Orange lines are usually not a good look. They are today though, thanks to Tim Henderson and this lovely ’63 Ford Econoline van. Tim’s model is based upon the customised Econoline owned by his friend Rose who runs Custom Vanner Magazine, and there’s more to see of Tim (and Rose)’s tan lines on Flickr via the link above.
It’s Pride Month, which used to be Pride Week and before that Pride Day, but – like that girl in the office who drags her birthday out over three separate weekends – it seems to have become wildly and unnecessarily long. Because really there shouldn’t be the need for Pride anything at all.
However, the fact that when the Volkswagen Type 2 Transporter was launched the government of TLCB’s home nation determined which sexualities were acceptable and which were not, and in many other countries the government still decides which sexualities are acceptable and which are not, probably explains the continuing need for Pride and the fight for equal rights.
Cue 1saac W.‘s excellent Volkswagen T2, pictured here in both monochrome, and a rather more rainbowy paint scheme in support of Pride Day/Week/Month. Click the link above to see more, whether you’re monochrome, rainbow, or anything in between.
Gosh today’s title is tenuous, even for us. You see a mud pack is often a volcanic mask… Anyway, this is Orion Pax‘s ‘M.A.S.K Volcano’, a near perfect brick built replica of the mid-’80s Hasbro toy that accompanied the M.A.S.K cartoon TV show.
The show, designed mostly to sell toys, pitched the ‘Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand’ (spelt wrong because it’s cooler that way) against the ‘Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem’ (VENOM), who seemingly took a very literal and non-secretive approach to their naming.
Beyond that, we’re not really sure what the show was about, but it did lead to toys that split down the middle to reveal a giant rotating cannon (as in the case of the Volcano here), that has got the Elves very excited.
Orion’s model transforms beautifully as per the original toy and there’s more to see at his photostream. Apply your mud pack via the link!
This startlingly well-constructed classic camper is a 1977 Dodge B100-based Winnebago, or ‘Minnie Winnie’, and it comes from 1saac W. who is on an absolute roll at the moment.
1saac’s creation captures the aesthetic of the real deal brilliantly, including a brick-built take on the classic Winnebago livery, and a subtle shift from six to seven wide from the cabin to the camper.
It might not be fast, nor beautiful, but it’s nevertheless one of our favourite small-scale creations of the year so far. Head to an American campsite in the late ’70s via 1saac’s photostream above.
This International Harvester Metro van is America’s equivalent of the UK’s ‘milk float‘, except not as slow. Because nothing is as slow as milk float. Regular Bloggee 1saac W. is its creator, and an absolutely wonderful job he’s done too, with some of the finest shaping and lettering we’ve seen this year. Grab yourself a bottle of the white stuff at the link above.
The ’60s was an era full of wildly optimistic names. This is a 1965 Chevrolet Sportvan Delux, which Chevy’s marketing department must have spent literally minutes working on, before going outside to smoke a pack of cigarettes or three.
Still, it looks cool, particularly with a trio of surfboards on the roof. Flickr’s Tim Henderson is the builder and there’s more to see of his wonderfully built but stupidly named creation via the link above.
And surely no-one would be silly enough to give something a name as utterly pointless as ‘Sportvan’ these days…
Superman and Lex Luther. Batman and Joker. Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Peter Griffin and the Giant Chicken. There are some very famous nemesis, but – in this writer’s opinion – none more so than Mr. Bean and the mystery driver a blue Reliant Regal van. We don’t know why the aforementioned anonymous van-driver enraged our hero so, but we’re willing to go with it for scenes like this one.
Recreating Bean’s arch-rival, along with his own Mini from probably the most famous Mr. Bean scene of them all, is Rob of Flickr – who has encapsulated both cars brilliantly in brick form. The Mini probably deserves to give a nod of thanks (or several) to designs by previous bloggees _Tyler and Lasse Deleuran, but it’s still worth your click. Take a look via the link above!
Despite the title this is not a badly-restored classic, ‘repaired’ in Billy-Bob’s garage in the hope of making a quick buck. No, restomods, when done well, are rather excellent, bringing modern tech (cooling systems, brakes, suspension etc.) to cars from a very different era of performance. Flickr’s Brick Flag has turned his very capable hand to restomoding his own ’60s Dodge A100 model, in the final of his five ‘forward-control’ classic vans. There’s more to see of Brick’s excellent creation on Flickr via the link above, and you can see all five brilliant classic vans side-by-side by clicking here.
It’s 1965, and drag-racers Jim Schaeffer and John Collier have got their hands on a Dodge A100 ‘forward-control’ truck. The pair decided to install a 426 Hemi in the bed, and any non-essential items were removed. The resulting ‘Little Red Wagon’ was the world’s fastest 1/4 mile truck, setting an eleven second time at the first attempt. However, the modifications also tilted the weight bias rearward a bit…
The unintended consequences of this rear-biased weight distribution were a vehicle that proffered to drive only on its back wheels, and in fact the ‘Little Red Wagon’ could complete an entire 1/4 mile race without the front wheels ever touching the ground.
Such crowd-pleasing shenanigans caught the attention of Dodge, who not only used the ‘Little Red Wagon’ in commercials, they all arranged for its purchase by Super Stock Champion Bill Golden to use as the first ‘competition wheelstander’, a class it created single handedly.
