If TLCB Elves were to design a car, it would probably look like this. Only with rocket launchers. Despite that obvious omission, our smelly little workers are still mightily excited by this ‘Igniter III’ from Flickr’s Tino Poutiainen, which looks like a cross between a Tyrrell P34 F1 car and a spaceship. A Technic helmet, cement-mixer nose-cone, and Bionicle torsos are just some of the ingeniously chosen pieces, and there’s more to see at Tino’s photostream via the link above.
Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) is no stranger to this website. His various incredible historic Formula 1 racing cars have appeared here numerous times over the years and have earned him a TLCB Master MOCer accolade, and his latest build takes his Lego-building even further. This is a 1976 Tyrrell P34, it really did look like this, and it became the only six-wheeled design ever to win a Formula 1 race.
It’s those amazing wheels we’ll start with, designed to minimise the car’s frontal area whilst increasing grip. Luca’s spellbinding recreation of the P34 uses four Technic tyres up front (with some wonderful ‘Goodyear’ decals), but the 1:5 scale meant that unlike his previous P34 build, no suitable rear tyres were available in LEGO’s range. Luca’s solution was to create his own, using hundreds of 2×1 Technic rubber lift-arms, and the result is superb.
The larger scale also allows for greater technical – as well as visual – realism, with Luca’s latest model featuring remote control drive and steering for the first time. A third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery powers an XL drive motor, M steering motor, and a Servo that shifts the four-speed gearbox (with both the steering wheel and gear-lever moving when the motors operate). All four front wheels are suspended as well as steered and a beautifully replicated Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine, complete with air intake cones and radiators, sits behind the cockpit.
The build is completed with an accurate livery including period-correct decals, making Luca’s amazing Tyrrell P34 very probably the finest Lego Formula 1 car we’ve featured yet. There’s plenty more to see, including further images and a full build description, at the Eurobricks forum. Click here to view all of the photos and join the discussion, here to read Luca’s TLCB Master MOCers interview, and here to read our review of the BuWizz brick that powers this spectacular creation.
This is not a Hot Wheels car. Nor is it an outlandish concept of what Formula 1 could look like in the future. This is the mid-’70s Tyrrell P34, and it really did look exactly like this.
Designed to minimise the drag caused by the front wheels protruding above the front wing, Tyrrell opted for tiny wheels with specially made Goodyear tyres that could sit behind it. However, tiny wheels meant a tiny contact patch, and therefore less grip, so the wheels were doubled to keep the grip levels on par with its larger-wheel counterparts.
The P34 was revealed in September 1975 to astonished onlookers, many of whom thought it was a publicity stunt, however all six wheels duly hit the track the next month, and following testing the Tyrrell P34 entered the 1976 Formula 1 season.
Solid results followed, including a 1-2 result for Team Tyrrell at the ’76 Swedish Grand Prix – the only time a six-wheeled car has won a Formula 1 race (and probably the only time one ever will, seeing as the FIA outlawed cars with more than four wheels several years later, in another pointless addition to the rule book…).
The P34 remained competitive for a few years, before the advancement of other teams and Tyrrell’s reliance on the specially-made Goodyear tyres led to the team returning to the conventional four-wheel layout in 1978, however such was the P34’s unique design that the retired race car became a collectors item overnight.
This perfect Lego replica of Formula 1’s most innovative race winner is the work of Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) and it recreates the incredible Tyrrell P34 in breathtaking detail. Accurate bodywork is enhanced by a period-correct stickered livery, and like the real car all four front wheels are steered, plus there’s a working V8 engine and suspension too.
There’s lots more of this amazing build to see at Luca’s Tyrell P34 Flickr album by clicking here, and you can read our interview with the builder as part of the Master MOCers series by clicking this link.
The incredible car above might look like something from science fiction, but it really was a Formula 1 racing car. A winning Formula 1 racing car too. Designed in the mid ’70s, the Tyrrell P34 debuted in 1976 and survived until the 1978 season. It wasn’t the only six-wheel car either, with Williams, March and even Ferrari experimenting with six-wheel layouts, although Tyrrell were the only team to actually race a such a design.
Powered by the legendary Ford Cosworth DFV engine the P34 finished third overall in the 1976 World Championship and fifth the following year, after which it was replaced with more a conventional design – partly because developing tyres for the twin front axels was becoming a problem for the tyre manufacturer Goodyear.
This brilliant Lego recreation of one of the most iconic Formula 1 cars of all time is the work of Greg 998, whose work also featured here last month. Underneath the beautiful 1970s bodywork sits a replica Cosworth DFV engine, and of course the clever twin steering system found on the real car.
You can see more of the Tyrrell P34 and Greg’s other work by visiting MOCpages, and if you’d like to see the current Formula 1 teams having the freedom to design cars like this, write a letter to Mr. Ecclestone. Who will immediately throw it in the bin and come up with a plan to award double points for the last race of the season, or something equally ridiculous. Wait, he already did that!?…
These astonishing classic Formula 1 cars, uncovered on both MOCpages and Brickshelf, are the work of Lego-builder F1Fan.
The yellow Camel-liveried car above is a 1987 Lotus 99T, powered by Honda’s ferocious 900bhp 1.5 litre turbo and featuring active suspension. In the hands of the legendary Ayrton Senna the 99T recorded six podiums and two race wins during the ’87 season, allowing Team Lotus to finish third overall behind Williams and McLaren (and ahead of Ferrari). Sadly both Team Lotus and Ayrton would die during the 1994 season, perhaps the biggest loss of talent in a single year of Formula 1.
The blue car below is one of the most innovative and recognisable Formula 1 cars of all time, the remarkable six-wheel Tyrrell P34. F1Fan’s version is based on the previous work by RoscoPC, and updates it to replicate the car from the 1976 International Trophy race at Silverstone.
Interestingly both of these classic Formula 1 cars feature technology which is now banned, making them in some respects more advanced than even the championship winning Red Bull of this year. See both beautiful racing cars at F1Fan’s MOCpage or Brickshelf account via the links above.
