Tag Archives: Fiesta

Farewell Fiesta

Leave a reply

The party’s over for the Ford Fiesta. One of the best selling cars in Europe for nearly fifty years, Fiesta production ended in 2023 so Ford could focus on crossovers. Yay.

There are literally millions left on the roads of our home nation though, with the Fiesta still the UK’s most sold used car. A smattering of sporty variants will be among them, but most Fiestas are simple, low-power, economical transport for the masses.

But that’s not say the Fiesta couldn’t be turned up to eleven, and Ford did just that with several wild World Rally Championship, X Games, and Rallycross monsters, some of which had over 800bhp.

It’s the former of these we have today, courtesy of Eurobricks’ apachaihapachai, who has recreated the final seventh-generation Ford Fiesta in rally car form.

Fitted with twin Power Functions L Motors, BuWizz bluetooth remote control, and independent suspension, apachai’s creation is a riot to drive, and also includes opening doors plus a working transverse 4-cylinder engine under the opening hood.

Free building instructions are available (one-hundred TLCB points to apachai) and you can find a link to them plus further imagery and a video of the model in action by clicking here.

Digitally Dinky

Leave a reply

Britain’s new car market was once filled with light, nimble, rear-wheel-drive sports cars. Dozens of different models were produced, and there was room for all of them… until the arrival of the hot hatchback.

Killing off the sports car in just a few short years, the hot hatchback became the affordable driver’s car of choice, and – to some extent – still is, despite the seemingly unending march of the SUV. Thus here are three of them (although one isn’t technically a hatchback), all created digitally by Flickr’s Peter Blackert, and each was another nail in the sports car coffin.

First up (above) was Ford’s Fiesta XR2. Released in 1981, the XR2 added a 1.6 litre crossflow engine (and some black plastic, stripes, and extra lights) to Ford’s humble supermini, creating a car that could out perform any comparable sports car of the day, and yet could seat four and their luggage.

Of course small quick cars didn’t start with the Fiesta XR2, having been around since the Mini Cooper of the early ’60s. Austin and Morris – now morphed (along with many other brands) into the dysfunctional behemoth British Leyland – continued with their own sporty offering, the Mini Clubman 1275 GT. Effectively the same car as the decade-old Mini Cooper, the Clubman wore a squared off front end to make it, um… marginally uglier. The ’70s were weird.

Our last hot hatchback comes from one of the genre’s giants; Peugeot. But this isn’t their iconic 205 GTI. The 104 arrived a decade earlier, with this example being the strangely truncated three-door ‘Coupe’ version (which was some rather optimistic marketing on Peugeot’s part). A 205 GTI it was not, but it set the scene for what was to come, and you can see more of it plus Peter’s other virtual recreations of sporty seventies’ superminis at his photostream via the link above.

Four-in-a-Fiesta

Leave a reply

Ford’s Fiesta might recently have (inexplicably) ceased production, but it remains one of the most popular cars on the World Rally Circuit.

Cue Zerobricks’ fantastic Technic recreation of the Fiesta WRC, based on a real car run by the Slovenian ‘GM’ racing team.

Underneath the remarkably well-replicated bodywork, Zerobrick’s creation packs in a seriously impressive remote control drivetrain, centre of which are four (yes four!) BuWizz motors, one powering each wheel. A LEGO Powered-Up L Motor operates the steering, with twin BuWizz 3.0s controlling all five motors via bluetooth.

Long-travel suspension, a transverse inline-4 engine (powered via the aforementioned BuWizz drive motors), plus opening doors, hood and rear hatch also feature, with the visual realism enhanced by superb 3D-printed wheels and custom graphics.

It’s every bit as impressive as the real Fiesta WRC car, and if you’re interested in seeing what four BuWizz motors and all-wheel-drive can do (a lot!), you can check out Zerobricks’ incredible Technic rally car at the Eurobricks forum and via the video from the official BuWizz YouTube channel below.

What a Difference a Stud Makes

1 Reply

Lego Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC

You might not think there’s much between six and seven (according to TLCB calculator it’s just one in fact), but as your Mom will confirm, one can make all the difference.

Suggested by a reader via the Feedback & Submission Suggestions page, Gerald Cacas’ Speed Champions Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC is just one stud wider than LEGO’s official – and really rather good – 75885 set (pictured below), but boy does it make use of that extra stud!

Whilst utilising the best bits of the official set, Gerald’s widened version adds in a brilliantly detailed engine bay (under a newly-hinged hood), a rally-spec interior, opening boot-lid, and a chunk more visual detail, including a brick-built windscreen which makes a world of difference from the slightly inappropriate fighter-cockpit of the original.

There’s more to see of Gerald’s expanded Speed Champions Ford Fiesta WRC on Flickr – click here to get a little bit larger.

Lego Speed Champions Ford Fiesta WRC 75885

Speed Champions 2018 | Set Previews!

13 Replies

Lego 75888 Speed Champions Porsche 911 RSR & 911 Turbo 3.0Over the past few weeks a group of crack The Lego Car Blog Elves have been undertaking a secret mission. Infiltrating The LEGO Company’s headquarters, dodging the guards (and guard dogs – who have a taste for Elf meat), and resisting the baited mousetraps to bring back LEGO’s brand-new-for-2018 Speed Champions line-up. And what a line-up it is!

2018 continues LEGO’s hugely successful officially licensed partnership with some of the world’s top automotive brands, with six new sets all of which replicate real-world cars both current and – much to our delight – classic too. With two new sets each from Porsche, Ford and Ferrari, there’s plenty to like. Let’s take a look!

