This neat collection of Tiny Turbo scale hot rods comes from Flickr’s Jonathan Elliott, and they’re all waiting outside the diner for a ride.* Take your pick and hop in at the link above.
*Just like your Mom.
Hot Rods & Hot Dogs
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Tag Archives: Classic Car
Little Red Corvette
Little red Corvette
Honey you got to slow down (Got to slow down)
Little red Corvette
‘Cause if you don’t you gonna run your
Little red Corvette right in the ground
This beautiful 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray straight from Prince’s songbook was suggested to us by a reader, and it comes from previous bloggee Dave Slater of Flickr. With one of the most fantastically accurate exteriors that we’ve ever seen at this scale we highly recommend taking a closer look – click the link above to visit the full gallery of superb images.
Shell Suit
This is an ultra-rare Ferrari F40 GT, built from 1991-92 to take Ferrari back into endurance racing. Just seven GT’s were built, each featuring a stripped-out interior, fixed perspex headlights (replacing the pop-up units fitted to the road car) and an engine upgrade to the tune of near 600bhp. That upgrade actually included a restrictor to limit the power produced by the twin-turbo V8 in order for it to meet national championship regulations, the full-fat LM version was rumoured to produce over 900bhp in qualifying trim…
This superb recreation of the 1991 Shell-liveried racer comes from Flickr’s Nuno Taborda, and much like the real F40 GT it’s based on the production version, in this case LEGO’s excellent 10248 Creator set. Nuno has upgraded the set’s bodywork and interior to GT specification, and re-liveried the car in Shell’s iconic white, red and yellow sponsorship.
There’s lots more to see of Nuno’s 10248 modification at his Flickr photostream – click the link above to go GT racing circa 1991.
Delta Force
Lancia now make the sum total of one car. One. And it’s not even very good. The writing appears to be on the wall for the once-great marque, so let’s not dwell on what the brand has become (thanks Fiat…), but instead on one of their very greatest hits, the mighty Delta Integrale 16v.
The Giugiaro-designed Delta was a good car when it launched in 1979, and ten years later it became a great one. Fitted with all-wheel-drive and a two-litre turbo-charged engine, the Delta Integrale produced 200bhp and could hit 60mph in under 6 seconds. It would take Volkswagen another decade to reach those figures with the Golf.
This top-notch Model Team replica of one of the world’s very best cars comes from TLCB regular Senator Chinchilla and you can see more of his Lancia Delta Integrale 16v at his photostream via the link above.
Perfect 10
Awarded a meal-token for every find, one of our Elves is about to get very fat. These ten brilliant Town-scale off-road vehicles are the work of just one builder. Pixel Fox owns the mind (and hands) behind them, and he’s done a simply stupendous job of recreating some of the world’s best known off-roaders in mini-figure scale, as well as building a delightful scene for each one to reside within.
Above, clockwise from top left, are a film-set Hummer H1, South African Volkswagen Syncro, beach-bound Jeep Wrangler TJ and a forestry Mercedes-Benz Unimog 406.
Next are two of the world’s most prolific 4x4s, the iconic Land Cruiser J70 (left) complete with an adorable brick-built rhino, and the legendary Land Rover Defender 90 (right).
The final set of instantly recognisable off-road vehicles is made up of a Mercedes G-Wagon, tragically pictured on red-carpet duty, a superb Range Rover Series 1 going hunting, a lifted Jeep Cherokee XJ, and a Dakar-spec BMW X5.
Each creation is wonderful in its own right, and you can see more of all ten mini-figure builds at Pixel Fox’s Flickr album by clicking here, whilst we begin feeding a very deserving TLCB Elf!
Volkswagen Golf GTI | Picture Special
The Volkswagen Golf GTI is one of the all-time great hot hatchbacks. Now in it’s seventh generation there have been roughly five good Golf GTIs, and three really good ones. This is one of the really good ones…
Launched in 1976, two years after the Golf first went on sale, the GTI was the product of a few VW engineers having some fun. In a very German way of course, as having some fun meant staying on late at work.
