The roads around TLCB Towers are surrounded by Range Rovers. Back-on-black with extra black and personalised number plates, the dirtiest they get is their owners’ fake tan rubbing off on the seat bolsters. Cue Nuno Taborda‘s antidote to the modern Ranger Rover, this splendid classic Range Rover monster truck, which is simultaneously both absurd and also instantly recognisable. And we love it. Take a look on Flickr via the link above, or click here for (maybe) the real vehicle that inspired it.
The war in Ukraine continues to drag on, with Russia now targeting Ukraine’s bridges (a war crime, as these are civilian infrastructure). Of course militaries have been able to create their own bridges for centuries, and this is one of the vehicles deployed to quickly create a bridge in the modern era, the remarkable Tatra 813 AM-50 bridge layer.
Based on Tatra’s 813 Kolos 8×8 off-road truck, the AM-50 can span a gap of over 12 meters (40ft) and carry loads of 50 tons, with this amazing Technic version by Samuel Nerpas (aka Tatrovak) able to replicate the real truck courtesy of a suite of Power Functions, CaDa, and BuWizz electronic components.
A plethora of motors power the eight-wheel-drive, steering, and bulldozer blade, plus the bridge cradle, winch, unfolding, and side extensions, with the deployed bridge then strong enough to support the truck as it drives over it.
It’s an incredible feat of Technic engineering and you can see more – and watch the model in action – at both Flickr, Eurobricks, and via the video below.
YouTube Video
Jeep, that most recognisable of American brands, has been passed around like a bottle of Jack at an underage beach party. From their creators Willys-Overland, the company has passed through five pair of hands before landing with current owners Stellantis, with each taking a swig on the way leaving ever less for the next person. Plus a bit of spit.
Which means we want something from Jeep’s current line-up like we want a venereal disease, but at a push we would take something from fifty years ago, like this marvellous Jeep CJ5.
It comes from Flickr’s Rick Brick making his TLCB Debut, there’s working steering and suspension, and much more to see of this superbly smooth Model Team Jeep CJ at his photostream. Click the link above to take a drink from the bottle whilst there’s still something good in it.
The LEGO Technic 42157 John Deere 948L-II Skidder is one of the more unusual sets of recent times. Which means it can make an unusual B-Model too. Cue this delightfully odd ‘Forestry X-treme Off-Roader’ by Flickr’s Tung Pham, which redeploys the pieces from 42157 to create a unique log-pushing machine.
With a raising and slewing bulldozer, articulated steering, oscillating suspension, and a rotating pneumatically unfurling crane, Tung’s alternate is packed with technical functionality, and there are more brilliant images to see – plus a link to building instructions – at his ‘42157 – Forestry X-treme Off-Roader’ album. Click the link to push some logs.
TLCB Elves and cats do not get on well. The results of cat/elf fights are usually 50/50, but whoever comes out on top TLCB Staff are definitely losers, what with the tidying up and occasional requirement to dig a hole in the yard…
Today though we have a grey moggy that is welcome in TLCB Towers, being this rather neat Speed Champions-scale Mercedes-Benz Unimog by Flickr’s Fukku Guen. Excellent detailing abounds throughout the build and you can take a closer look at Fukku’s ‘mog via the link above.
What’s small, green, and incredibly deadly? Yes, it’s the quad bike (or ATV to some), a vehicle that despite having twice the number of wheels as a motorbike is even more likely to fall over.
This one comes from TLCB Master MOCer TLCB Master MOCer Kyle Wigboldy (aka thirdwigg), features working steering and suspension, and it’s just waiting to strike.
There’s more of model to see – including a link to instructions – at Kyle’s Flickr album, and you can power around a field until the quad inevitably flips over on top of you via the link above.
We’re alternately off-roading at TLCB today, thanks to Master MOCer Thirdwigg and this neat Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer, an immensely capable military truck named after an Austrian cattle breed and built until the mid-‘00s.
Constructed from 755 parts of LEGO’s 42213 Technic Ford Bronco set, Thirdwigg’s recreation of the unusual Austrian off-road truck includes working suspension, steering, a mid-mounted piston engine, an opening hood, and – most importantly – a lunchbox.
Building instructions are available and you can click here to swap your American horse for an Austrian cow.
It’s been some time since one of our Elves ran over its colleagues with a remote control creation. And that doesn’t change today, as despite being epically remote controlled, this magnificent Tatra trial truck is too slow to run down any Elves at all. Which enraged the Elf that found it. Still, a Red Smartie will perk it up, and we can take a look at this astonishing creation without having to clean the floors first.
It comes from TLCB Master MOCer Sariel, and it’s a Tatra 813 8×8 designed specifically for going very slowly over almost anything.
Eight-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steering, high/low gearbox, incredible suspension, and a working piston engine all feature, and you can see more of this mighty machine on Flickr and via the video below, where Sariel pulls some very heavy things (very slowly) across his floor.
YouTube Video
As the world’s best selling car, the Toyota Corolla has been many things, but not often a 4×4 desert racer. Cue Randy Wilmenta, who has built his 1989 Corolla GT-S into an awesome all-wheel-drive off-roader, which Eurobricks’ 2GodBDGlory has faithfully recreated in Technic form.
With working all-wheel drive courtesy of two Power Functions L Motors (hooked up to both a transverse inline-4 piston engine and a remotely-operable 6+R gearbox), remote control steering, an electronic hand-brake, motorised clutch, pop-up headlights and differential lock, plus suspension, and opening doors, hood and trunk, 2God’s recreation of the unique Toyota packs in as much as its real-world counterpart.