Lego 75887 Speed Champions Porsche 919 Hybrid

We’ll start with Porsche, one of the newer partnerships LEGO have forged, who add two new sets to their inventory. First up (top) is the 75888 Porsche 911 RSR & 911 Turbo 3.0 set, a glorious double featuring both the latest 911 RSR endurance racer and a superb lime green classic 911 Turbo 3.0. Each features a mini-figure, some neat decals, and the set includes a pit wall, mechanic mini-figure, and a rather useful looking timing gantry complete with reversible timing bricks.

75888 features just under 400 pieces, including those three mini-figures, and we expect it to cost just over £30 when it reaches stores. We like it a lot.

LEGO’s second new officially licensed Porsche set (above) is the 75887 Porsche 919 Hybrid, featuring Porsche’s 2017 Le Mans winning prototype. The 919 model is constructed from a wealth of curves and plates ensuring it is all but studless, with some colourful decals used to recreate an authentic livery. A light pole, mini-figure and laptop are all included and we expect 75887 to be wonderfully pocket-money attainable at around £12 when it reaches stores.

Lego 75885 Speed Champions Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC

On to Ford, who like Porsche also have two new-for-2018 sets in the Speed Champions range, and who also have both a current and classic models recaptured in brick through their partnership with LEGO.

The 75885 Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC is the first of the new additions, featuring Ford’s brand new World Rally Championship contender; the mental Fiesta M-Sport WRC. Like 75887 above, 75885 will be priced in the pocket-money bracket at around £12 and contains just over 200 pieces, including a racing driver mini-figure and a wealth stickers to help create authenticity. New white wheels and wedge tiles also make appearances, and the car looks wonderful in (we think) Monte Carlo Rally specification with a front-mounted light bar.

Our only gripe is that 75885’s livery is not the same as that found on the 2018 rally car, but perhaps the real livery hadn’t been decided upon by the time LEGO needed to finalise the set, or a partnership with title-sponsor Red Bull in addition to both Ford and M-Sport was one to many. Nevertheless 75885 is a lovely looking thing and looks to be a great entry level set for racing fans.

Lego 75884 Speed Champions 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback

Ford’s second set within the 2018 Speed Champions line-up is perhaps the most famous model in their history. Yup, LEGO have gone and built a classic 1960s Mustang! We think 75884 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback is one of the nicest Speed Champions sets to date, and whilst it is perhaps a little over-stickered for a historic racing car, it looks fantastic in its Bullitt-green and gold stripe livery. As usual a mini-figure driver is included plus a timing board, and we expect 75884 to join the range alongside the Porsche 919 Hybrid and Fiesta M-Sport WRC in the c£12 bracket. It’s our favourite.

Lego 75886 Speed Champions Ferrari 488 GT3 “Ferrari Corsa”

Finally we come to LEGO’s longest standing partnership and the brand that started LEGO’s collaboration with the auto industry; the mighty Ferrari.

Like Porsche and Ford, Ferrari have two new sets in the 2018 Speed Champions line up. First (above) is 75886 Ferrari 488 GT3 ‘Ferrari Corsa’, another rather nice entry into the pocket money bracket complete with a mini-figure racing driver (female this time), plentiful decals and a nifty looking trophy.

Ferrari’s second officially licensed Speed Champions set for 2018 is rather more flamboyant. Priced at over £80 and containing three Ferrari cars (a modern 488 GTE, a gorgeous classic 250 GTO and a historic 312 Formula 1 car), the 75889 Ferrari Ultimate Garage also includes seven mini-figures, spare parts, a vintage petrol pump, trophies, and a race start/finish line.

Lego 75889 Speed Champions Ferrari Ultimate Garage

All in all 2018 looks to be an excellent continuation of LEGO’s partnership with real-world car manufacturers, with a wealth of choice at different price points, a couple of new parts, and – best of all – some wonderful classic cars to accompany the very latest machinery. More like these please LEGO!

Party Fiesta

3 Replies

Lego Ford Fiesta

We love small nimble cars here at The Lego Car Blog, and one of the best is Ford’s Fiesta. First launched in 1976 the Fiesta is now in its seventh generation, and it’s been the best selling car in TLCB’s home nation in almost every month since the current version was launched back in 2008.

The Lego recreation of the little Ford pictured here is the work of Peter Blackert (aka lego911), who has built the Mark 7 Fiesta in ‘Zetec S’ specification. There’s a whole gallery of further images available on Flickr – click here to see more.

Hump Day Rally Special

4 Replies

Lego Lancia Delta IntegraleWhat with it being Hump Day (Wednesday is the ‘hump’ of the week) we thought we’d find a tenuous link to vehicles good over humps, and nothing is better than a rally car when things get humpy.

Both today’s rally cars use LEGO’s excellent RC components to give them drive and steering, both are legends in their own right, but they come from very different rallying eras.

First up (above) is a breathtakingly brilliant Lancia Delta Integrale by Tiago C on Brickshelf. The Delta won an astonishing 46 World Rallies, taking Lancia to six consecutive World Championships and a record which remains to this day.

Next we have one of the new stars of the World Rally and Rally-Cross Championships, Ford’s monster Fiesta, in -as it happens- Monster energy drink livery. The work of Piterx, you can see more photos and join the discussion on Eurobricks.

Lego Technic Ford Fiesta WRCAnd finally, the only thing that gets close to a rally car over the rough stuff is a trial truck. They may be slow, but the humps they can clear are truly enormous. So as a Hump Day bonus here’s Jorge Garcia‘s Tatra Kolos 8×8, also featuring remote control, clearing two humps. You can see the full gallery of the 8×8 in action on MOCpages.

Lego Tatra 8x8