Tag Archives: Lego

Build-a-Bimmer

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Two years ago we blogged Thirdwigg’s excellent ‘E30’ generation BMW 3-Series, which is very possibly the best car BMW have ever made. In contrast BMW’s latest M-Cars are very much not the best they have ever made. But there is one that at least retains rear-wheel-drive and the option of a manual gearbox (and it is an option, costing more than the automatic for, um… reasons).

The BMW M2 is possibly the last rear-wheel-drive BMW M-Car, and whilst it sure isn’t an E30 3-Series, it is perhaps as close as it’s possible to get in 2025. Like his previous Technic BMWs, Thirdwigg’s top-notch recreation of the M2 includes a working inline-6 engine, ‘HOG” steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and free building instructions. Because Thirdwigg is a hundred-times more awesome than BMW’s gearbox department.

There’s more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘BMW M2 G87’ album, plus you can read more about the builder in our Master MOCers section via this bonus link.

Jack of All Trades

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The Mercedes-Benz Unimog is not, technically, a truck. It is in fact a universal tractor, with literally dozens of different applications. Which probably explains why dozens of different Unimogs have appeared here to date. Today we can add one more, a 1980s Unimog U1400 Agrar courtesy of Sseven Bricks of Flickr. A front PTO allows any number of tools to be added in front of the cab, whilst a big cage behind it means any number can be added at the back too. There’s more of Sseven’s model to see on Flickr and you can take a closer look via the link above.

In the Shadows

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Here around TLCB Towers the default vehicle of choice is a black-on-black SUV with a vanity plate. Because the British public have no imagination. But black-on-black can look awesome, as evidenced here by Flickr’s SFH_Bricks and this brilliant mid-’70s Porsche 911 Turbo, which is both constructed and presented in black. Photographing an all-black build can be a tricky exercise, but SFH has nailed it, placing his creation on a black background with clever highlighting, and you can join him in the shadows via the link above.

Fleetline Fastback

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The 1940s to 1960s were not just the peak of American automotive design, but perhaps the peak of all automotive design. Even cheap American cars were penned with absolute joy, with fabulous curves, chrome highlights, and brilliant two-tone paint, as evidenced by this gorgeous 1940s Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback.

Powered by an inline-6 and built in half-a-dozen factories across the US, the Fleetline accounted for almost a third of all Chevrolets sold at the time, with this lovely Model Team recreation coming from Vibor Cavor of Flickr.

Working steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and a wonderfully lifelike interior and engine all feature, and you can head back to when even base American cars were things of beauty via the link to Vibor’s ‘Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback’ album above.

New Holland

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This is a New Holland T7.185, and it comes from previous bloggee Keko007 who has constructed it brilliantly from bricks. Blending Technic, System, and studs-not-on-top techniques, Keko’s New Holland is as detailed as models three times its size, with presentation to match the build quality too. It proves you don’t require a million pieces to create something wonderful (and blog-worthy), and you can head to Keko’s farm on Flickr to check it out via the link in the text above.

Putin It Out There

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It’s been a while since we’ve referenced Putin’s tiny todger. Well, he’s still an under-endowed despot, raining increasing numbers of drones and missiles on Ukrainian apartment blocks, shopping malls, and schools. Because NATO (which Ukraine aren’t in), or Nazis (which Ukraine isn’t ruled by), or something.

Increasing numbers of Russians are also being sent to the war, with vehicles such as this one taking them. It’s a BTR-90 armoured personnel carrier, which was actually only ever intended for use by the Russian National Guard, but with at least one captured in Ukraine, they are evidently now also on the front line.

Powered by a 510bhp turbodiesel the BTR-90 is capable of 100km/h on land, where it’s as capable off-road as a tracked vehicle, and – amazingly – 9km/h on water, as it’s also fully amphibious.

This incredible Technic recreation of the BTR-90 probably doesn’t float, but it is excellent in every other respect. A suite of Power Functions motors provide remote control eight-wheel-drive and four-wheel steering, there are opening side hatches, all-wheel suspension, and a motorised rotating gun turret.

It’s all the work of previous bloggee Samuel Nerpas who has engineered his creation superbly, and you can join the front line in the fight for whatever Putin’s trying to compensate for via the link to Flickr above.

Peak Mitsubishi

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It’s hard to believe today, but back in the 1990s Mitsubishi where one of the most advanced, dynamic and sought-after brands on the planet.

Dakar-winning 4x4s, World Rally Championship-winning sedans, and iconic street-racer favourites all came from Mitsubishi Motors, as did this – the wonderful 3000GT.

Available with a twin turbo-charged 24 valve V6, all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, and even active aerodynamics, the 3000GT was a technical tour-de-force, becoming both a mainstay of ’90s racing games as well as proving to be quicker than much more exotic and expensive rivals on real roads.

Cue this fantastic recreation of Mitsubishi’s high water mark from Mihail Rakovskiy of Flickr. Opening doors, hood and tailgate, a highly detailed engine and interior, a brick-built drivetrain, and even accurate badging all feature, and you can check out more of Mihail’s stunning replica of the Mitsubishi 3000GT at his album of the same name via the link above.

And what of Mitsubishi Motors in 2025? Well their badge is now stuck, rather unconvincingly, on a Renault compact crossover… We’ll stick to the ’90s.

Due South

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A lot of 1970s American cars are described as ‘boats’. It’s not a compliment. However Buick, in a brief moment of unusual inspiration, decided to go all-in on the boat theme with their third-generation Riviera, giving it a spectacular ‘boat-tail’ design from ’71-’73.

