It’s a hot rod sort of day here at The Lego Car Blog. The day’s second hot rod comes from previous bloggee ianying616, and whilst it may look like it’s based more upon a tractor than a vintage car, the result is rather cool. There’s a load more images to see at ianying’s photostream – click the link above to take a look.
The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia may have just been a Beetle in a pretty dress, but what a dress! Penned by Italian design-house Ghia the car debuted in 1953 before going into production with German coach builders Karmann in ’55. A twenty year manufacturing run produced almost half-a-million Karmann Ghias, plus a few ultra-rare (and ultra-expensive) Type 34s.
Sadly only Volkswagen seemed to profit from such success, as whist the Karmann Ghia was replaced by the very different – but equally iconic – Scirocco in 1974, Karmann filed for bankruptcy in 2009 whilst Ghia were purchased by Ford and ended up no more than a trim grade on Fiestas and Mondeos.
We’ll remember their glory days, thanks to this brilliant 1960s Volkswagen Karmann Ghia from previous bloggee Henrik Jensen. With working steering, a fully detailed interior and engine, and wonderfully accurate bodywork, Henrik’s model is a fitting tribute to one of the world’s most beautiful cars. We think it’d make a rather lovely official set too, seeing as LEGO have already produced the Volkswagen Beetle and Camper as part of their Creator line-up.
There’s lots more to see of Henrik’s gorgeous Karmann Ghia at both Flickr and MOCpages – click on the links to see the full build details and all of the images.
The Lamborghini Diablo. The last mad Lambo before the Volkswagen Group acquired the brand and started building cars that, you know, actually worked. The Diablo wasn’t a particularly good car, but it will probably always be remembered as one of brand’s greats.
Launched in 1990 the Diablo (so called everywhere bar Mexico, where they took exception to the name) was powered by Lamborghini’s existing 5.7 litre 48 valve V12 engine which produced a little under 500bhp, making the Diablo the first Lamborghini to crack 200mph.
Over the Diablo’s eleven year production run numerous special editions, updates and drive-train options were released, before the car was finally replaced by the Audi-engineered Murcielago in 2001 – a much better car, but sadly a lot less mad too.
Today we’re remembering the last ‘proper’ (by which we man ‘not actually that good’) Lamborghini thanks to Daniel H, who has recreated the Diablo rather wonderfully in Model Team form. Opening doors, hood and engine cover all feature, and the underside and engine are each as well detailed as the bodywork and interior.
There’s lots more to see of Daniel’s Diablo at both MOCpages and Flickr, where you can also find a link to the creation on the LEGO Ideas platform. Take a look via the links above.
This utterly wonderful vehicle is a 1940s Mack LMSW 6×4 wrecker, as used by both civilian towing companies and the British and Canadian military during the Second World War. The LMSW was powered by a 10-litre 6-cylinder petrol engine driving the two rear axles, with a Garwood single and later double crane (as shown here) mounted above them, each of which was capable of lifting 8 tons. The fiendishly complicated-looking booms and stabilisers are actually very simple, using steel wires to winch into position without the need for hydraulics and other complications.
This stunning Model Team creation comes from Flickr’s Dirk Klijn and he’s recreated the classic Mack absolutely beautifully. Underneath the unbelievably realistic and superbly detailed exterior is a fully remote controlled drive train, with a combination of XL and Servo motors plus a third-party SBrick bluetooth controller allowing the model to be driven via the SBrick app on a mobile phone.
Dirk’s model is one of the finest Lego trucks you’ll find anywhere and there’s more to see of his Mack LMSW on Flickr. Head over to the Mack’s Flickr album via the link in the text above for all of the superb images.
This brilliant classic DAF 2800 complete with a pair of Henrix-liveried tanker trailers was discovered on Flickr today. It comes from DAF-building extraordinaire Arian Janssens who has appeared here numerous times with his fantastic Model Team DAF trucks. Arian’s latest adds another to his extensive back-catalogue and it also gives us an excuse to post two of the finest musical references we’ll ever get to include here at TLCB (this and this). Check them out via the links and you can see more of the DAF 2800 Henrix on Flickr by clicking here.
It’s tough being a TLCB Elf at times. After being squashed on several occasions by colleagues’ remote control finds one of the Elves finally got itself an RC model to exact some revenge and then found it was too slow to do any squashing at all. Worse still, its targets jumped in the back for a free ride.
