany’s defeat meant creating cars like the one depicted below, the tiny BMW Isetta ‘bubble car’.
They were simple, slow, and not very expensive, and both shown here are the work of TLCB debutant Filippos Tsialidis, who has created them rather humbly too, using just a handful of pieces for each. They join a host of other classic cars at his ‘Cars’ Flickr album, and you can take a look at beginning of Porsche, BMW, and many others too via the link above.
I know… Isn’t it beautiful?
Arthur Fleck, riding in a 1977 Dodge Monaco police car, stares out of the window in wonder at the disorder he has sparked.
Flickr’s _Tiler has captured the moment that down-trodden Arthur became ‘The Joker’, and there’s more to see of the Dodge Monaco in which it occurred via the link above.
The fastest cars in the world weren’t always million-pound Bugattis, Koenigseggs or Hennesseys. They used to be Jaguars.
Launched in 1954, the XK140 was an evolution of the equally gorgeous XK120, a car that held the production car top speed record for six years, even though it only cost relatively normal sports car money.
This beautiful replica of Jaguar’s fabulous mid-’50s sports car has been created by the hands of the legendary Firas Abu-Jaber, who has captured its graceful shape brilliantly in brick.
Ingenious building techniques, working steering, a life-like interior, and the finest presentation in the Lego Community make Firas’ Jaguar a jaw-dropping build, and there are more stunning images to see on Flickr.
Click these words to visit Firas’ ‘Jaguar XK140’ album for the complete gallery, plus you can find out about the man behind the model via his Master MOCers interview by clicking here.
Plymouth is now consigned to history, a relic of automotive past, never again to see a new wheel turned. The wild bewinged NASCARs, early-’00s oddities, sentient killers, and of course ‘Cudas will likely endure, but the unglamorous sedans, minivans, and station wagons are already all-but-erased from American roads.
Previous bloggee _Tiler hasn’t forgotten them though, and has created this stellar early-’70s Plymouth Satellite in starkly-white Police patrol form. Beautiful detailing is matched by the outstanding presentation, and you can jump back to when Plymouths were common across America via the link above, or click here to enter the brick-built Plymouth rabbit-hole.
This gorgeous creation is a 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible, from way back when the American auto industry was the peak of style.
This fabulous Model Team version comes from Jakub Marcisz, who has captured the classic convertible beautifully inside and out.
The hood, doors and trunk all open (via clever double-hinges for smoothness), whilst the interior and engine bay are as carefully detailed as the bodywork.
It’s a fantastic example of the high point of automotive Americana, and you can cruise in the mid-’50s via both Flickr and Eurobricks where’s there’s much more – including building instructions – to see.
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…
Concept cars are often little more than an empty shell, made from wood, clay, and papier-mâché, draped over four-wheels and fresh air. But not today, because this 1960s Lincoln Continental road-race concept has as much thought and ingenuity put into its inner workings as it does its right-angled exterior. Which, incidentally, is the amongst the coolest we’ve ever seen.
Inside the boxy brilliance of the Lincoln’s bodywork are ridiculously well detailed modular mechanics, including brick-built pushrod suspension, a Cosworth DTV engine with independent throttle bodies, exhaust headers, radiators, brakes, steering linkages… It’d be impressive enough if it were based on a real racer, but it’s all the more so considering builder PROTOTYP. has designed the lot in his head.
A wealth of imagery is available to view at both PROTOTYP.’s ‘Lincoln Continental ARRC’ album and at the Eurobricks forum, where you can also read the model’s fictional backstory and mechanical details, plus find a link to building instructions should you wish to create it for yourself. Take a look at the coolest conceptual creation we’ve seen in a long time via the links above.
After two decades mucking about in cars, and a global audience of millions, Clarkson, Hammond and May have finally hung up their driving gloves. Well, May has. The others probably didn’t wear them.
Their final episode of ‘The Grand Tour’ – Amazon’s monstrously expensive continuation of BBC Top Gear – aired last year, in which the team returned to the location of their first ever road-trip adventure, undertaken some twenty years earlier.
A 1970s Lancia Montecarlo, Triumph Stag, and Ford Capri starred alongside the human trio, likely also completing their last ever drive, such is the nature of television production.
They live on in Lego form though, courtesy of NV_Carmocs (photographed by Studworks), who has recreated each car beautifully in Speed Champions scale. Accurate registration plates, 3D-printed wheels, and a brick-built animal skull on the Lancia enhance the accuracy, and NV_Carmocs has made building instructions available too, should you wish to relive ‘The Grand Tour’s last adventure at home. Have One for the Road via the link above.
Despite not even being a sperm at the time, this TLCB Writer is of the opinion that seventies cars were all vastly better than anything made today. A point proven by the Ford Capri, which was once a superb coupe for everyone, and is now an insipid electric crossover for people trying to pay less company car tax.
This splendid ’70s Ford Capri RS2600 comes Versteinert, whose yellow Mk1 Capri appeared here earlier in the year, and who has now updated his original model into the high power twin-headlight derivative of Ford’s classic European coupe.
Immaculately presented, there’s more to see of Versteinert’s beautiful RS2600 on Flickr, and you can jump back to when the Capri badge wan’t on the boot of a tragic electric crossover via the link above.
