Tag Archives: Off-Road

LEGO Technic H1 2024 | Set Previews

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It’s time! After a period lost in space, and with the Elves that managed not to become German-Shepherd-snacks safely back at TLCB Towers, we can reveal the brand new for 2024 LEGO Technic line-up. And it’s such a good one…

42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer

LEGO have released several Technic bulldozers over the years, with recent incarnations being large enough to actually bulldoze. However we kick-off the 2024 Technic range with one that marks its entry point, the lovely 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer.

Aimed at ages 7+ and with under 200 pieces, 42163 is the best starter set we’ve had in a long time, and includes rotating tracks plus a neat worm-gear driven blade elevation mechanism, controlled via a cog on the roof. A few System parts add realism and – joy – it needs no stickers whatsoever. Top work LEGO.

42164 Off-Road Race Buggy

The excellentness continues with the second new Technic set for 2024, the 42164 Off-Road Race Buggy. Aimed at ages 8+, the 219-piece ORRB looks a bit like ‘RC’ from ‘Toy Story’, and it seems LEGO have remembered more than just that computer-animated movie from 1995, having equipped 42164 with proper mechanical functionality that we thought they’d all but forgotten in recent starter sets.

Harking back to those mid-’90s Technic sets, 42164 includes working rear suspension via a single-shock, a miniature V4 piston engine turned by the rear wheels, opening doors, and – more unusually – tilt steering (like a skateboard).

The set also features good visual details, some almost comically generic stickers (what should be written on the side of a buggy if not ‘buggy’?), and some rather non-off-roady tyres, but overall we think the 42164 ORRB looks great, presenting another fine way for newcomers to begin Technic building…

42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team & 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team

…unlike these two. OK, that’s a little unfair, because LEGO do seem to have got their head around ‘Pull-Backs’ after some dismal efforts, with recent sets being visually appealing and bringing some unusual licenses to the range. 2024 continues this trend with the 42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team and 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team sets.

Aimed at ages 7+ and 9+ respectively, the new sets recreate two of McLaren’s non-F1 race teams, both of which are electrically-powered. Each does a decent job of reflecting its real-world counterpart, although via the assistance of a million stickers, whilst the 452-piece 42169 Formula E car (the most pieces for a Pull-Back ever?) also includes working steering alongside the obligatory kinetic motor. Operating this whilst deploying the aforementioned motor is probably the trickiest thing you’ll ever do however…

42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck

The electric and officially-licensed trend continues with the next new addition to the 2024 Technic range, the superb-looking 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck.

Constructed from just over 500 pieces and aimed at ages 8+, 42167 resembles a miniaturised version of the 42078 Mack Anthem B-Model, and features some lovely mechanical functions, including working steering, a side-mounted bin emptying mechanism, and a tipping compactor, all controlled by hand via various cogs.

Wearing thoroughly excellent messaging and with a few new parts too, 42167 could be the pick of the range when it reaches stores early next year.

42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester

Away from the starter sets and things are getting bigger, although not by much. This is the 42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester, a 559-piece replica of the ‘self propelled forage harvester’ fitted with ‘ProStream Cropflow’ and ‘XStream KPTM’, according to the excerpts we took from John Deere’s website. We’re not really sure what any of that means, nor that 42168 needed to be an officially licensed set, but we suppose it’s nice to have the added authenticity.

Working rear steering and an elevating and spinning harvesting header (via many yellow cogs linked to a small jockey wheel on the ground) are the working features, which is actually a little less than the smaller 42167 Mack and 42164 ORRB. Still, if ‘Farming Simulator’ is your thing, then the 42168 Forage Harvester may be your cream of the crop when it reaches stores alongside the rest of the 2024 Technic range in January.

42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R

The final new Technic set in our H1 2024 preview is this, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R. Yup, LEGO have partnered with another motorcycle manufacturer following their successful collaborations with BMW Motorrad, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, and Ducati, bringing Kawaski’s legendary Ninja to the Technic line-up.

In doing so, 42170 doesn’t actually bring anything new to the Technic Superbike genre beyond the new partnership, but it does offer as much in the way of working functionality as its predecessors, with working steering and suspension, a foot-peg operated two-speed plus neutral gearbox, and a piston engine buried somewhere inside the frame.

Aimed at ages 10+ and with 643 pieces, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R will join the rest of the 2024 Technic line-up in stores early next year, which – in case you missed it – includes a few new additions we really weren’t expecting.

