Tag Archives: Pick-up

If You’re Going to San Francisco

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For those who come to San Francisco
They’ll find bricks placed with care everywhere 

On the streets of San FranciscoCars and vans will climb hills into the air

The improved lyrics of 1960s hippy nonsense, prompted by this fantastic diorama published by Brickleas of Flickr, who – with his fellow collaborators – has captured the spirit of ‘60s San Francisco wonderfully in this epic diorama.

Beautiful detailing abounds and you can go to San Francisco via the link above. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

Vintage Ghouls

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It’s Halloween! Which means ’tis the season of pumpkins, spooky monsters, and skimpy outfits. Unfortunately we don’t have any images of the latter, but we do have a spooky monster-driven vintage pick-up truck loaded with pumpkins, which is good enough for us. Regular bloggee _Tyler is the builder and you can click here to ghost your way to his photostream.

The Toyota War

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Fought in 1986-’87, the ‘Toyota War’ was the last phase of the nine-year-long Chadian-Libyan War, which ended in defeat for Libya and Colonel Gaddafi (who started it by invading Chad) and the return of Chad’s seized territory.

It’s also possibly the only war named after the make of the pick-up trucks that primary fought it, with Toyota’s Land Cruiser 70-Series used prolifically on both sides, and – in Chadian hands – fitted with their French ally’s anti-tank missile launchers.

Of course countless wars since have been fought from the back of Toyotas, with the company’s trucks being the first choice of militias, terrorist groups, and legitimate armies, plus the UN and NGOs who try to piece broken communities back together again afterwards. In fact Toyota take this depressing usage so seriously in some markets they removed the ‘TOYOTA’ lettering from the back of their pick-ups to avoid the link with the conflicts in which they were so heavily used.

These two excellent 70-Series Land Cruisers from any one of the wars in which they so often feature come from TLCB debutant ORRANGE., who has photographed his models against a suitably deserty backdrop which we’re so familiar with seeing on the news.

A closer look is available at ORRANGE.’s photostream and you can head to a sad and usually pointless conflict somewhere in Africa or the Middle East via the link in the text above.

Surprise Party

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It’s time for a heart-warming vignette. It’s 1950s America, and the three well-dressed fellows have arranged a surprise birthday party for their compatriot, driving him to the secret location in the back of their pick-up truck. They’ve even thoughtfully covered his eyes so his surprise isn’t spoiled! We’re sure he’s going to enjoy it and you can join the fun courtesy of Roman Shemis of Flickr, where there’ll definitely be balloons and cake.

Monster Fight

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This writer was busy watching the nineteen of the world’s best drivers (and Lance Stroll) trying to handle the rain at the British Grand Prix, when a commotion erupted from the Elves’ cage room. Sigh.

After traipsing in, the cause was obvious; two Elves, each with a cartoon-esque monster truck, fighting in the middle of a circle formed of their compatriots. Mr. Airhorn duly separated the pair and dispersed the onlookers, and thus their two finds could be assessed.

Each creation comes from Flickr’s ianying616 and is a cartoon-version of a real Monster Jam truck. Both are blog-worthy two (which meant the Elf fight was pointless) and you can see more of his ‘tooned’ ‘El Toro Loco’ and ‘Silverado’ at his photostream.

Take a link via the link above whilst this writer tries to get back to watching the F1…

Highboy

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Well this is a lovely thing isn’t it? An early-’70s Ford F-250 ‘Highboy’ tow truck, Sseven Bricks‘ creation is as humble a workhorse as you can get. Yet here, in Lego form, it’s one of the most beautifully life-like small-scale models we’ve seen in ages. Top-tier building techniques create some exquisite details (just look at that tiny gap between the cab and the bed) and you can take a closer look at Sseven’s superbly presented creation at his photostream via the link.

A Noun & A Verb

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Ram (noun); a male sheep.
Ram (verb); to forcefully push something.

Although the latter may well be derive from the former (see here. And here. And definitely here). Anyway, today we have both forms of the word, thanks to Teo LEGO Technic‘s RAM 1500 pick-up, and – more irritatingly – the Elf that found it.

Powered by a BuWizz and two Buggy Motors, Teo’s Technic pick-up features four-wheel-drive, all-wheel suspension (independent up front and live-axle at the rear), and a high/low gearbox, which – when combined – make a for a model that is really very fast indeed.

Of course it didn’t take the Elf at the controls long to take advantage of that, using Teo’s Ram to, well… ram into anything it could. Mostly its co-workers. In high gear on the flat of the office corridor our Elves were no match for the RAM’s speed, meaning we now have some tidying up to do and some Elven first-aid to administer.

Whilst we get on with that you can check out more of Teo’s excellent RAM 1500 at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, where full build details and a video are available, plus you can check out the model’s complete image gallery on Bricksafe by clicking here.

Custom Camping

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This unusual looking vehicle is a classic Chevrolet C30 pick-up, outfitted with a camper top, a dually rear axle (with LEGO’s weirdest wheels), suicide rear doors, and dropped to a completely impractical height. There’s also complete cabin and camper interior, an inline-6 Cummins engine, and an enormous amount of openings, including cabin doors, camper rear door, hood, and even fridge. Flickr’s Tim Inman owns the mind behind it and you can head to Camp Custom via the link above.

