It’s a trucky sort of day here at The Lego Car Blog. Today’s second classic lorry comes from previous bloggee Martin Nespor, who has elected not to tell us what it is. No matter, because it’s still a lovely build, with a removable cab and ‘wooden’ load bed, a beautifully detailed chassis and engine, and there’s a matching drawbar trailer too. There’s more to see at Martin’s photostream, and you can check out all of the top-quality images via the link above.
This TLCB Writer thinks it must be hard being a golfist.
Walking around a boring field with terminally uninteresting people, the requirement to wear stupid trousers at all times, pretending to be a company director, the extortionate price of golf bats, permanently chasing an unreachable handicap…
Nope, this writer prefers the wheeled version of the word, particularly in subtly-modified Mark 1 form, as we have here courtesy of ZetoVince of Flickr.
Cunningly constructed to recreate the angular ’70s Giugiaro styling, Zeto’s Golf is a fantastic homage to the definitive European hatchback, and there’s more to see of his superbly-presented model on Flickr. Click the link above to go golfing, without having to talk to a ‘director of sales’ or wear stupid trousers at all.
Modifications are an integral part of the automotive scene. Mostly for the worse of course, as Brad in his garage is not going to better the five years and $billions in development completed by the world’s best engineers before each model to hits the market*.
Sometimes though, modifications do work – particularly when the aforementioned engineers embrace this likelihood – and no-one does that better than Japan.
Cue the wild Mazda RX-7 we have here today, which is not only depicting modifications to the real car, it’s also a model modifying another… well, model.
Constructed by builtbydave_, this ‘TCP Magic’ RX-7 is loosely based on a design by fellow bloggee 3D supercarBricks, and features significant aero enhancements, opening doors, and a beautifully detailed 20B 3-rotor engine underneath the raising hood.
There are more superb images of builtbydave_’s modified Mazda to see at his ‘TCP Magic Rx7’ album on Flickr, and you can magic your way there via the link above.
*Not including anything American from the 1990s of course. Or Fiat.
Volvo’s newly announced FH Aero truck has got this TLCB Writer thinking about bubbly chocolate. Because he’s very distractible. And he likes Aeros. But do the bubbles mean there’s less actual chocolate?
Whatever, back on task, this splendid brick-built replica of the new Volvo FH Aero 62 comes from Stefan Eeckman, who had some insider knowledge in order to create his model so swiftly after the actual truck’s reveal.
A tilting cab, Powered-Up remote control drive and steering, and some really very tricksy building techniques are available to view on both Flickr and Eurobricks, and you can take a look via the links above whilst this Writer hunts down some bubbly chocolate.
This is a Dressta 530R Extra wheel loader, and seeing as we know less about wheel loaders than The Brothers Brick do about talking to girls, we have absolutely no idea what the ‘Extra’ bit means. Or the ‘530R’ bit…
Anyway, our incompetence aside, the model is rather good, coming from Bricksley of Flickr, featuring pendular suspension, a posable arm and bucket, and an articulated frame. There’s more to see at Bricksley’s ‘Dressta 530R Extra’ album and you can head there via the link above if you’re wheelie diggin’ it*.
*No we don’t know how to talk to girls either.
Breaking Bad, aka The Best Thing That’s Ever Been On Television, nailed its car choices. Walter White’s Aztek, the Fleetwood RV meth lab, Mike Ehrmantraut’s old sedans, Gus Fring’s understated Volvo… each was perfectly cast.
The final vehicle in the series was this, a 1981 Chevrolet El Camino, its owner recently deceased, used in Jesse Pinkman’s escape and subsequent movie of the same name.
Constructed by previous bloggee Jakub Marcisz, this Model Team recreation of Breaking Bad’s last car includes opening doors and hood, working steering, a detailed interior, and a realistic engine, with lots more to see on Flickr.
Building instructions are available, you can click the link above to take a look, and here to see that final scene.
Whilst the Trans-Am is driven by shady gamblers, the Mustang by jocks who crash almost immediately, and the Challenger by morons, the Corvette has a rather different consumer base.
Despite on the face of it being a rather similar vehicle to the aforementioned threats to public safety, the Chevrolet Corvette is owned exclusively by balding recently-divorced golf enthusiasts, who spend more time polishing them than they do behind the wheel.
