Mad Max’s post-apocalyptic future is set in… er, 1983. But what if it were set one-hundred years later? Sergio Batista re-imagines George Miller’s vision for a dystopian Australian outback a century after the film is set, and although the original movie tagline is somewhat problematic, Mad Max and hover cars do seem to work rather well! There’s more to see of Sergio’s ‘V8 Hover Interceptor’ (and a host of other hover vehicles) on Flickr via the link.
American police cars are cooler than those we have in TLCB’s home nation. Oh sure, we have the occasional fast pursuit car (which include some surprisingly awesome models), but it’s mostly economy hatchbacks. Not so in the USA, where police cars have names like ‘Charger Police Pursuit’ and ‘Interceptor’. It’s the latter we have here, a Ford Explorer with an Ecoboost V6, all-wheel-drive, and a bar on the front for ramming criminals. Ralph Savelsberg is the builder and there’s more to see of his excellent NYPD Ford Interceptor Utility by clicking here.
The Future Belongs to the Mad. Especially when they collaborate. 2015’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ thundered into cinemas to surprising critical acclaim. Directed my George Miller (he of Happy Feet fame!), ‘Fury Road’ followed the terribly-named ‘Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome’ film released a full three decades previously, and it was bloody brilliant!
It’s not often that TLCB Staff and TLCB Elves are in agreement, but this is a movie that brought harmony between TLCB’s human overlords and its irritating mythical workforce. Until the little turds started reenacting scenes from the film in the corridors of TLCB Towers at least.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ starred many incredible vehicles, all of which were build for real, and many of these have been recreated in Lego form over the past five years (you can use the search function to find those that have appeared here). However, despite only appearing briefly in the third Mad Max instalment, it’s the V8 Interceptor that has endured as the franchise’s most iconic car.
Based on a 1970s Ford Falcon XB GT Hardtop, the V8 Interceptor appeared in all three movies, and is arguably more associated with the Mad Max story than the fleshy meatbag/s that drove it. This is the version of the Interceptor from the final (for now) film, and it’s been created through the collaboration of builders Mikhail Biktimirov, FX6000, and photographer Nikolay Gamurar.
With remote control drive and steering, working independent front and solid-axle rear suspension, and opening doors and hood, Mikhail, FX6000 and Nikolay’s beautifully presented V8 Interceptor is definitely worth a closer look. FX6000 has also made building instructions available too, should you wish to pretend your kitchen floor is post-apocalyptic wasteland and reenact scenes from the movies.
The Elves will certainly be doing that, so whilst we keep a careful eye on proceedings you can see more of Mikhail, FX6000 and Nikolay’s brilliant Mad Max V8 Interceptor collaboration at the Eurobricks discussion forum by clicking here.
It’s been a while since the last Mad Max post here at TLCB, but today one of the Elves returned a hero and our smelly little workers are all now crowded around the old TV/VHS combo in their cage room watching Mel Gibson smash stuff up.
We have previous bloggee crash_cramer of Flickr to thank for the relative peace this has brought, and his huge 1:10 recreation of the V8 Interceptor from 1981’s Mad Max II – The Road Warrior.
Underneath the superbly accurate exterior is a working V8 (with supercharger), functioning steering and live axle suspension, courtesy of some custom curved lift-arms.
There’s more to see of crash-cramer’s epic build at his photostream, and if you’d like your own Mad Max Interceptor (albeit rather smaller) then check out the excellent custom kit from Manner-Spielzeug here.
…A road warrior searching for a righteous cause. As the world fell… each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy. Me… or everyone else.
_Tiler returns to The Lego Car Blog with the last of the V8 Interceptors and one of the moodiest shots we’ve published to date. See more on Flickr.
Jon Hall‘s fantasy aeroplanes have featured several times before on TLCB. His Fe-47 Rapier is just as impressive and creative as his previous ‘planes. The aircraft has Jon’s trademark custom decals and a smoothly streamlined fuselage. Streamlined that is apart from the giant cannon that is this model’s most prominent feature. Click the link in the text to see more views of the aeroplane, as Jon releases them over the next few days.
TLCB Elves only like two types of movies; those with robots, explosions and car chases, and those with Megan Fox in. Handily the Transformers franchise provides them with all of this, but Mad Max is a fairly close second, despite the Megan Fox shaped hole in it.
We haven’t let them watch the newest addition to the saga yet (the Elves are banned from our local cinema due a series of unfortunate incidents), but the late ’70s original and its ’80s sequel are regular fodder for the old TV/VHS combo situated in their cage room. But only once they’ve brought a Mad Max creation back for us to blog of course.
