Not entered into TLCB’s Lock-Down B-Model Competition (what?!), but standing a very good chance if it were, Flickr’s KEEP_ON_BRICKING has repurposed the pieces from the Creator 10220 Volkswagen Camper to create this rather lovely concept car. Instructions are available via the link above if you’d like to build it for yourself, and if you’re stuck for things to do in lock-down, give B-Model building a go, and it could win you an SBrick Pro!
What’s up guys, this is Balazs from RacingBrick. As you might know, Technic is my favourite LEGO theme but today’s set comes from a different lineup. We’ve seen many iconic cars being released with the Creator Expert badge in the past few years, and the newest one in the family is no exception; say hello to the 10271 Fiat 500!
The box has the usual characteristics of the Creator Expert sets, fairly big but thin. On the front you see the car in a beautiful Italian sunset in front of the Colosseum, and there’s also a nice painting commemorating the exact same scene. On the back you’ll find closeups of the details and the different features.
The set has 960 pieces and cost $89.99 / €79.99 when it launched on March 1st this year. There are 9 numbered bags in the box split into 3 phases, plus there’s a separate bag for the fabric sunroof, and you’ll find the instruction manual with the sticker sheet in another plastic bag.
The manual thankfully follows the tradition of the previous Creator Expert vehicles and provides some extra details and information at the beginning, which I think adds a lot to the building experience. As a nice gesture the text is in English and in Italian, we get some information about the history of Fiat, the birth of this specific model, and the design process of the LEGO model.
Total building time was around 1h and 45 minutes, and the 3 phases within this are more or less distributed equally.
The building process starts with a studded Technic frame, and it has some interesting connections reinforcing the structure. The axles are totally fixed, meaning there’s no suspension – which is not a surprise in a Creator set – but unfortunately no steering either, which was kind of expected as the recent Ford Mustang set included this.
10271 does include an engine that’s a pretty accurate representation of the original one, with some interesting part usage including a black head piece and a flower. The designer also did a great job at the rear of the car, where the real 500’s curved panels are replicated with straight elements, but the whole panel sits on hinges so the shape of the model is a faithful representation of the original car.
Bag 1 finishes with the seat holders being attached to the floor along with the gear shifter, the handbrake and some other accessories, and finally the basic structure of the front bumper.
The front seats follow, built after the rear ones, and there’s a very interesting piece used to connect them to the floor (centre). I’ve never seen this brick before, although I have to admit I’ve never built a Unikitty or Nexo Knights set where it is also available.
Next comes the dashboard with the fuel tank behind it, including a steering wheel with a cool printed Fiat logo. The doors follow and are actually quite complex with lots of details; I really like the ice skate piece as the door handle. There are again some clever building techniques used to connect the different curved parts, and the result is very nice with the doors opening well, despite a small but acceptable gap at the top.
The next item is the rear window, which is quite interesting because it’s actually a regular window used in many City sets, but this time fitted sideways. It might be confusing at first sight as the bottom doesn’t have the same smooth surface as on the top, but when it is built into the model this won’t be visible.
Finally with bag 3 we finish the front of the car with the brick-built logo and another printed tile. The front wheel arches have a similar structure to the rear ones, connecting with hinges to the rest of the body.
After the hood the curved side windows are added, which first appeared in the Manchester United set introduced recently. The roof includes a fabric sunroof, and although the structure appears a bit flimsy before putting it in place it works well.
The final components fitted are the spare tyre, license plates, (with a choice of three, one for Italy, one for Denmark, and one for Germany), the luggage rack (with suitcase), and lastly with the shiny metallic wheel covers the car is finished.
So here’s the finished car! I’d say the overall shape is a faithful representation of the original one, considering the limitation of the available bricks. The colour is an interesting and unusual choice, I wasn’t a fan at first sight but it definitely looks better than the standard LEGO yellow.
I read some complaints online about a few missing details, the most frequently mentioned of which was a missing side view mirror. It is quite interesting because if you have a look at the old photos in the instruction manual, the cars shown don’t actually have a side view mirror. In fact the original car did not have a factory installed side view mirror, it being an optional accessory that only became obligatory in Italian law in 1977. (Plus Italian drivers never use them anyway – Ed.)