Still, the product of their inventiveness helped to re-write the rules of quick cars. Powered by a fuel-injected 1.6, and then 1.8 litre engine, the Mark 1 Golf GTI was quicker than the contemporary sports cars of the time, it could fit four people in it, and it didn’t leak when it rained.
Now a seriously sought after car, there sadly aren’t many Mark 1 Golf GTIs left, but if you’d like one Damian Plesniak may have the answer.
Featuring a transversely-mounted 4-cylinder engine, accurate McPherson front and twist-beam rear suspension, opening doors, hood, and hatchback with parcel shelf, a detailed interior with a working steering wheel, adjustable seats, and opening glovebox, plus full remote control drive and LED lights, Damian’s Technic Golf GTI is very nearly as well engineered as the real thing.
There are loads more images to see at Damian’s Flickr and Brickshelf albums, and you can read more about the build, as well as watch a video of the Golf GTI in action, at the Eurobricks discussion forum.
Thrifty Tuesday
After the extravagance of yesterday‘s posts it’s time for a vehicle more befitting of this site’s status. Small, slow, and a little bit rubbish, the BMW Isetta ‘bubble car’ was the product of a continent in ruins after World War 2. Metal was in short supply, it could be driven on a motorcycle license, and taxing it was cheap. So was the car of course, mostly because it wasn’t really a car at all.
As is often the way with weird classic cars, the BMW Isetta is now quite sought after, despite being about as cool as a G-Wiz in the ’50s. Maybe the G-Wiz will be cool in 60 years? Stranger things have happened.
This neat recreation of the ’50s German oddity comes from Flickr’s OutBricks, and you can see more by clicking here.
Three Wheels on My Wagon
Gene 3S’s 1966 Mini Cooper S has run into a problem on its way to Monte Carlo. Fortunately the car is well equipped with tools and a spare wheel on the roof. There are some nice details on this conventional, studs up car, plus the neat simply styled scene. The car is based on an actual Mk.1 Cooper S, LBL 6 D. The car is currently up for sale and you can see loads of photos by following this link, which is a great resource for building your own Mini Cooper or modifying LEGO’s official 10242 set.
Sadly Gene 3S’s model was TWOKed by a team of TLCB Elves just after the spare wheel was put on. Apparently they were muttering something about stealing a gold shipment…
Tampa Bay Ferrari Dealership – Picture Special
Constructed from around 36,000 pieces and 4 years in the making, this is one of the largest Lego projects that this site has ever featured. Ryan Link, a regular bloggee here at The Lego Car Blog, has been very busy.
Loosely based on the Tampa Bay Ferrari dealership, Ryan has designed and built a home for the eight Ferrari models that he has constructed over the past few years. Measuring 192×144 studs, Ryan’s enormous creation can easily house his collection, and features a wealth of incredible detailing, including brick-built wall mosaics depicting classic Ferrari models, beautiful Ferrari lettering, and even a couple of wonderfully intricate prancing horse logos too.
The shot above shows just how good the aforementioned mosaics and logos look, which feature throughout the interior of the dealership including in the showroom, customer lounge and accessories area, and workshop, all of which are lit by a third-party LED system integrated into the roof of the build.
The stars of Ryan’s incredible build are of course the Ferrari models which it was built to house, and they include a 458 Italia, Enzo, LaFerrari, 599 GTB, Testarossa, F12 Berlinetta, and even a fully liveried Ferrari team truck, all of which have been published here.
There’s a whole lot more of this spectacular creation to see at Ryan Link’s photostream and we cannot recommend clicking this link enough. LEGO, Ferrari… if ever you visit this little corner of the internet; invite Ryan out for a chat – we think the officially licensed Ferrari range of LEGO sets could so with a bit of expansion…
Red Spider
Is there a more disappointing automotive brand than Alfa Romeo? We’re going to say no, and the disappointment started with this car.
Launched in 1966, the pretty Pininfarina-designed Alfa Romeo Spider was at the cutting edge of sports car engineering. A twin-cam engine, 5-speed gearbox, and disc brakes all featured, and whilst the Alfa cost nearly as much as an E-Type Jaguar, it found plenty of buyers willing to spend a bit to drive something so gorgeous.