Fortunately this amazing Caterpillar 797F mining truck (one of the largest in the world in fact) by Sheo features more than just remotely controlled drive and steering. All-wheel suspension and folding ladders are present too, but they’re of no use to a vengeful Elf.
What was useful was the enormous fully mechanised dumping bucket, operable remotely via twin linear actuators. This meant the inventive Elf could drive its free-riding colleagues out into the snow that’s currently surrounding TLCB Towers and tip them neatly into a snow drift. Revenge exacted.
We now have one very happy Elf, and several very cold ones. No matter, there’s more to see of Sheo’s excellent Caterpillar 797F on Flickr and at the Eurobricks forum, which includes a video demonstrating the model’s features. Click the links to take a dump.
Volkswagen’s T1 camper gets all the glory. Bought by surfer types, middle-class hippies who don’t understand irony, and people who would like others to think that they’re a surfer or middle-class hippy, the VW camper has become one of world’s most popular cult vehicles.
However it was the working varieties of the Volkswagen Transporter that allowed the camper to exist at all. Utility versions such as microbuses, panel vans, and this T1 crew cab made up of the bulk of production, and are now enjoying something of a resurgence in popularity thanks to the iconic camper which they spawned. Strange how things go in circles huh?
This lovely Volkswagen Transporter crew cab comes from serial bloggee Senator Chinchilla, and there’s no surfboard or fake-rust patina in sight! Everything opens and there’s more to see at the Senator’s photostream – click here to take a look.
*Today’s title song, selected because the band has Crew in the title. Sort of.
Dennis Glaasker (aka BricksonWheels) is a firm favourite here at The Lego Car Blog with his beautifully detailed Model Team trucks. This is his latest, an awesome Scania 142 in PWT Thermo livery.
Built to partner a previous PWT Thermo truck featured here last year, Dennis’ Scania 142 is constructed from over 4,300 bricks and includes Power Functions drive and steering, SBrick bluetooth control, and an in-built RC battery pack.
It’s a top quality build and you can see more at Dennis’ photostream via the link above, plus you can read our interview with the builder to discover how he creates models such as this one by visiting TLCB’s Master MOCers series by clicking here.
This is the ‘SL20 Streamliner’, and it’s gloriously, utterly, mad. Built from deep within the mind of Vince_Toulouse it contains some the very finest art deco styling details that we’ve ever seen. And some Duplo wheels. One of the proper Lego blogs claims it looks like a Batmobile, but that’s clearly nonsense, as the Streamliner is absolutely a cross between the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’s ‘Nautilus’ and, er… Peter Griffin’s Penis Car. Yup, we know our design icons. No matter, there’s more to see of this retro manhood-enlarging brilliance at Vince’s photostream – click the link above to make the trip.
This is a fully operable, fully remote controlled replica of Grove GMK 6400 mobile crane, and it is spectacular. Built by ShineYu aka Yu Kee Liu it’s one of the largest, most detailed, and most authentically recreated vehicles that we have ever seen.
Other than the 82mm tyres and some very neat decals, ShineYu’s Grove GMK is built entirely from our favourite Danish plastic, which makes it all the more impressive that it can drive (with multiple driven and steered axles) and that the GMK 6400’s truly enormous three-stage rotating boom is fully operable, powered by LEGO’s own Power Functions components.
ShineYu has published an extensive gallery of images detailing his remote controlled Grove GMK 6400 to both Flickr and the Eurobricks forum, where you can see that incredible boom in its raised position. They’re the only links to a giant erection on the whole of the internet that are safe to click! Take a look and be amazed.
*Today’s title-related link, extolling the greatness of the letter ‘G’. You don’t get that at The Brothers Brick…
The 2018 Formula 1 season is nearly upon us. Grid girls are out, halo driver protection is in, and the sport continues its slide into boring, safe, mediocrity. We’re going to take a trip back to more exciting times then, when cars were powered by a variety of fire-spitting engines, the main sponsors were tobacco companies, and girls were allowed to look pretty.
This is a Ferrari 640 Formula 1 car from 1989, and it was rubbish. Driven by Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger, there wasn’t a single race in the 1989 championship where both cars finished. The culprit was Formula 1’s first semi-automatic electrically-controlled gearbox which broke with clockwork regularity. Who’d have thought Italian electronics would be unreliable?
