Tag Archives: Hemi

Barracuda*

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If TLCB Elves were to design a car, it’d probably look like a ’70s Plymouth Barracuda. Lime green bodywork, a black hood with a giant scoop in the middle of it, racing stripes, and an enormous V8 engine packing up to 425bhp from over 7 litres, the Hemi ‘Cuda was wildly different to the cars trundling around our home nation at the time.

Cue this splendid Speed Champions scale recreation of Plymouth’s third-generation Barracuda from previous bloggee gnat.bricks, which includes all of the aforementioned attributes plus -and more unusually at this scale – a brick-built drivetrain, including  full-length exhausts, gearbox, driveshaft and differential, and steering arms/suspension. These don’t function of course, but then neither did the steering/suspension of the real ‘Cuda.

There’s more of gnat’s brilliant Barracuda to see at his ‘CUDA SC’ album on Flickr, and you can jump back to ’70s America via the link above, whilst clicking the link below for the most appropriate soundtrack imaginable.

*Today’s excellent title song. Of course.

Towing Package Optional

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Arriving in the mid-’00s, the sixth generation Dodge Charger was a boring four-door sedan with an anaemic 2.7 V6, a four-speed automatic, and Chrysler-corporation interior plastics. Yay.

However, the Charger was also available with a much more interesting 5.7 litre ‘Hemi’ V8, and could be optioned up to 6.1 litres in SRT8 trim, with a further Road/Track package adding ten more horsepower, a sunroof, satellite navigation, a 322-watt stereo, a rear-seat DVD entertainment system, and a heavy-duty cage for pulling a bank vault. That last one may not have been on the official options list.

This incredible replica of the Dodge Charger SRT8 is the work of Michael217 / Michael Kulakov, who has equipped his remarkably detailed model with working steering and suspension, a V8 engine, plus four opening doors, hood, and trunk.

Better still, Michael has also fitted his creation with a suite of third-party remote control electronics including RCBric management, Geekservo steering and Buggy Motor drive, which we’re currently using to pretend we’re a giant bald-headed baby horrifically murdering Rio police officers with a bank vault on a cable. Well, we’re whacking TLCB Elves with a shoe-box on a string, but we’re still having fun.

Anyway, whilst we reenact the chase scene from ‘Fast Five’ in the corridors of TLCB office you can check out more of Michael’s fantastic build at both Eurobricks and Flickr. Click the links to take a closer look!

Shot of Lime

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The state of modern cars leaves this TLCB Writer very unenthusiastic about the automotive future. Dreary electric cross-overs connected directly to the Chinese Communist Party, there isn’t a single interesting one among them. Which means if you want to find something with a soul, you have to go back to a car – and brand – from decades past. This is the Plymouth Barracuda, a lime green muscle car powered by a Hemi V8 that was literally too big to fit under the hood.

Built by Szunyogh Balázs, this fabulous replica of the Hemi ‘Cuda replicates Plymouth’s iconic ’70s muscle car in LEGO ‘Icons’ scale, and includes working steering, opening doors and trunk, plus a highly detailed Hemi V8 underneath (mostly) the opening hood. It’s a superb homage to a time when cars weren’t just phones with wheels, and you can reclaim your automotive soul at Szunyogh’s ‘Hemi Cuda’ album via the link above.

Little Red Wagon | Picture Special

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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!

Muscle Car Double

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Lego Plymouth Hemi Cuda

Founded in the late 1920s, mis-managed into administration, and then closed down in the last decade or so, Plymouth and Pontiac are best known in recent times as victims of the Big Three’s sorry tale of arrogance, greed and incompetence.

But before all that there were some good times. Really good times. In the late-’60s to early-’70s the muscle car was in a golden age, and both Plymouth and Pontiac were riding the crest of that wave.

Plymouth’s Barracuda (above) launched in the mid-’60s with a range of engines beginning at just 100bhp, yet by 1970 it was making up to 425bhp from an enormous Hemi V8. Unfortunately 425bhp didn’t sit really suit the market once the oil crisis hit in 1973, and production ended shortly afterwards, but if anything that short life has helped the ‘Cuda become one of most sought-after muscle cars in history.

General Motors were also in on the muscle car action in the 1960s, bringing – via their Pontiac brand – the GTO (below) to market in ’64. By the 1970s they too were making over 400bhp, with stock cars delivering 13.4 second 1/4 miles times straight from the forecourt. Like Plymouth the oil crisis put an end to that, but in its hay-day the Pontiac GTO sold almost 100,000 units annually, despite its slow steering and ‘amazingly inadequate’ brakes. The roads must have been a fun (if slightly terrifying) place!

Lego Pontiac GTO

The two superb Speed Champions versions of the Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda and Pontiac GTO pictured here are the work of Thomas Gion, who has faithfully recreated both cars in just 6-studs of width, capturing the styling cues of each brilliantly.

Today both brands are gone, but the legendary cars they created in the 1960s and ’70s mean they won’t be forgotten for some time yet.

Dodge Challenger R/T – Picture Special

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Lego Dodge Challenger R/T

Launched in 1970 the Dodge Challenger was the Chrysler Corporation’s answer to the Ford’s Mustang and General Motors’ Camaro. To compete with the wide variety of models available from Ford the Challenger could be specified in a myriad of engine and trim options, from a 3.4 litre slant-6 making about 4bhp to the monstrous 7 litre and 7.2 litre Hemi and RB V8s. You can guess which end of this scale we have represented here today!

Lego Dodge Challenger R/T

The original Challenger only lasted a few short years, arriving very late to the muscle car party when most people were already passed out or staggering home. The fuel crisis of the 1970s didn’t help much either and the Challenger was gone by 1974. Despite its short lifespan though, original Challengers are seriously sought-after, and the design made enough of a lasting impression for Chrysler to resurrect it with a retro-styled reboot in 2008, a car which is still available today.

Lego Dodge Challenger Hemi V8

This absolutely spectacular 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T (with the big V8) comes from previous bloggee Dave Slater who has captured the real car beautifully in Model Team form. Opening doors reveal a wonderfully detailed interior, whilst the iconic hood can raise to reveal a stunning (and very orange) replica of the 426 Hemi V8 underneath.

There are lots more brilliant images to see at Dave’s Dodge Challenger R/T Flickr album – click the link above, find an empty and dead-straight road, and nail the throttle.

Lego Dodge Challenger R/T