If we saw a cloud of gas this colour floating our way we probably wouldn’t stop to find out what it smelled like. Still Tim Inman is made of braver stuff than us, because he’s taken one of LEGO’s rarest hues and somehow found enough parts to create this glorious 1933 Willys ‘gasser’ hot rod. With absurd side-pipes, an octuplet of engine trumpets, and packing a parachute, Tim’s ride isn’t messing about, and you can gas your way over to his photostream for a sniff at the link above.
*Today’s
Endlessly reusable, LEGO is all about taking something and turning it into something else. The Online Lego Community is filled with designs and techniques that can influence your own creations, with builder Austin Vail taking particular inspiration from TLCB Master MOCer Ralph Savelsberg.
Using the ‘kitbashing’ approach (a method used by plastic modellers wherein they mix the components from multiple kits to create something new and unique), Austin has reverse-engineered several of Ralph’s builds (no “I need instructions” here!), before mixing various parts of them up to create something new, in this case a splendid gasser hot rod.
Portions of Ralph’s ZZ Top Eliminator, American Graffiti Deuce Coupe, and Volkswagen Beetle (the latter cleverly reversed so its front forms the rear) are all bashed together to create the whole, with the result paying both homage to its inspirer yet also being a distinctive creation in its own right.
There’s more to see of Austin’s gasser, including a description of how it was built, at his photostream. Take a look via the link above and maybe start MOCbashing for yourself!
Cricket. A gentlemanly game, played largely by standing around a village green for five days, after which sometimes it’s a draw. Still, it unites everyone in hatred of the Australians and it’s infinitely better than baseball.
Anyway, here’s a ‘gasser’ hot rod named after the pointless British game. Or a grasshopper. We’re not sure. Whichever it is, the ‘Noisy Cricket’ is an absurd concoction of Vespa 400 microcar and side-piped V8, created by the unhinged mind of Tim Inman, and it definitely wouldn’t take five days to finish anything.
The spindly suspension, front-mounted gas tank, and parachute pack out back are gasser drag strip deriguour, and you can step up to the crease at Tim’s photostream via the link above.
Here’s one we had to look up. The Henry J was a 50’s American economy car built by the Kaiser-Frazer corporation, named after its founder, and aimed at consumers who – at that point – could only afford a used vehicle.
Designed to use as few parts as possible, the Henry J succeeded in being cheap – costing just $1,300 in 1950 – but for good reason. A glovebox, armrests, ventilation, and even an opening trunk were omitted, with owners having to access their luggage by folding down the rear seats.
Unsurprisingly it was a sales flop, and when the car was relaunched under the Allstate brand to be (weirdly) sold by the Sears department store, it flopped for a second time.
One for a footnote in the American automotive history books then (which means we feel rather better about not knowing what the heck it was), but the Henry J did earn itself an interesting second life.
Small, light, and cheap, the Henry J became a favourite of 1960s drag racers, who threw away the 4-cylinder Jeep engine under the hood and fitted rather more exciting power-plants.
This superb Model Team example is based on a real Henry J ‘gasser’ drag racer, and comes from previous bloggee Tim Inman of Flickr. Opening doors (but not trunk, naturally), a detailed interior, and an enormous engine all feature, and there’s more to see of Tim’s ‘Janky J’ at his photostream.
Click the link above to flick through an early-’50s Sears catalogue to buy an economy car. Or just stop at the bra section like everyone else did…
This is the ‘Blasphemi’, a 1955 Chevrolet ‘gasser’ drag racer run in MotorTrend’s ‘Roadkill’ video series. Beautifully built in Lego form and perfectly presented, _Tiler‘s homage to Roadkill’s famous hot rod captures the moment when 1,100bhp hits the rear tyres and just 8.5 seconds later the car will be a 1/4 mile away. Head to Flickr via the second link above to see more, and click the first to watch the real thing in very noisy action.
You know how it goes, you wait ages for a Gasser and then three arrive at once. Or something like that.
Anyway, our third ‘gasser’-style hot rod in a week arrives courtesy of _Tiler, whose beautifully presented ’56 C1 Corvette has allowed to us to link to a brilliant title song, and which somehow sits in the centre of a Sacrilege/Inspired Venn diagram.
There’s more of the ‘vette to see on Flickr via the link above, you can jump to the aforementioned title song here, and you can check out the brand new official LEGO Icons 10321 Corvette set by clicking those final teal words.