So, what is my conclusion? I think the Fiat 500 was a great choice for the Creator Expert line, it is truly an iconic car and the LEGO version is instantly recognizable. The added extras are also really nice, enhancing a great building experience for a reasonable price. My only complaint is the lack of steering – after the excellent 10265 Ford Mustang I was really hoping to see a functional steering wheel in the next Creator Expert car as well.
Overall; 8/10. Recommended.
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Thank you to Balazs from RacingBrick for joining us here at to review the new 10271 Creator Expert Fiat 500 set. You can check out the excellent RacingBrick website by clicking here.
No, we’re not talking about your cousin James.
Much of the world, including here at The Lego Car Blog, is in lockdown. The COVID-19 epidemic is claiming thousands of lives now, with the potential for millions if it reaches poorer nations. As such many of us have been instructed – by law – to remain inside. If you’re reading this post in the future; yeah this was that thing old people always talk about. And if your world is some kind of nearly-empty post-apocalyptic society; yeah this was that thing where everyone died.
On a less pessimistic note, if we all stay inside we’re probably going to be fine, the world will get back to normal, and we’ll look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. So to help us to do just that, here’s TLCB ‘Alternative Lifestyle’ suggestion, or to give it its working title; ‘Something to do during Coronavirus’.
LEGO’s brilliant 10265 Creator Ford Mustang set is one of our very favourite additions to their officially licensed line-up, and – being packed with great parts – it has spawned an entire car dealership of alternate builds. This is the latest, the work of a past LEGO set designer no less, Nathanael Kuipers. Built using only parts found within the 10265 set, this Ford GT40-esque classic supercar features working steering, opening doors and engine cover, and removable V8 engine.
Nathanael has made instructions available too, so if you own a 10265 Ford Mustang set and you’re stuck at home bored you can convert your set into your very own GT40. Find out how via the link above, and if you fancy building a few more vehicles from your 10265 set, take a look below!
Dodge Charger R/T (Firas Abu-Jaber): This 10265 B-Model featured here last month, built by Flickr’s Firas Abu-Jaber this superb Dodge Charger R/T looks so perfect you’d never know it was a set alternate. It’s even modifiable with a huge supercharger like the original set, so if you’re of an Elven persuasion you can build it to your tastes too. Check out the original post here where you can find a link to all the images.
Tesla Cybertruck (Gerald Cacas): Tesla’s yet-to-be released and decidedly odd Cybertruck is not a vehicle we expected to be built from the 10265 Ford Mustang set, yet Gerald Cacas has done just that with this excellent alternate. Gerald promises instructions are on the way so you can build one yourself – take a look at its original appearance here to find the links.
DeTomaso Pantera GTS (Serge S): Powered by a Ford V8 like the Mustang from which it’s built, the DeTomaso Pantera was a genuine alternative to the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of its day. If you own the 10265 set you can build one for yourself, as Serge S has constructed this superb Pantera GTS using parts only found within it. Instructions are available and you can find a link to them and the full gallery of images via this link to Serge’s original appearance here in January, long before someone ate an illegal bat soup and started a worldwide pandemic.
Ford F100 Pick-Up (Nathanael Kuipers): The Ford GT40 at the top of this page isn’t the only 10265 B-Model to come from Nathanael, as back in October last year he published this Ford F100 inspired classic pick-up. There are opening doors, an opening hood, and a dropping tailgate, and most importantly he’s produced building instructions so that you can build it for yourself. Find out more via the original post by clicking here.
Ford Mustang GT500 (Firas Abu-Jaber): Our sixth and final 10265 Ford Mustang alternate is… a Ford Mustang. But it jumps forward about 55 years, bringing Ford’s latest 2020 GT500 into brick form. Best of all, like every other model on this page this incredible GT500 can be built using only the parts found within the 10265 set, giving you two Mustangs for the price of one! Building instructions are available and you can find a link to them and the complete image gallery by clicking here.