And then Alfa Romeo just kept making it. And making it. And making it. The final Series 4 version of the car (pictured here) was released in 1990, thirty-six years after the Series 1 debuted, wearing a stupid 1990s bodykit and featuring tail-lights robbed from the 164 sedan.
The striking GTV finally replaced the Spider in 1995, but it was a flash in the pan moment for a brand that had traded on the past glories of its badge for far too long. Years of automotive drivel followed, mostly re-badged Fiats in pretty dresses – which wasn’t a good starting point, and Alfa Romeo seemed on the verge of disappearing altogether.
But now something remarkable has happened. Alfa Romeo are back. And not just with a Fiat in a pretty dress. The new Guilia sedan and Stelvio (whisper it)… SUV are receiving properly good reviews, and could finally be the saviours of the brand that we’ve been awaiting for so long. So cross your fingers, and your toes, and try to forget about cars like the Series 4 Spider.
Oh, we nearly forgot! This excellent Model Team recreation of the Series 4 comes from previous bloggee Andre Pinto, and there’s more to see at his photostream by clicking here.
Sacrilege
And yet… somehow… rather cool. Even so, we’re glad this Ferrari 250 GTO (variants of which are the most valuable cars ever sold at auction) gasser hot rod exists only in Danish plastic.
Previous bloggee Tim Inman possesses the slightly warped mind that created this, and there’s more to see at his Flickr photostream via the link above.
Let’s go to the Beach…
Let’s go to the beach, each
Let’s go get a wave
They say, what they gonna say?
Have a drink, clink, found the Bud Light
Bad bitches like me, is hard to come by.
The profound words of well-known poet Nicki Minaj there, whose affront to music perfectly captions this neat mini-figure scene from Flickr’s sanellukovic. There’s more to see of his excellent Town-scale hot rod complete with Wolverine-esque driver at his photostream – click the link above to catch a wave.
Go Nuclear
The news is full of nuclear war hysteria at the moment, thanks to the orange leader of the free world and overweight North Korean despot Kim Jong-un. As a classy blog not interested in clickbait we’re seamlessly jumping on the bandwagon with this, Nico71‘s glorious Fallout 4 inspired retro-futuristic nuclear concept car.
Back in the ’50 and ’60s wild concept cars were all the rage, and were often powered by a variety of unusual fuels, including gas turbines, electricity and yes, even nuclear reaction.
Nico’s brilliant Technic concept car perfectly captures the ambitions of the age, and it’s clever too, featuring remote control drive and steering, electronically opening doors and a sliding roof canopy, plus working suspension and lights.
Control of the electrically-powered functions is taken care of thanks to a third-party BuWizz bluetooth unit, which allows graduated control via a bluetooth device and delivers up to 8x more power to the motors than LEGO’s own system.
You can see all of the build details and the full image gallery courtesy of Nico71’s excellent website by clicking here, and you watch the nuclear concept car in action (which is worth doing for the roof mechanism alone!) via the excellent video below.
YouTube Video:
Cream Dream
This lovely Ford Model-A V8-engined hot rod comes from OutBricks of Flickr aka Kevin Heitke of MOCpages, and if you like his creation as much as we do then you can build your own, as he’s made a video tutorial of the instructions! You can check out all the images and find a link to the aforementioned build steps via the links above.
A Bit Hairy
We have a sneaking suspicion that a few of TLCB Elves may have worked for Oldsmobile in a previous life, as this is so their kind of car.
Built to showcase the durability of the company’s new FWD transaxle, two Hurst ‘Hairy’ Oldsmobile Cutlasses were created in 1967, each fitted with two 1,200bhp supercharged V8s, with one engine powering the front wheels and the second powering the rears.
The result was a car capable of all-wheel-drive burnouts and eleven second quarter miles, but also one with prodigious torque-steer and minimal visibility, which led to one of the two Hairy Hursts being destroyed in a demonstration run.
This glorious recreation of the monstrous drag-racer comes from Flickr’s Tim Inman, who – due to LEGO’s limited range of golden pieces – has had to use hundreds of studded tiles to create the Oldsmobile’s bodywork.
There’s more to see at Tim’s photostream – click the link in the text above to make the jump.
