Yes, we’re trying to mess with search engines again. This is a Mercedes-Benz LK ‘Rundhauber’ (round bonnet) box truck, and its creator 1saac W. began the build by inserting a LEGO sausage into a 1×1 round-with-bar-attachment piece. His words.
Crude beginnings aside, the result is rather excellent, and there’s more to see of 1saac’s sausage-insertion construction at his photostream. Click the link above to put it in.
After some quiet days we’re picking up the pace of posting, with today’s second creation being this gorgeous 8-wide ’50s pick-up truck by TLCB regular 1saac W.
Taking inspiration from many classic trucks, 1saac’s creation packs in a plethora of clever building techniques with some inspired parts orientation. Whitewall tyres and chrome pin-striping adds to the period appeal, and there’s more to see at 1saac’s photostream. Click here to pick your way over.
Streamlining is rather de-rigueur at present. In the world of electrification, eking every last mile of range – when recharging is a royal pain in the socket (sorry EVangelists, but it is) – is of the utmost importance.
Proving that fashion is always circular, some seventy years ago streamlining was also the height of vehicular design. The ‘jet age’ of 1950s saw super-smooth almost art-deco like shapes because… well, it was cool.
Cue Andrew Tate (no, not that one) and this gorgeous Octan fuel tanker streamliner, shown paused in the desert as the driver takes a break. 1950s aerodynamics were a bit ropey, so we’re not sure the designs of the time actually generated increased efficiency, but they looked so good.
There’s more to see of Andrew’s streamlined truck on Flickr, and you can make the jump to the cutting-edge aerodynamics of the ’50s via the link above.
This delightful DAF FAS 2600 truck was found by one of our Elves today, and it comes complete with an equally satisfying drawbar trailer. The work of serial-bloggee Arian Janssens, this beautifully detailed classic combo was used to transport sugar beet, and there’s more to see of his confectionary carrying creation on Flickr. Click the link above for a taste, whilst we award the Elf that found it with an appropriately sweet treat.
It’s a trucky sort of day here at The Lego Car Blog. Today’s second classic lorry comes from previous bloggee Martin Nespor, who has elected not to tell us what it is. No matter, because it’s still a lovely build, with a removable cab and ‘wooden’ load bed, a beautifully detailed chassis and engine, and there’s a matching drawbar trailer too. There’s more to see at Martin’s photostream, and you can check out all of the top-quality images via the link above.
Or, in this case, do as everyone else does. This a Roman SR 113/114 truck, built in Romania in the 1960s, using – as many Communist manufacturers did – designs licensed from Western companies.
Early Roman trucks were clones of Soviet ZIL designs, however by the late ’50s Roman looked west for their engineering sources. Launched in 1958 the SR 113/114 truck used a Ford-designed engine mounted ahead of a French cab, and was available in a tipper, crane, military specifications.
Mercedes-Benz and Perkins engines powered export versions, and the model was built for around a decade before being superseded by designs licensed from West Germany’s MAN.
This excellent recreation of the Roman SR113/114 is the work of newcomer Pufarine, who has captured the classic Romanian truck beautifully. Fitted with Power Functions remote control drive and steering, Pufarine’s model also features opening doors, a raising hood, and a dropping tailgate, and there’s more to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks.
Click the links above to do as the Romans did. Which, as it turns out, was whatever the Soviet Union, America, France, and West Germany were doing.
The creations we publicise here at The Lego Car Blog are the most current, freshest, and up-to-the-minute available. And sometimes they’re even newer than that. Mostly because we want to show you the latest builds from around the world, and partly because we like beating The Brothers Brick.
Except all the above is technically, um… not true. Apart from the beating The Brothers Brick bit of course. That’s because it’s usually but not necessarily the creation that is new, rather the imagery, and today we have possibly the best example of this; Dennis Bosman’s incredible Scania LS111 truck, Nooteboom low loader trailer, and Menck M154 crawler crane, each of which was built twenty years ago.
Utilising LEGO’s old 9V motor system (pre-Power Functions or Controlled-Up), classic System and Technic pieces, and – at the time – photographed outside, Dennis’ astonishing three-in-one creation set the benchmark for large scale Lego modelling.
An inspiration for countless Lego creators today, Dennis’ early work still represents astonishing brick-built realism, and he has recently re-photographed the Scania, Nooteboom and Menck in-studio two decades after they were first constructed.
Wearing their original decals, and with faded parts swapped for fresher replacements, Dennis’ models remain spectacular, and there are more newly-released images to see, alongside those taken twenty years ago, at his ‘Scania LS111’ album on Flickr.
Click the link above to take a closer look, and you can see more of Dennis’ amazing works via his Master MOcers interview page here at The Lego Car Blog, itself now ten years old.
The end of the ’60s seemed to mark the death of the American Dream. Picked up by Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ and Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’, he drove his Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry. If Don was disillusioned by Americana in 1971, how much further it has declined since then.
Yet the 1960s – and the American Dream found within them, its loss lamented by Don – are nevertheless worth celebrating, as successive generations cling on to a memory they never had.
No where is this more true than in automobiles, where new generations preserve and salute classic cars and trucks from an era in which they were not part, such as this fantastic 1966 Chevrolet C10 pick-up truck by Jakub Marcisz.