The result is one of the most dramatic and iconic American automotive shapes of the ’70s, which became an immediate favourite of this TLCB Writer as a child due to its recurring appearance in an excellent early-’90s TV show.

This superb homage to the third-generation Riviera comes from Jakub Marcisz, who has captured the fabulous shape brilliantly in brick. Working steering, a detailed engine and interior, plus opening doors, hood and trunk all feature, and with building instructions available you can recreate it for yourself.

There’s more to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, plus if you’re nostalgic for early-’90s crime television you can head Due South via the first link in the text above!

Insert Continuity Errors

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This splendid Speed Champions creation is a 1970s Porsche 911 Targa, and – being yellow – we can’t help but think of an iconic (if ropey) 1980s movie car chase.

Previous bloggee SFH_Bricks is its maker and you can try to outrun Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Sunbeam Alpine in your miraculously self-damaging / self-healing Porsche 911 via the link above.

Topless Swede

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If you’re here for the first time, lured by the title, expecting to see something else, sorry… but you might as well stick around to take a look at this exquisite Koenigsegg CC850 by 3D supercarBricks of Flickr!

Constructed from just under one thousand pieces, including a few custom parts (the windscreen and wheels being amongst them), 3D’s model is a near perfect replica of the real 1,200bhp Swedish hypercar, with opening front and rear clamshells, scissor doors, and inner workings as detailed as the stunning exterior.

There’s more of the build to see at 3D’s ‘Koenigsegg CC850’ album via the link above, and – if you were duped into visiting us by a misleading title – here’s what you were hoping to see…

Chinese Six

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We’re not sure why trucks with two axles at the front and one at the back are known as ‘Chinese Sixes’. Probably something to do with casual racism. We won’t delve any further then, but we will highlight this splendid example by prolific DAF-builder Arian Janssens.

A DAF FAB 2500 DHS, Arian’s beautifully detailed model captures the classic truck in its unusual ‘Chinese Six’ configuration brilliantly, and includes a folded crane behind the cab and a drawbar trailer in tow too.

Excellent presentation compliments the model’s stunning realism and there’s lots more of the build to see at Arian’s ‘DAF FAB 2500 DHS (Chinese Six)’ album. Take a closer look via the link.

Picking Cherries

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Cherry pickers seem to rarely pick actual cherries. Fixing telephone wires, street lamps, and lopping trees sure, but cherries no.

Cue Ralph Savelsberg and this excellent mini-figure scale Mercedes-Benz Unimog, complete with a rear mounted hoist able to elevate and rotate to pick the juiciest cherries. Or fix a rural community’s broadband after a storm. But whatever.

There’s more to see at Ralph’s Flickr album and you can take a look via the link above whilst this TLCB Writer heads to the fridge in search of fruit…

F1: The Movie

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Oh how we want to hate ‘F1: The Movie’. From its stupid name, to its cliched plot (old guy comes out of retirement for one last shot at glory), to the fact it is basically one giant advert for F1…

Except, it seems like it might – annoying – be rather good.

Currently with an 83% Rotten Tomatoes score, ‘F1: The Movie’ used real cars (modified F2 machines) and real tracks to create a film that takes the audience as close to being in the car as possible, even if the main protagonist being sixty years old is pushing the believability to breaking point.

Cue this fantastic recreation of the fictional team at the heart of the story, ‘APX GP’, as created beautifully in brick form by NV Carmocs of Flickr. A stunning livery perfectly captures the ‘real’ car, and you can head to the cinema, um… race track via the link above, where nearly a dozen images are available to view. Even if you’re sixty.

The Great Exhibition

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Held in an enormous temporary structure in London’s Hyde Park, the ‘Great Exhibition ‘ of 1851 was a triumphal showcase of the British Empire. Sponsored by the world’s first soft drinks company, featuring the world’s first public flushing toilets (which cost a penny to use, hence the phrase ‘spend a penny’), and with the world’s largest diamond at its centre, the equivalent of one in three of Britain’s entire population visited the exhibition during its five-month run.

Exhibits ranged from art, jewellery, and ornaments from across the Empire, to the world’s first fax machine, the world’s first voting machine, prototype Colt revolvers, and a weather forecasting machine powered by leeches. Because 1851.

Cue this astonishing creation by bartsbrickworks of Flickr, who has reimagined the Great Exhibition (and the remarkable Crystal Palace that housed it) in a LEGO Adventurers / steampunkish universe. There might not be leeches, but a steampunk submarine, space rocket, and time machine are amongst the varied exhibits on display to an enthralled crowd of mini-figures, with much of the model motorised to bring the contraptions to life.

There’s so much more of this incredible build to see at Bart’s ‘The Crystal Palace’ album, and you can purchase your ticket to an amazing exhibition of wonder and whimsy via the link above.

Saturn Streamliner

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This has the ring of genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail to it. Gettit? Because of the ri… OK, we’ve done better. Just be thankful we didn’t lead with a ‘Your Mom’ joke*. Anyway this marvellous contraption is a ‘Saturn Streamliner’, a suspended railway passenger train operating from an alternate timeline. Flickr’s Nannan Zhang owns the mind behind it and you can buy your ticket at the link above.

*The Saturn Streamliner is able to service an entire city. Just like your Mom. / The Saturn Streamliner has gone through more rings than your Mom has. / Large, heavy, but a quality ride… etc.