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Let us know your favourite new 2024 Technic set in the comments. Us? We’ll be picking up the trash in the 42167 Mack LE Electric Garbage Truck. Although… there is one set number as yet unfilled…

My Other Vehicle’s a Giant Excavator

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The 4,100-piece LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator is the largest and most expensive Technic set ever released. With seven motors, two ‘Smart Hub’s, and programmable control via the PoweredUp app, it’s LEGO robotics for the post-PC era.

It is also the ideal set to create an alternative model from, because if you’re going to pick a set for parts, it might as well be the one with the most!

Cue TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, and this amazing… er, honestly we’re not sure. Nico describes it as a ‘Container Handling Vehicle’, which probably doesn’t do it justice, what with it looking like a cross between something from ‘Thunderbirds’ and that ‘Hibernia‘ place that seems to feature here from time to time.

Four suspended tracks, each of which is driven with the front two also steering, are controlled remotely, as is a huge two-stage hook-lift arm and a motorised container locking mechanism.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see of Nico’s fantastic 42100 B-Model at both Brickshelf and his excellent website. Click the links to take a look, plus you can watch the ‘Container Handling Vehicle’ in action below.

YouTube Video

Mighty Metro

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It’s the early-’80s, and British Leyland has a new small (and surprisingly good) car on its hands. The Metro, first sold as an Austin and later a Rover, rapidly became a best seller, with over 130,000 sold in 1983 in the UK alone. Aiming to capitalise on this success British Leyland decided to take the Metro racing, and the pinnacle of motorsport in the mid-’80s was rallying’s monstrous ‘Group B’.

Bearing a physical resemblance (but little else) to road-going cars, Group B racers featured tubular-steel space-frames, mid-mounted engines, and trick all-wheel-drive systems, and the Metro got the lot.

Developed by Williams Engineering, the Metro 6R4 gained a mid-mounted naturally-aspirated V6 engine, loosely developed from the all-conquering Cosworth DVF Formula 1 unit, a glassfibre body, and MG badges – to better align it with the hot-hatch versions of the road-going Metro. For homologation purposes customers could actually buy a road-going 6R4 too, which must’ve been a wild thing to take to the shops.

The new Metro 6R4 rally car debuted at the end of 1985, taking a podium at its first event. However, by just the middle of the following year, it was all over.

After a series of fatal accidents, Group B was banned mid-season, and the 6R4 – along with rest of the Group B field – was orphaned. Without a global series in which to race, Rover sold the cars on, but their motorsport life wasn’t over. Rallycross and British rallying became the 6R4’s new home, and in the hands of privateers the cars became formidable opponents, winning so frequently the rules had to be tightened to restrict them.

The 6R4’s V6 engine also went on to a rather interesting new life… but you can read about that another time.

Thus, despite such a short life in world rallying, the Metro 6R4 remains one of the most iconic and fearsome cars ever borne out of Group B, and previous bloggee Samolot has paid homage to the unlikely rally star with his incredible Technic replica.

Under a one-piece removable body Samolot’s 6R4 features a mid-mounted V6 engine, all-wheel-suspension, and a remote controlled all-wheel-drive system with working steering courtesy of LEGO’s Power Functions motors. Custom decals recreate the ’80s works livery, there are opening doors, bonnet and hatch-back, and there’s more of the model to see – including photos of the trick all-wheel-drive chassis – at the Eurobricks forum.

Click the link above to take a look at the maddest Metro ever built.

Gatorade

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We love simple basic vehicles here at The Lego Car Blog, perhaps because we’re rather simple and basic ourselves.

Cue the John Deere Gator, an all-terrain utility vehicle powered by a 340cc lawn-mower engine, or a tiny diesel, fitted with a CVT, optional four-wheel-drive, and used for everything from estate maintenance to military supply and evacuation.

This splendid little Technic version of the Gator comes from regular bloggee Thirdwigg, who has captured it wonderfully in small-scale Technic, complete with working steering, suspension, and as tipping bed.

Building instructions are available and there’s more to see at Thirdwigg’s ‘John Deere Gator’ album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look.

Sand Green

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Winter is coming here in TLCB’s home nation. The trees are red and yellow, the ground is thick with the shells of various nuts, and a good proportion of the country is under water.

So to cheer us up for the coming weeks when it’ll be dark at 4pm and we’ll be permanently cold, here’s a beach buggy for sunnier climes. Built by Eurobricks’ Jurss it features all-wheel-suspension, working steering, a rear-mounted flat-4 piston engine, plus a removable (and very green) body.