3D-printed wheels and an excellent classic Toyota livery complete a superb build, and you can find out more about the model and the real off-road Corolla it replicates via the Eurobricks forum. Take a look via the link, where you can also watch a video of 2God’s brilliant build in action.
It’s been so long since a group of our Elves were dispatched to The LEGO Company’s HQ to find the H2 2026 Technic sets we assumed any that hadn’t returned had been eaten by the guard dogs. But no! We have one more survivor, who arrived at TLCB Towers last night with this; the brand new LEGO Technic 42238 Ducati Desmo450 MX Factory!
A return to off-road motorcycles, 42238 brings Ducati’s first ever motocross bike to the 2026 Technic line-up, with 457 pieces, working steering, suspension, and a single-cylinder engine.
It looks great too, neatly replicating the Ducati’s red-and-gold colour scheme and including some good-looking be-stickered fairings.
Aimed at ages 10+, 42238 will be on sale from August for an expected $50 / £45 / €50 and looks to be a decent addition to LEGO’s officially-licensed bike catalogue.
With over four-thousand pieces, the LEGO Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane is one of the largest sets ever released. Which means there are plenty of parts with which to create something new. Cue TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, who has constructed a number of alternates from the vast set, with his latest being this; a fantastic Mercedes-Benz Unimog tow-truck.
Utilising around 3,500 of 42082’s pieces, Nico’s phenomenal B-Model features no less than five motorised functions, plus four-wheel-drive, an inline-6 piston engine under a tilting cab, working steering and suspension, and opening doors, toolboxes and compartments.
Like the donor set, a single motor provides motion to a huge array of functions via a sophisticated gearbox, with Nico’s B-Model cleverly including reverse switches so the battery box can be switched on and left.
Working stabiliser legs, an articulated towing-platform, an elevating and extending crane boom, and a winch (which is ingenuously synchronised with the boom to maintain its hook level) are all operable through a series of levers, allowing Nico’s Unimog to function exactly like the real thing.
It’s an astonishing alternate and perhaps the very best B-Model build that this site has ever published, with full details, engineering diagrams, and a link to building instructions available at the Eurobricks forum. Find all of the above and convert your own 42082 Rough Terrain Crane set into this amazing alternate via the link, plus you can watch the model in action via the video below.
YouTube Video
It’s been a while since we had a trial truck here at TLCB Towers, but we’re making up for it today. This is Madoca 1977’s Tatra T813 8×8 Kolos, and it’s one of the most capable we’ve seen yet.
Controlled via a Smart Hub, two L Motors drive all eight fully-suspended wheels via planetary reduction, a M Motor drives the steering, whilst another M Motor operates the high/low gearbox.
Madoca’s model also includes a V12 engine, a removable cab, plus opening doors and hatches, with lots more to see at the Eurobricks forum. Click the link above for a closer look.
TLCB Elves are running for their lives today, because this tremendous Technic remote control Group B rally car is roaring up and down the office corridor. TLCB staff may or may not be at the controls…
Constructed by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, entered into last year’s BuWizz Gathering, and inspired by a number of ‘80s rally machines, it shows the best of what can be achieved with LEGO Technic and compatible third-party electronics.
Twin LEGO Buggy Motors, Servo steering, all-wheel double-wishbone suspension, a mid-mounted V6 engine, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and BuWizz 2.0 Bluetooth control all feature, as do building instructions so you can create Nico’s model for yourself to terrorise the animals in your own house.
There’s loads more to see at the Eurobricks forum and you can make a beeline there via the link above, plus you can watch Nico’s creation in action via the video below.
YouTube Video
An adventure 2,000 bricks in the making… this is the brand new LEGO 77984 Jurassic Park Jeep Wrangler!
Crashing through cinema screens back in 1993, the square-headlamped Jeep Wrangler instantly became an icon of film, despite being quite literally in the shadow of pursuing dinosaurs.
Part of an expansive new LEGO ‘Jurassic World’ line-up that includes dinosaur skeletons, Duplo, and mini-figure scale sets, 77984 brings one of the most recognisable movie cars of all time to the 18+ Icons range.
Constructed from 1,924 pieces, including a trick new canvas roof, 77984 allows for any one of four different variants of the Jurassic Park Jeep to be created. All feature working steering via the spare wheel, a lovely engine under an opening hood, opening doors, a variety of accessories from the movie, plus an info plaque and a Dennis Nedry mini-figure ready to meet a gruesome end.
Expected to cost £179.99 / $199.99 / €199.99, you’ll be able to get your claws on the LEGO 77984 Jurassic Park Jeep Wrangler set from May 2026.
This bizarre machine is a 1984 DAF ‘Double-Head’, built to compete in the Paris-Dakar rally by Dutch driver Jan de Rooy, who wanted more power than one DAF truck could provide. So he used two.
Joining two 11.6 litre DAF 3300s back-to-back behind the cabs, Jan created a twin-engined all-wheel-drive 13-ton behemoth, and one of the strangest Dakar competitors to ever enter.
Sadly the DAF ‘Double-Head’ failed to finish, but it set the template for Jan de Rooy to refine the idea and return with a vehicle that would go on to become a Dakar legend…
But we’ll stay in 1984 for now, courtesy of this spectacular recreation of the DAF ‘Double-Head’ by Flickr’s p.vanderloo, who has replicated not just the truck’s mad exterior but its drivetrain too.
A beautifully replicated livery and full LED lights complete the build, and you can head to the desert in 1984 – twice – via the link above.