Which perhaps makes the Corvette, along with the Lexus ES, the safest car in America.
This splendid example is a 1970s ‘C3’ generation, as constructed beautifully by previous bloggee Szunyogh Balázs. There’s an opening hood, opening doors, and a detailed drivetrain, with much more to see on Flickr. Click here to get polishing before you head to the golf club.
Endurance racing is about to get properly exciting. After years of single team dominance due to limited competition, this year nineteen entrants across nine manufacturers will compete for the outright win.
One of several new or returning manufacturers, BMW will rejoin the top tier of endurance racing nearly a quarter of a century since they competed with this, the wild V12 LMR.
Using the same the engine as the Le Mans winning McLaren F1 GTR, the BMW V12 LM was developed with then-Formula 1 World Champions Williams, and deployed the new open-cockpit prototype rules against the old-school sports car designs in use by other teams. And it was… rubbish.
Slow, unreliable, and retiring after just a few dozen laps, the 1998 car was a disaster. So BMW and Williams started again, and returned in 1999 with this, the radically re-designed V12 LMR.
The all-new bodywork transformed the car, with it qualifying on pole and winning the first race it entered, at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
The big prize however was Le Mans, and despite fierce competition from Audi, Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and others, it was a BMW V12 LMR that took (perhaps thanks to a little bit of luck) the overall win. Quite a turnaround from the embarrassment of the year before.
The team entered again in 2000, but a decade-long period of total Audi dominance had begun, and thus BMW withdrew the V12 LMR before the season was up.
BMW turned their attention instead to Formula 1, where the team continued their successful partnership with Williams. Thus without the V12 LMR, a BMW engine may never again have powered a race-winning Formula 1 car.
Suggested to us by a reader, PROTOTYP. of Flickr remembers BMW’s Le Mans glory with his fantastic V12 LMR model, riding atop 3D-printed replica wheels and with stunning period-correct vinyl decals.
Superbly presented, there’s more of the model to see at PROTOTYP.’s ‘BMW LMR LMP Le Mans 1999’ album, and you can click the link above to jump back to Le Mans 1999. BMW will sure be remembering it too, as they return to Le Mans later this year, some 25 years on…
Whilst we are predominantly a Car Blog, we do like a Big Red Tractor. Because we’re children. And this one is excellent.
Constructed by newcomer Jacob Sitzberger it’s a Case IH 395, the smallest of Case’s 1990s 95-series tractors.
No only is Jacob’s model beautifully detailed, it also includes a working three-cylinder engine, a steered front axle with pendulum suspension, a rear power-take-off and three-point-hitch, and it comes with a variety of attachments.
An extensive gallery of images is available to view at Jacob’s ‘Case IH 395’ album on Flickr, where a link to its LEGO Ideas page can also be found. Click the link above to make the jump if you like Big Red Tractors as much as we do.
American muscle cars are taking the Thundercougarfalconbird approach to their increasingly stupid names, power outputs, and permi-vaping, street take-overing, douchebag target market.
This is one such car, the ‘Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat’, and if that isn’t risible enough, you can optionally add ‘Redeye’ onto the end too, AKA ‘Desperate to Prove Masculinity’.
This one – soon to be found doing poorly executed donuts across an intersection at the hands of a permi-vaping douchebag – is the work of the very talented Mihail Rakovskiy, who has appeared here several times with his superb Model Team modern muscle cars.
Opening doors, hood and trunk, plus a detailed engine, interior, and chassis all feature, and you can stand in a circle at a crossroads shouting “Oooh shiiiit!!” via Mihail’s ‘Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat’ album via the link above.
Russian exports have taken a bit of a hit since the country decided to invade its neighbour. However Russian products used to be exported to rather more countries than you might expect, including TLCB’s home nation. This was one such item, the Fiat-derived Lada Riva.
Launched in the UK in 1983, up to 30,000 Rivas were sold annually by the late ’80s, to customers looking for the cheapest new car available, and of whom 80%’s favourite colour seemed to be beige.
The Riva continued in the UK virtually unchanged for over a decade, before Lada finally withdrew from the market in 1997 as newer Hyundai, Kia, and Proton products outcompeted the Niva at the cheapest end of the new car market.