Of course having your front wheels in the air limited steering somewhat, and the ‘Little Red Wagon’ crashed in 1969. And 1971. And 1975. That last wreck took the truck out of service, and Golden converted a new truck to continue his wheel standing antics, setting the Guinness World Record for the longest (at nearly 3/4 of a mile!) in 1977 and racing it until his retirement in 2003.
Today a recreation of the ‘Little Red Wagon’ tours alongside the wrecked original, whilst Golden’s own replacement wheel standing truck sold for over $500,000 in 2009.
Flickr’s Brick Flag, who is fast becoming one of our favourite builders here at TLCB, has converted his own Dodge A100 model into a ‘Little Red Wagon’ wheelstander, with his spectacular Model Team version amalgamating the different versions of the real truck that were built over the years.
Superb design, detailing, and decals are evident in abundance and there’s heaps more to see at Brick’s ’60s Dodge Little Red Wagon’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to head down the drag strip on just your back wheels, and here to see the real ‘Little Red Wagon’ in action courtesy of a glorious period video!
Flickr’s Brick Flag has appeared here twice recently, with his excellent American 1960s ‘forward control’ vans, the Dodge A100 and Ford Econoline. We tend not to feature the same builder repeatedly in quick succession, but had we not today there would have been an Elven riot. Plus, – more importantly – we think this is bloody cool too.
The reason for the Elves’ excitement is obvious; Brick Flag‘s latest build is bright orange, features a racing stripe, wheelie-bar, ground-scraping stance, a huge rear wing, oh – and it has ‘some sort of turbo jet boat engine directly on its rear axle’, to quote the builder. This has also allowed for a bench seat to be fitted in place of the original two-seat set-up, which sounds safe.
Even Brick Flag admits this ‘makes no sense whatsoever’, but if you’re a TLCB Elf few things do, and that’s the way they like it. There’s more to see of Brick’s wildly modded ‘Pro Street’ ’60s Ford Econoline at his photostream – click the link above to fire up ‘some sort of turbo jet boat engine’ and become an orange blur.
If you’re new to this site and were expecting to see something else based on the title, sorry; here’s a Lego van instead. But it is built from pink bits.
Two shades of pink in fact, which recent previous bloggee Brick Flag has used in the creation of this rather excellent 1960s Dodge A100 van.
The Dodge A100’s story is a similar one to the Ford Econoline that appeared here earlier in the week, being designed to combat the influx of imported Volkswagen Type 2s. Like the Ford, the Dodge was available in pick-up and van body styles, featured a three speed gearbox (three!), and an inline 6-cylinder engine. A V8 was also available, although we have no idea why.
Brick Flag has taken the hot rod route with his superb A100 van, fitting his creation with lowrider suspension and a custom pink paint job, and there are further images available to view on Flickr. Click this link to see more pink bits.
From one simple, basic workhorse to another now, and possibly the most blandly-named vehicle in American history, the Ford Econoline.
Worried by Volkswagen’s assault on the budget van and pick-up market with the Type 2 Transporter, America’s domestic auto-makers began to build their own ‘forward-control’ pick-ups in the 1960s.
Ford based their design on the Falcon sedan which helped to keep costs low, as did leaf-spring suspension both front and rear, and a manual gearbox with just three speeds.
The Econoline did feature a racing stripe down the side though, and today we think it looks rather good, particularly as the Econoline had become a standard and far less interesting two-box van by the 1970s.
This superb Model Team recreation of the 1960s original comes from Brick Flag of Flickr, who has captured the 1961 Econoline pick-up wonderfully, including an excellent brick-built version of the ‘FORD’ stamped tailgate.
There’s more to see of Brick Flag’s model at his photostream – click the link above jump back to ’61.
It’s a busy day here at TLCB, with several Elves vying for a meal token. The first lucky recipient returned to TLCB Towers with this, Tim Henderson‘s ‘Little Red Wagon’ mid-engined wheel-standing dragster. There’s not much room for stuff in the bed, and even if there was it would probably tip out anyway, but who cares when you can wheelie on the way to work. Head to Flickr via the link above for more!
This is Tim, and this is his 1965 Chevrolet Sportvan, complete with vintage slot-mag wheels, flat-black paint, a modded 230ci inline-6, shag carpet interior, and more than a little rust*.
Previous bloggee Tim Henderson really does drive this ’65 Chevy van in real life, having owned it since 2003. He now has a Lego version too, and there’s more to see of this lovely little build on Flickr. Click the link above to read more.
*The office Rover 200 shares precisely one of Tim’s Van’s features. Can you guess which one?
This TLCB Writer doesn’t often post Duplo creations here at The Lego Car Blog because he’s big boy and he can use the small bricks. He’s even built a 7+ set almost all by himself, Dad just had to help a little bit.
However he is posting a Duplo build (kinda) today because a) it’s awesome, and b) it’s awesome. Flickr’s Edward Lawrence has combined a Duplo van body with standard LEGO system pieces (and the surfboard from the Creator 10252 Volkswagen Beetle set) to create the ‘Duflo’, and it is, as mentioned above, awesome.
There’s more to see of Edward’s ‘Duflo’ mashup at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump!