There’s more to see at the Eurobricks forum, and you can pretend you’re somewhere warm and sandy via the link in the text above. Unless you are actually somewhere warm and sandy, in which case can you invite us over?

Multiple Aliases

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This is one of those cars that is probably familiar to all of us, and yet may also not be at all. This is a Geo Tracker, built by 2GodBDGlory, and in fact it’s his Geo Tracker, being a Technic recreation of his real-world vehicle.

But it’s also a Suzuki Vitara (the name we know it as here in TLCB’s home nation), a Suzuki Sidekick, a Chevrolet Tracker, a GMC Tracker, an Asuna Sunrunner (what?!), and a Pontiac Sunrunner.

Which is confusing. Thus, because the Tracker/Vitara/Sunrunner is a Suzuki designed, engineered and produced product, with General Motors simply rebadging it and pretending it was theirs, we’re going to call it a Vitara from here on, and 2GodBDGlory’s is excellent.

Powered by two L Motors with Servo steering, and featuring all-wheel-drive, a remotely-operated high/low range gearbox, working suspension, LED head and tail lights, and a removable roof, 2GodBDGlory’s Technic Vitara is as capable off-road as his real one, and there’s much more of the model to see of both at Eurobricks and Bricksafe.

Whatever you know the Suzuki Vitara as where you’re from, click the links above to be impressed.

My Other Car is also an Off-Road Buggy

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LEGO’s Technic 42160 Audi RS Q e-Tron revealed here earlier in the year has brought a rather intriguing – if ultimately unsuccessful – prototype racing buggy to bedroom floors in brick form.

Powered by a 2.0 turbo-charged petrol engine, but driven by four electric motors, the real RS Q e-Tron is a hybrid of sorts, using the aforementioned internal combustion engine to generate electricity for those motors. It all sounds very clever, which it is, however Toyota’s traditional twin-turbo V6 petrol-powered Hilux T1s thumped it in the 2023 Dakar Rally.

Still, we like unusual vehicles here at TLCB, and thus we like the 42160 Audi RS Q e-Tron. But we like this even more.

Built only from the parts from the 42160 set, this superb Polaris RZR B-Model is the work of gyenesvi, and it captures the all-terrain side-by-side buggy beautifully in Technic form.

It also redeploys the LEGO Control+ remote control system from the 42160 set, with all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-suspension, and servo steering, which we’ve absolutely made the most of terrorising the Elves here at TLCB Towers.

Building instructions are available if you fancy turning your own e-Tron into a RZR, and you can find out more about the build at both Eurobricks and gyenesvi’s Bricksafe album. Click the links to make the jump, probably over a giant sand dune.

Off-Ferraroad

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Taking a Ferrari off-road doesn’t end well. That said, a Ferrari is also perfectly capable of catching fire on smooth asphalt, but off-road is certainly outside of the prancing horse’s design brief.

Except that it’s 2023, which of course means that today you can buy a Ferrari off-roader, because all anyone wants is an SUV. We’d rather take this though, Slick_Brick’s ‘Off-Road Ferrari’ buggy, which is a million times cooler than the Purosangue abomination disgracing the Ferrari name.

Cunning use of the ubiquitous Speed Champions canopy, exposed brick-built suspension, and an equipment rack above the rear-mounted engine add to the off-roady look, and there’s more of the ‘Off-Road Ferrari’ to see at Slick’s photostream by clicking here. We’d probably add a fire extinguisher to that rack though…

My Other Tractor’s… er, Also a John Deere

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The LEGO Technic 42157 John Deere 948L-II Skidder set is one that – after a look through our archives – we must’ve missed, what with it not being there. Still, we’ve never claimed to be competent, and the set does look rather good. Cue Dyens Creations of Flickr, who has repurposed the 42157 John Deere to create, well… another John Deere.

Dyens’ is the 9R, an XL wheeled tractor with up to 700bhp (there’s a tracked one too, which looks mad), outfitted in this case with a pneumatically operated bulldozer blade. There’s also articulated steering, a working piston engine, and a rear hitch with PTO, and there’s more to see of Dyens’ 42157 John Deere B-Model on Flickr.

Rally-Bred

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This is the unmistakable shape of the Lancia Stratos, designed by Bertone and powered by a Ferrari Dino V6, it was the first car purpose-built for rallying, winning the World Rally Championship three times consecutively between 1974 and 1976.