Complete with opening doors, hood and tailgate, working steering, and a brilliantly executed body, Jakub’s C10 has TLCB Team romanticising about the decade of civil rights, the space race, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the assassination of JFK, race riots, Stonewall…
Perhaps then, the American dream was as flawed and unreachable for most in the 1960s as it is today, and Don’s ‘American Pie’ could have been applied just as pertinently a decade earlier. The cars though, like Jakub’s superb ’66 Chevy, surely were America’s automotive high-point.
Whilst we like trucks here at The Lego Car Blog, we don’t really know much about them. The engine denominations of British family cars from the ’60s, sure. Trucks… not so much.
Cue our surprise then, when one of our Elves found this magnificent DAF FT 2600 truck complete with an enormous tanker trailer, and we discovered it tips. We didn’t even know tankers could do that.
Every day’s a school day, and we have previous bloggee Arian Janssens‘ brilliantly detailed Model Team DAF FT 2600 and tipping bulk trailer to thank for our education.
Both truck and trailer are superbly constructed and photographed, and you can take a look up close via Arian’s photostream. Click the link above for just the tip.
This spectacular creation is a Scania R143 heavy haulage truck, as operated by H.C. Wilson of Elmswell in the UK, and created by truck-building legend Dennis Bosman (with the phenomenal decal work of fellow previous bloggee JaapTechnic).
Dennis’ model is a near perfect replica of H.C. Wilson’s restored classic Scania, complete with a ballast box for traction, behind which would be an enormous trailer when the truck was in use.
Dennis’ incredible Model Team replica also includes a suite of motors hidden within, powering two drive and two steered axles.
It’s an astonishing build that is absolutely worth a closer look, and you can find all of the beautiful imagery and further details at Dennis’ ‘Scania R143 H.C. Wilson’ album on Flickr, plus you can find out how he makes amazing creations just like this one via his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB.
The Toyota Corporation owns many, many things. From shares in well known brands including Subaru, Daihatsu, Isuzu, Mazda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Panasonic, to telecommunications, housing, steel manufacture, and even broadcasting networks.
Since the 1960s they’ve also invested in trucks, via Japanese commercial vehicle and engine maker Hino, and now wholly own the company.
This is one of the brand’s products from those early years, the Hino HE, as constructed beautifully in Model Team scale by TLCB newcomer TsungNing Lee.
Featuring working steering, a tilting cab, opening doors, a superbly detailed chassis, and some really inventive parts choices to recreate the HE’s curvy shape, TsungNing’s Hino is well worth a closer look, and you can do just that via their ‘HINO HE’ album on Flickr. Click the link above make the jump to all the images.
LEGO’s first large-scale highly detailed models arrived between 1988 and 1990, when the Model Team line launched with three new sets. The 5580 Highway Rig was one of them, and has become something of a cult set three decades on.
Cue this marvellous half-size redux of the 1988 set, constructed by brickphisto, and capturing not just the detailed exterior of the original, but also the opening hood and cab doors, whilst adding a working V8 engine too.
There’s more to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, where a link to free building instructions can be found (100 TLCB Points brickphisto!), plus you can check out our review of the original 5580 set via the first link in the text above.
This fantastic creation is a first generation Kodiak C70, a 1980s medium-duty truck marketed across both Chevrolet and GMC for a variety of applications.
Built by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, this outstanding Technic recreation of the American workhorse captures the Kodiak’s no-nonsense exterior beautifully, but it’s what’s underneath that is most impressive.
Featuring a remote control drivetrain linked to a V8 piston engine under the opening hood, Nico’s model includes all-wheel-drive, servo steering, suspended axles, a locking fifth wheel, opening doors, and either bluetooth control via the LEGO Powered-Up app or IR Control via LEGO Power Functions.
There’s more of the truck to see at Nico’s Brickshelf gallery, where a link to building instructions can also be found, you can watch the model in action via the video below, and you can read Nico’s Master MOCers interview here at The Lego Car Blog to learn how he builds models like this one via the first link in the text above.
YouTube Video
This dinky 1950s Mercedes-Benz Unimog ‘Gasolin’ tanker probably isn’t going fill many gas tanks, but it’s going to look properly cute filling what it can. Christoph Ellermann‘s is the builder behind this wonderful classic off-road tractor, and you can fill your tank in the ’50s, as long as too many people haven’t filled theirs first, via the link in the text above.
LEGO have created an intricate Town/City universe over the years, with their own energy brand, postal service, and railway company. There have also been a number of cargo/delivery companies over the years, usually featuring some sort of box-and-arrow logo and mini-figures wearing humiliating uniforms.
Cue LegoMarat’s excellent Model Team flatbed truck, based on none in particular but inspired by many, and proudly wearing LEGO’s ‘City Cargo’ box-and-arrow logo from the City set range.
The lovely detailing continues with ‘wooden’ planks lining the bed, life-like wheel bolts and reflective strip decals, opening doors and a detailed interior, and there are more superbly presented images to see at LegoMarat’s ‘Lego Flatbed Truck’ album on Flickr.
Don your humiliating uniform and head to your next City Cargo delivery drop via the link in the text above.