When the gearbox electronics weren’t on strike though, the V12-powered 640 was incredibly fast. Of the thirty-two race starts in 1989 the Ferrari 640 finished just ten, but all of those were on the podium, including three race wins.
By the end of the season the 640’s troublesome semi-automatic gearbox had been largely sorted, but it was too late for Mansell and Berger who finished just 4th and a lowly 7th respectively, thanks to frequent retirements. However a new line had been drawn. The following year the more reliable Ferrari 641 took six race wins and finished second in the Constructor’s Championship, and by the mid-90s semi-automatic gearboxes had become the norm in Formula 1.
This wonderful Model Team recreation of the fast but fragile Ferrari 640 comes from Formula 1-building legend Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC who has appeared here numerous times with his stunning racing replicas. His incredible 640 features beautifully replicated bodywork, including period decals, plus working steering, suspension, and V12 engine. There’s a whole lot more to see at Luca’s Ferrari 640 album on Flickr, plus you can read our interview with the builder as part of the Master MOCers series by clicking here.
It’s Valentines Day here at The Lego Car Blog, and what better way to celebrate it than with a post about an epic dumping! This TLCB writer is totally fine about it though, and he’s not even thinking about you Laura.
Anyway, this is a Bucyrus RH400 mining shovel, one of the largest mining excavators in the world, and it’s capable of dumping 45m³ of rock, up to 75 tons, in a single bucket.
Built by previous bloggee Sheo this 1:48 Model Team recreation of the Bucyrus RH400 is an near perfect miniaturisation of the 900 ton excavator, right down to the way it operates.
LEGO’s Power Functions motors drive everything including the two-stage boom and tipping bucket, the tracked propulsion, superstructure rotation, folding service ladder, rotating cooling fans, and a gearbox to switch between these remotely operated functions.
There’s a whole lot more to see of Sheo’s Bucyrus excavator at Eurobricks and Flickr – click the links and join this writer in completely forgetting about Laura.
This beautiful machine is a 1957 Hartford Debonair coupe, powered by a small block V8 and built to rival cars such as the Buick LaSabre.
Except that the Hartford Debonair doesn’t (and never did) exist, being a figment purely of Senator Chinchilla‘s imagination. But what an imagination! It sure beats yet another 270mph V-a-million-engined monstrosity that much of the online Lego community churns out with tiresome regularity.
There’s much more to see of Senator Chinchilla’s gorgeous creation at his photostream. Click the link above to take a look, and if you’re thinking of concocting a car, this is the way to do it!
This might be the most Italian thing we’ve ever seen. This beautiful scene complete with two of Italy’s most iconic vehicles, the Vespa scooter and the Fiat 500, comes from the very Italian-sounding Gabriele Zannotti and the, er… Greek-sounding Zeto Vince. Whatever, this could only be more Italian with the addition of a pretty girl, and there’s more to see of this excellent collaboration at Gabriele Zannotti’s photostream – click here to take a look.
’80s cars are funny things. Worthless since about 1995, and without either the classic looks found before the ’70s or the rust-proofing of modern cars, they occupy of sort of automotive no-mans-land. This means that of probably any era of motoring, ’80s cars are the most endangered. If you think a McLaren F1 is rare try finding a Talbot Tagora. In our home nation there is just one example of his humble saloon left taxed on the roads. One.
Thankfully there are a few more Mark 1 Golf GTIs left, but even these went through a near extinction phase. Fortunately Volkswagen’s original hot hatch is now rather sought-after and with so many scrapped in the 1990s and 2000s the surviving examples are rocketing in value, safeguarding the model’s existence. This lovely Model Team example of the an early ’80s Mark 1 GTI comes from Joe Perez (previously Mortal Swordsman) of Flickr, and it reminds us of why the original is such a well-regarded car.
Beautifully clean lines (penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro), lightweight, and with just enough power to have fun, the original Golf GTI is the perfect antidote to today’s heavy, over-styled and ludicrously powerful yet un-involving hot hatches. Joe’s Model Team replica of the definitive ’80s hot hatch captures the iconic look brilliantly and we think it would make a rather good official set (LEGO have a license agreement with Volkswagen after all). There’s more to see of Joe’s 1980s Volkswagen Golf GTI at his photostream – click the link above and badger him to put it on LEGO Ideas.