The Other F1

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As we type this, twenty cars are currently in a one-and-a-half-hour traffic jam in the streets of Monaco. Which is really boring. So here’s a more interesting F1; the first Ford F-Series pick-up, a vehicle that would became one of the most successful models in history.

Built by previous bloggee Jakub Marcisz, this lovely recreation of the 1948 Ford F1 includes working steering, opening doors, double-hinged hood and tailgate, plus a detailed engine and interior.

Building instructions are available and you can see more at Jakub’s ‘Ford F1 1948’ Flickr album and at the Eurobricks forum, where there’s not an over-priced ticket nor procession masquerading as a motor race in sight.

The Indestructible Hilux

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The best selling pick-up everywhere except North America, the Toyota Hilux is favoured by farmers, NGOs, terrorists, and… Top Gear.

Some twenty years ago Top Gear embarked on what would become one of their most famous sequences ever filmed. And created the best advert for the Hilux that Toyota could have dreamed of.

Famed for their indestructibility, Top Gear decided to put the Hilux’s toughness to the test. They bought an old rusty example from a farm, and crashed it. A lot. They left it in the sea. Dropped a caravan on it. Set fire to it. Hit it with a wrecking ball. And, finally, placed it atop a tower block, and blew it up.

After all of that the Hilux was – unbelievably –  still working, and thus it became a permanent fixture in the Top Gear studio until the show’s demise. Which means the Hilux didn’t just outlive all of the tests that Top Gear put it through, but even Top Gear itself.

This homage to the world’s most famous pick-up truck comes courtesy of NV Carmocs of Flickr, who has recreated the Top Gear Hilux – dents, buckled chassis, fire-scorched paint and all – brilliantly in brick-form.

There’s more of the model to see at NV’s photostream via the third link in the text above, and if you’re one of the few people on earth that haven’t seen Top Gear’s most famous of vehicle tests, take a look at the first two…

What Bike?

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Sometimes the transporter is cooler than thing it transports. Cue RGB900‘s wildly modified Ford Econoline pick-up, designed to transport a racing motorbike. But we’re not looking at the bike when the truck is so deeply cool. Take a closer look at RGB’s photostream, whilst we trawl Bring-a-Trailer for old Ford Econolines…

Go Ape

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We love slow, strange, European oddities here at The Lego Car Blog. Probably because we are one. This is one such curiosity, the Piaggio Ape, depicted here in MP-600 form.

‘MP’ stood for ‘Motore Posteriore’ (rear engine), whilst ‘600’ denoted the 600bhp it produced. Kidding. It wasn’t even 600cc. Or half that…

Like we said, sloooow. But we love Apes nonetheless, and thus this excellent Town-style version by Jordan Parmegiani is one of our favourite creations of the year so far.

A scooter in the load bed makes Jordan’s build even more Italian, and you can meander through narrow streets somewhere in Italy via the link above.

Big Fifty

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Turning fifty is a big occasion, and especially so for today’s birthday boy. Yes Big Foot, the original car-crushing monster truck, is half-a-century old!

This spectacular brick-built replica of the Ford F-250-based colossus is the work of Orion Pax aka Alex Jones (no not that one), complete with custom chrome, superbly authentic decals, plus LED lights and remote control drive and steering.

It’s a monstrously good build and there’s more to see of Alex’s fantastic fiftieth birthday homage to the all-time monster truck great at his photostream. Click the link above to take a look, or here to see more of Big Foot doing what it does best.

Rolling a Six

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Are you an ostentatious wealthy douchebag but your name’s Tanner rather than Al Mahmood? Then have we got the vehicle for you!

Powered by a 700hp V8, and with two extra wheels because… more, this is the Hennessey Ford Velociraptor, the perfect vehicle in which to win America’s ongoing pick-up truck arms-race.

Built by previous bloggee Rolic, this excellent Model Team recreation of the pointless pick-up features opening doors, tailgate and hood, a detailed interior and engine, working steering, and suspension on all six wheels.

There’s lots more to see at Rolic’s ‘Ford velociraptor’ Flickr album and you can one-up that guy in the Dodge Ram 3500 via the link above.

Jump on It!*

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Whilst naming something after a group of Native American tribes is rather frowned upon today, the 1950s were a simpler time, and thus Chevrolet had no such qualms about calling their light/medium-duty pick-up the ‘Apache’ in 1958.

Powered by a range of inline-6 and V8 engines, the Apache was GM’s first truck to be offered with power steering, power brakes, and the segment’s first wrap-around windshield.

This splendid Model Team replica of the ’58 Chevrolet Apache comes from previous bloggee Jakub Marcisz, and features working steering, a beautifully detailed interior, a realistic engine bay, opening doors, and a dropping tailgate.

It also looks fantastic, and there’s much more of the model to see at both Jakub’s ‘Chevrolet Apache 1958’ Flickr album and the Eurobricks forum, where a link to building instructions can also be found. Click on the links above to jump to the reservation.

*Today’s title song. Which also definitely wouldn’t get made today. But does show that all you needed for a music video in 1979 was a green rug, a tent, and a trip to a fancy dress shop. We strive to be unbiased and impartial here at TLCB of course, so here’s an equally offensive counter song.