It seems like only yesterday that we posted a delightful ‘gasser’ style hot rod by Flickr’s Tim Inman. Because it was. Anyway, he’s published another in quick succession, this time based on a Chevrolet ‘Chevy II’, better known as the Nova, and inspired by several real Nova racers built back in 1964. The silly drivetrain and even sillier engine are perfectly period-correct, and there’s more of the model to see at Tim’s photostream. Click the link for more gas.
The famed Fiat 500 was not the brand’s first city car. For that you have to go way back to 1936 and the Topolino, or ‘little mouse’ (which was also the Italian name for Mickey Mouse), a tiny 569cc, 13hp two-seater sold up until the 500’s introduction in 1955.
Designed for two, but often seen with four or five very uncomfortable people squeezed inside, the Topolino was one of the smallest cars in the world at the time, and a hugely successful one, with over half-a-million produced.
Important to Italy’s mobility as the Topolino was however, we wouldn’t think of it as the obvious choice for a ‘Gasser’ hot rod. Fortunately Tim Inman‘s mind works differently to ours, because the resultant creation is unhinged brilliance, and there’s more of Tim’s Topolino Gasser to see on Flickr. Click the link above to make the jump.
A beige 1970s economy estate car might not be the most exciting genre of vehicle, but we do like the mundane here at The Lego Car Blog. TLCB Elves however, are more… er, ‘basic’ in what they like. Think ‘six year old’. Or the ‘Fast & Furious franchise’.
Cue Sergio Batista‘s Ford Escort Mk1 estate, somewhat repurposed as a ‘gasser’ style hot rod. Sergio has built an unmodified Escort estate too, in delightful ’70s tedium, but for some reason the Elves seem to prefer this one…
There’s more to see at his photostream, where you can find both the Elves’ preferred variant (this one) and ours (standard ’70s monotony). Click the link above to make the jump!
Despite being total car nerds here at The Lego Car Blog, we hadn’t heard of the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, but now that we have we really want one. Even if it doesn’t look like Tim Henderson‘s gasser.
Not only does the Vista Cruiser have a really excellent name, there is literally no vehicle cooler than a classic station wagon, and no feature cooler than safari roof windows. And the Vista Cruiser fulfils those attributes like no other car.
Tim’s Lego version adds to the cool with period-correct ‘gasser’ mods, including a hood-mounted supercharger intake, drag wheels and suspension, and side pipes. Join us wishing we had one at Tim’s photostream via the link above.
Well, Thomas Gion aka HotDogSandwiches does, in the form of this marvellous 1960s Chevrolet Nova ‘Gasser’ style drag racer.
Thomas’s Speed Champions scale build features removable front bodywork, a brilliant brick-built engine, flame-shooting exhausts, wheelie bars, plus a range of wonderfully life-like tools and equipment.
There’s more of the build to see at Thomas’s ‘1963 Chevrolet Nova Gasser’ album – click the link above to take a look!
Talking of big boring boxes, here’s a Chevrolet Express Conversion Van. No amount of tinted windows and stickers down the sides could make us want to ride in this hateful pile of American misery, but Ralph has made his (excellent) Miniland recreation of the Chevy Express rather more exciting by the addition of a tow hitch, meaning his beige box of bricks can tow an altogether more interesting Chevy…
Hooked up to the Express is a trailer carrying this magnificent ’57 Bel Air ‘gasser’, complete with a supercharger poking through the hood and a flame paint job, both of which have got the Elves very animated. A cast of unique-looking characters is on hand to make sure she’s runnin’ right and there’s more to see of the Bel Air gasser (and the Express van we suppose) at Ralph’s photostream – click here to make the jump!
Nope, not that group your Dad performs in once a month down at The Pink Oboe, but this wonderful triplet of ’50s Chevrolet Gassers.
Built by TLCB favourite _Tiler each is based on a real gasser drag racer, with (from top to bottom) Dave VerSchave’s ‘Orange Krate’, Mike Finnegan’s ‘Roadkill Blasphemi’, and ‘Two Lane Blacktop’ from the 1971 movie of the same name.
Each contains the wonderfully inventive building techniques we’ve come to expect from _Tiler and you can scroll through all three Chevys at his photostream via the link above.
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.
I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at the morning driving rain
But it’s all right now, in fact, it’s a gas!
But it’s all right. I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s a gas, gas, gas!
These three matching mini-figure scale Octan-sponsored ‘gasser’ drag racers come from Flickr’s Tim Henderson, and LEGO’s fictional oil company has never looked so cool! See more at the link above.