Finally, if you don’t wish to dismantle your 10265 Ford Mustang set but you do want something to do with it, try Game Of Brick’s spectacular lighting kit that was reviewed here by a reader at the start of the year.
And so ends our ‘Something to do during Coronavirus’ post, with six brilliant alternative models that can be constructed from just the pieces found within the 10265 Creator Ford Mustang set. You can find links to all six in the text above, almost all of which include building instructions. Stay safe, stay indoors, and give alternate building a go! If the current lockdown continues we may even award some loot for your best B-Model builds.
LEGO’s new 10271 Creator Expert Fiat 500 set has got us very excited. The press seems to like to too, with many inevitable jokes about how the real Fiat 500 is basically a model car anyway. Well LEGO have risen to that challenge! Built from 189,000 pieces (around 188,000 more than the set), LEGO’s expert model makers have constructed an exact 1:1 life-size scale replica of the iconic Italian classic.
Apart from the steering wheel – which is a real item from a 1960s 500 – everything is built from LEGO bricks, including the tyres, seats, and luggage rack (with luggage). A motor show-style cut out on the passenger side facilities entry, which the public will be able to do as this life-sized LEGO Fiat is due to go on tour to launch the new 10271 set.
YouTube Video
You can see how LEGO constructed the 1:1 Fiat 500 via the video above, you can check out our preview of the new 10271 Creator Expert Fiat 500 set by clicking here, and you see a fan-built 500 that arguably got there first by clicking this link.
An Italian LEGO set that isn’t a supercar! LEGO’s successful line of officially licensed sets has been a properly exciting shift in the brand’s strategy, bringing real-world cars to bedroom floors everywhere. Beginning with Ferrari, a host of brands have joined the line-up, with fellow Italian supercar manufacturer Lamborghini one of the most recent new additions.
However despite Ferrari being the first car maker to partner with LEGO, their parent company Fiat have been oddly absent. Perhaps Fiat’s current range of distinctly mediocre offerings doesn’t lend itself too well to models that people would want to buy. Fiat 500L anyone?
However Fiat’s back-catalogue is far more interesting, with the original 500 being one of the most loved and well known classic cars of all time. A perfect candidate to be recreated as a Creator Expert set then, joining contemporaries such as the Mini Cooper and Volkswagen Beetle.
LEGO’s new 10271 Fiat 500 set brings the iconic Italian city car to life in brick, with 960 of them forming the 500’s famous silhouette, many of which appear in this gorgeous primrose yellow hue for the first time.
Bespoke period-correct Fiat decals, opening doors hood and engine cover, a detailed interior, and a boot-mounted travel case all feature, as does – weirdly – an easel with a Fiat 500 painting placed upon it. Now if only the painting had an easel in the background of its Fiat 500, which of course would depict a Fiat 500 with an easel in the background… A thought that like that can break your brain.
Despite the moderate piece count the new 10271 Fiat 500 set will be one of the smaller models in the Creator Expert range, measuring 24cm long and 11cm wide – suitably befitting of the original car’s tiny dimensions – and will cost around $90/£75 when it goes on sale in March of 2020. In a line-up that was perhaps becoming a bit supercar-heavy, we think the addition of something small, slow, and classic is a fantastic choice. Top marks LEGO!
LEGO’s new 10265 Ford Mustang set has us yearning for more officially-licensed muscle cars. There’s hope too, as this particular Detroit classic has already been released as a Speed Champions set. It is of course the stupendous ’69 Dodge Charger R/T, the wildest muscle car of the era, and one that’s become famous to whole new generation of fans thanks to the Fast and Furious movie franchise.
This brilliant recreation of Dodge’s over-powered, under-suspended icon is the work of previous bloggee Tony Bovkoon, who has built his Charger R/T to match the scale and detail of the official Ford Mustang set. Working steering, opening doors, hood, trunk, and a detailed interior all feature, and there’s more to see of this superb creation at Tony’s ’69 Dodge Charger R/T album on Flickr via the link above.
*Nope, we’re not doing a link to today’s title song, because any DJ** that ends the night by playing it needs to go have a quiet think about how they can do better.