Today one Elf has been fed and lots more are happily cheering and whooping at the TV downstairs, because this most excellent Mad Max creation was brought into the office.
Hailing from the early original movies, Paave’s V8 Interceptor ‘Pursuit Special’ features Buggy Motor propulsion, a servo for steering, an on-board Li-Po battery, working suspension, and a whirling supercharger pulley.
There’s more to see of his brilliant creation on both MOCpages and Eurobricks – click the links to make the jump.
We’re not big fans of Elf ire, here at The Lego Car Blog. Getting our workers angry usually results in multiple smushings and a big clean up. Nick Trotta’s beautiful Elfire Interceptor caught our eye, with its bright colour scheme, composite canopy and angled wings. It also gave us the opportunity to deploy that joke. The ship is strongly built and swooshable, as you can see by clicking this link to a video of its construction. In the meantime we’ll relax by the fire with a glass of brandy and the big book of puns.
A few days ago a little brown bag arrived at TLCB Towers, and the Elves have never been so excited! It came from custom set builders Manner-Spielzeug, and the excitement was due to a few words printed at the top of the packaging:
This is something that is – for those that know The Lego Car Blog – right up our alley, and it’s also something we’d like to see on every LEGO set… although it’s probably quite unlikely!
The guys at Manner-Spielzeug have a few custom sets available, in themes that The LEGO Group are unable – for sound ethical reasons – to explore.
Our set comes from the original Mad Max movie, and features Max’s famous V8 Interceptor, a mini-figure Mel Gibson, and a host of the coolest parts possible. The genius behind the Manner-Spielzeug products is that they use the very best pieces from all available sources, whether that’s LEGO themselves, third party accessory makers, or their own print-works, to make the sets that LEGO can’t.
The Interceptor set comes with 150 pieces, neatly packaged in a tough brown paper bag (which is both cool, and green – a solution that surely toy companies should be exploring themselves). 147 pieces are band new official LEGO parts, whilst two come from third part accessory wizards Brickarms, and one is an official LEGO brick enhanced with Manner-Spielzeug’s own print. Included in the official LEGO piece count are a dog, snake, bush and gas-can, as well as the neat Mad Max mini-figure.
The instructions come in digital format, with a QR code included so that a simple scan with a smart phone can bring up the PDF, which is optimised for multiple device types. This is worth bearing in mind as although it’s unlikely to impact anyone reading this review it may restrict builders for whom the Interceptor is bought as a gift.
The instructions themselves are very nearly as good as LEGO’s own, being logical, neat and clear. They do perhaps lack a few sub-assemblies when compared to those from an official LEGO set, and this does make the build slightly more challenging than you might expect. However for us this made the familiar ‘spot the difference’ between the part built model in our hands and the part built model pictured in the instructions a more fun experience, and certainly didn’t detract from an enjoyable build.
36 steps later and the finished model proves to be excellent, being both true to the Mad Max movie and gloriously playable. The Interceptor is a comparable size to LEGO’s newer vehicles at 6-studs wide, and features a removable roof, detailed engine with supercharger and some trunk space for the aforementioned gas-can and Brickarms weaponry.
The two Brickarms pieces are well suited to the set, and the real surprise was Manner-Spielzeug’s own printed part – a can of Dinki Di dog food from the movie – which is of a quality as high (if not higher) than anything LEGO make themselves.
Overall the Interceptor is something of a delight. It’s different from anything that LEGO produces, but is totally true to LEGO’s ‘Play Well’ ethos. Only with a bit more violence. Perhaps the only sticking point is the price, as for €69 (just over $75/£50) the piece count is quite low. The quality however, couldn’t be higher, and if you’re a fan of the Mad Max movie franchise we expect you’ll find little better than this. 4 stars – Highly Recommended.
You can check out the Manner-Speilzeug Mad Max Interceptor set by clicking on the link below, where you can also read more about their mission and view the other products that they have available. Let them know we sent you and you can take advantage of a 10% discount too.
Max is Mad. His ride – the last of the V8 Interceptors – has been requisitioned by Immortan Joe, and he is not happy. It’s also been fitted with a few optional extras that probably weren’t in Ford’s official catalogue. This glorious shot comes from TLCB regular _Tiler. Click the link. You have to. There are flames.
…Pray that he’s out there somewhere.
Mad Max Fury Road is currently setting movie screens alight, but it all began way back in 1979. Ralph Savelsberg has added the Ford Falcon Interceptor from the film that started it all to his movie cars catalogue. There’s more to see on Flickr – click the link above and Get Mad.