This lovely diorama by Flickr’s alex_bricks, who appeared here recently with his stunning 1988 Monaco Grand Prix scene, depicts a works Alitalia-liveried Stratos scything through a muddy forest.

Forced-perspective foliage and an array of mini-figures – including a driver and co-driver and some hardy spectators – add to the ambiance, and you can join them trackside c1975 via the link in the text above.

In Your Face Flips!

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The coolest remote control car of the 1990s was, by far, the TYCO Rebound. Just take a look at the commercial, which is very probably the most ’90s thing ever filmed.

It sure worked on this TLCB Writer, but – alas – not his parents, who never did oblige. Now, decades later, Daniel Church has reawakened this writer’s unfulfilled longing with this stupendous brick-built replica of the indestructible two-sided RC car.

With a suite of Powered-Up components hidden inside, you can even drive Daniel’s creation off a small cliff just like the real thing. Probably.

There’s more of the model to see (including images showing it alongside the ’90s original) at Daniel’s ‘TYCO Rebound 4×4’ album on Flickr, and you can make the jump whilst asking your parents repeatedly for something they could never afford via the link in the text above.

Sci-Fi Sunday

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OK, we’re not always strictly a car blog here at The Lego… er, Car Blog, but today’s sci-fi creations do have wheels! Well, two of them do, and enough to average 4.67 wheels per model in today’s post, which is good enough for us!

First up is Capt. Dad‘s Neo-Classic Space ‘Mobile Research’, because there’s nothing the mini-figures of Classic Space (or indeed, Neo-Classic Space) like more than researching stuff. Much greebling, many opening compartments, and a brilliant interior all feature, and you join in the research via the link above.

Next up is a creation from Neo-M-Tron, a sub-theme which we’ve just invented. This is the ‘Gigatron Flux Inductor’, a giganormous 6×6 cross between the mole thingy from Thunderbirds, a steam train, and a petrol tanker. Created digitally in Bricklink Studio plus copious editing programmes, Ghalad‘s creation is apparently the latter, and you can fill up your stranded lunar rover via the link in the text above.

Today’s third and final sci-fi build features no wheels at all, but it does use two LEGO transparent ball pieces for, um… reasons. Sylvain Daunais‘ ‘Universe Explorer’ looks superb however, and there’s more to see of his excellent Neo-Classic Spaceship on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look, whilst we find some things that have definitely got wheels…

Kodiak Moment

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This fantastic creation is a first generation Kodiak C70, a 1980s medium-duty truck marketed across both Chevrolet and GMC for a variety of applications.

Built by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, this outstanding Technic recreation of the American workhorse captures the Kodiak’s no-nonsense exterior beautifully, but it’s what’s underneath that is most impressive.

Featuring a remote control drivetrain linked to a V8 piston engine under the opening hood, Nico’s model includes all-wheel-drive, servo steering, suspended axles, a locking fifth wheel, opening doors, and either bluetooth control via the LEGO Powered-Up app or IR Control via LEGO Power Functions.

There’s more of the truck to see at Nico’s Brickshelf gallery, where a link to building instructions can also be found, you can watch the model in action via the video below, and you can read Nico’s Master MOCers interview here at The Lego Car Blog to learn how he builds models like this one via the first link in the text above.

YouTube Video

Titchy Tanker

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This dinky 1950s Mercedes-Benz Unimog ‘Gasolin’ tanker probably isn’t going fill many gas tanks, but it’s going to look properly cute filling what it can. Christoph Ellermann‘s is the builder behind this wonderful classic off-road tractor, and you can fill your tank in the ’50s, as long as too many people haven’t filled theirs first, via the link in the text above.

Cruisin’

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Toyota like the word ‘Cruiser’ in their model names. The Land Cruiser, so called because it was basically a copy of a Land Rover and ‘Rover’ was already taken, the Urban Cruiser, which sounds like someone looking to pay for, er… night time affection, and this; the FJ Cruiser, which was named after the original Land Cruiser that was itself named to mimic the Land Rover.

Unoriginal naming aside however, Toyota 4x4s are of course superior to Land Rovers in every way, and the FJ Cruiser even added a dose of rare Toyota funkiness, with suicide doors, a contrast roof, a wraparound rear window, and three windshield wipers.

This neat Speed Champions scale recreation of the FJ Cruiser is the work of Ben of Flickr, who has captured Toyota’s most aesthetically interesting 4×4 brilliantly in brick form. There’s more to see at Ben’s ‘Toyota FJ Cruiser’ album and you can cruise on over via the link above.