**For our younger readers; a DJ is sort of like if your Spotify playlist were a person.
The lovely LEGO Creator 10252 Volkswagen Beetle set has spawned several B-Models from the blue bricks found within it. Nathanael Kuipers (a previous set designer for LEGO no less!) has created another, and has made instructions available for owners of the 10252 set to recreate it for themselves. Drawing on several classic pick-up truck designs from the late ’30s to the late ’40s Nathanael’s B-Model captures the style of the time wonderfully and there’s more to see of his 10252 B-Model (including a link to building instructions) on Flickr here.
The excellent looking Le Mans ’66 (Ford vs. Ferrari) movie is in theatres now, and tells the story of one of the greatest (and most unlikely) racing rivalries in history. Ford, annoyed at having their offer to purchase Ferrari snubbed, decided to build a car to beat the Italians at their own game. Cue a story of American heroism, engineering brilliance, and underdog victory. Except the Ford GT40 was actually British…
No matter, it is a great story, and this lovely digital Ford GT40 road car captures the legendary American British endurance racer wonderfully. It comes from cshowd of Flickr who is in the midst of building it for real and there’s more to see at his photostream. Head back to 1966 and conquer Ferrari via the link above.
Nope, we haven’t finally relented and decided to jump on the Black Friday bandwagon, but nevertheless if you’re an owner of the excellent looking 10265 Creator Ford Mustang set then you could own this 2020 Mustang GT500 for free (just not at the same time).
TLCB Master MOCer Firas Abu-Jaber has created this superb looking GT500 from the parts only found within the 10265 set, and what’s more he’s working on instructions so that you can build it for yourself too.
In the meantime you can check out all of the images of Firas’ 10265 B-Model on Flickr via the link above, you can learn how Firas creates amazing models such as this one via his Master MOCers interview at TLCB, and you can find out why Mustang owners need at least one other back-up car by clicking here…
White, cheap, and made of plastic. ‘Qualities’ shared by both this Lego model of a Traband 601S and, er… an actual Trabant 601S. The Trabant’s plasticky bodywork was actually produced from material derived out of recycled cotton, which meant it didn’t rust and was readily available in an economy where metal was precious, and – perhaps surprisingly – it was also quite an advanced car when it launched.
However four decades of zero development due to its monopoly in the East German market (thanks communism) meant that the Trabant quickly became a symbol of everything that was wrong with the other side of the iron curtain.
Fortunately once the wall fell East Germans rushed a) into West Germany, and b) into cars that weren’t a Trabant. Still, it was a vehicle that mobilised a nation, and it is therefore one of the most important car designs in history. Flickr’s Dornbi has paid tribute to the little East German oddity with his lovely Creator/Model Team version, complete with opening doors, raising hood, and an interior resplendent in ‘medium nougat’. See more on Flickr via the link above.
LEGO’s new 10265 Creator Ford Mustang set is a great addition to their officially licensed range. With useful parts, excellent detailing, and being a replica of one of the coolest cars ever made, it’s one of our favourite sets of recent times, and Nathanael Kuipers – a previous set designer for The LEGO Company – has just made it even better.
This excellent 1970’s Ford F100-inspired pick-up truck has been constructed by Nathanael only from the pieces found within the 10265 set, not that you’d know – so un-constrained does it look!
The model features opening doors, a dropping tailgate, and a detailed engine under the opening hood, and best of all if you own a 10265 Ford Mustang set you can build Nathanael’s pick-up truck too, as he’s made building instructions available!
Head to Nathanael’s photostream by clicking here to see more of his superb 10265 B-Model and find out how to build it for yourself.
Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we’re too busy singing
To put anybody down
This marvellous Creator-style Honda ‘Monkey Bike’ comes from TLCB regular ianying616 who has uploaded forty images of his new build to Flickr. That may sound a lot (because it is), but there is a rather cool rider in some of them, and it’s not a monkey. See more at the link.