Today there are very few Nivas left on our roads, but not because they’re unreliable. Rather, the UK’s high maintenance standards and low used car prices meant thousands were re-exported back to Russia, where they were seen as better examples than domestic units.
This one, in the pre-requisite beige, is the work of previous bloggee Legostalgie, who has captured the soviet three-box sedan brilliantly in brick form. There are four opening doors, a detailed interior, a life-like engine under the opening hood, plus an opening trunk, and you can build one for yourself too as instructions are available.
There’s more to see at Legostalgie’s ‘Lada Riva / VAZ-2107’ album on Flickr, and you can jump to Britain in 1988, or Russia anytime since then, via the text above.
Large, eye-catching, but somewhat impractical when riding, big bags definitely forfeit a degree of agility for look-at-me attention. Cue Dennis Glaasker (aka BricksonWheels) and this visual feast of a Harley Davidson ‘bagger’ motorcycle.
(Very) loosely based on the official LEGO 10269 Creator Expert Harley Davidson Fat-Boy set, Dennis’ bagger looks frankly impossible to ride, but with a fully chromed engine, LED lighting, spectacular presentation, and – of course – two enormous curvy bags, we can ignore the practicalities for a bit and just enjoy looking.
Grab a handful at Dennis’ ‘Harley Davidson Layframe Bagger’ album, plus you can read his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB by clicking this bonus link.
LEGO’s 10290 Creator Expert Pickup Truck set has spawned several excellent alternates thus far, and today we have another.
Built by FanisLego, 825 of the original set’s 1,677 pieces have been repurposed to create this lovely early Ford Bronco, complete with steering (ish), opening hood, doors and tailgate, a detailed engine, and superbly accessible interior.
Building instructions are available and you can convert your own 10290 Pickup set into the first iteration of Ford’s recently re-born icon at Bricksafe via the link above.
The creations we publicise here at The Lego Car Blog are the most current, freshest, and up-to-the-minute available. And sometimes they’re even newer than that. Mostly because we want to show you the latest builds from around the world, and partly because we like beating The Brothers Brick.
Except all the above is technically, um… not true. Apart from the beating The Brothers Brick bit of course. That’s because it’s usually but not necessarily the creation that is new, rather the imagery, and today we have possibly the best example of this; Dennis Bosman’s incredible Scania LS111 truck, Nooteboom low loader trailer, and Menck M154 crawler crane, each of which was built twenty years ago.
Utilising LEGO’s old 9V motor system (pre-Power Functions or Controlled-Up), classic System and Technic pieces, and – at the time – photographed outside, Dennis’ astonishing three-in-one creation set the benchmark for large scale Lego modelling.
An inspiration for countless Lego creators today, Dennis’ early work still represents astonishing brick-built realism, and he has recently re-photographed the Scania, Nooteboom and Menck in-studio two decades after they were first constructed.
Wearing their original decals, and with faded parts swapped for fresher replacements, Dennis’ models remain spectacular, and there are more newly-released images to see, alongside those taken twenty years ago, at his ‘Scania LS111’ album on Flickr.
Click the link above to take a closer look, and you can see more of Dennis’ amazing works via his Master MOcers interview page here at The Lego Car Blog, itself now ten years old.
Flickr’s Nathan Hake decided to get himself some of LEGO’s wonderfully posable vintage Technic figures. With flexibility comparable to a human (or more so if the human is chubby), they’re a rather under-utilised component of LEGO’s back-catalogue.
Fortunately Nathan is rectifying this by building vehicles for his newly-acquired figures, with this superbly-proportioned motorcycle able to be ridden by the aforementioned plastic humanoid.
And, being a motorcycle, Nathan will inevitably be able to take advantage of the other key feature of LEGO’s Technic figures; their body parts can be separated to be swapped or donated to another figure. Expect to see those black arms and blue legs appearing on another Technic figure or two in Nathan’s collection sometime in the future, probably after it rains and a truck drops some diesel on a blind bend.
Get on the transplant list at Nathan’s photostream via the link above, and perhaps consider registering as a donor yourself if you’re yet to think about it. We can be dismantled just like LEGO’s Technic figures, and with 100,000 people on the waiting list for a transplant in America alone, there simply aren’t enough bikers.