LEGO’s 10252 Creator Volkswagen Beetle set is not the first source of parts we’d think of when designing a truck. Resolutely rounded, and with a surfboard on the roof, it is a most un-truck-like vehicle. However that hasn’t stopped Flickr’s Serge S from designing this superb cab-over truck using only the parts found within the 10252 set.
So good is Serge’s design that had he not included a note to the parts source within the description we’d have published this without ever knowing the origin of its pieces. Head to Serge’s photostream via the link above to see more of this remarkable Alternate, and if you own the Creator Volkswagen Beetle set give it ago yourself and see how versatile LEGO bricks can be!
LEGO’s officially licensed replicas just keep coming! This is their latest, in partnership with motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, the 10269 Creator Expert Fat Boy.
The first motorcycle in the Creator Expert line, the Harley-Davison Fat Boy becomes the second bike to be recreated in LEGO form following the excellent 42063 Technic BMW Motorrad R 1200 GS Adventure released a few years ago, and brings another new manufacturer partnership to LEGO’s already impressive back-catalogue.
With just over 1,000 pieces the new 10269 set is a hefty thing befitting its name, and it features a few new parts too – including printed Harley-Davison tiles that appear on the neat tear-drop shaped fuel tank and new authentic ‘Lakester’ wheels with very probably the widest tyre ever fitted to a LEGO motorcycle.
The new 10269 set also features a few working functions, including handlebar steering, a moveable gearshift pedal, kickstand and brake levers, and a working replica of the Fat Boy’s ‘Milwaukee-Eight®’ V-Twin engine with a brick-built engine block and pistons, making the Fat Boy the first LEGO set to use a non-specialised brick-built engine since the Technic sets of the 1980s. The model’s authenticity is completed with accurate ‘wicked red’ colouring as well as bespoke decals for the badging, speedometer and license plate.
10269 looks to be another fine addition to LEGO’s officially licensed range, and with Harley-Davison having such a loyal (often fanatical) following worldwide we expect the set to have an appeal as wide as that ludicrous rear tyre. Expect the Creator Expert 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy set to cost around $100/£85 when it reaches stores later this month.
LEGO on are on quite a roll with their officially-licensed sets at the moment. Spanning the Speed Champions, Creator and Technic ranges, we’ve had authentic replicas from Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Caterham and many more besides. Ford are one of the more humdrum manufacturers to partner with LEGO, but for us their cars chosen are some of the coolest in LEGO’s line-up. Revealed today, LEGO’s newest officially-licensed Ford set has to be the coolest of the lot!
10265 joins the ‘Expert Creator’ range, a 1,470-piece replica of one the most iconic American cars ever made; the 1960s Ford Mustang. LEGO and Ford have chosen the late-’60s fastback, complete with Shelby stripes and a beautiful blue finish. Printed tiles add authenticity with accurate badging, license plates and gauges, and the new 5-spoke wheels are faithful to those found on the real car.
10265 joins the 10262 Aston Martin DB5 at the top of the creator range, measuring over a foot long and featuring working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and adding another 200 pieces to the DB5’s count. With the two sets being the same scale (and the DB5 being packed with 007 gadgets) you might be wondering where those extra 200 parts go, but LEGO has put them to good use! Or bad use, depending on your taste…
10265 can be customised with all sorts of go-faster goodies, including a supercharger complete with hood-protrusion, an aero kit consisting of a ducktail rear spoiler and a front air dam, quad side-pipes, and even a rear axle lift.
If you’re a) 10 or b) a TLCB Elf you’ll no doubt love the add-ons included in the set, which are a great idea from LEGO to add extra play value to their new Mustang set. For us these extra bricks would probably go into our spare parts box, as we think they thoroughly ruin the car (as they do in real life too…), but we won’t begrudge LEGO for a second for including them.
To our eyes the new 10265 Expert Creator Ford Mustang set is the best looking officially-licensed vehicle yet, and if you agree you can get your hands on one from March 2019. Aimed at ages 16+ we expect 10265 to retail for around £120/€140/$150 and to be the coolest way to spend said cash short of getting a flaming skull tattoo or an electric guitar. Bravo LEGO and Ford!