In a seedy bleak cyberpunk future, you could do worse than a classic Datsun pick-up. Notoriously hardy, the Datsun 720 is the perfect tool for collecting disused electronics ready to harvest the internals. Or whatever it is these colourful characters are doing. Ids de Jong knows, and you can ask him at his photostream via the link above.
One of the coolest liveries in motorsport has got to be Toyota’s diagonal sunset-coloured TRD striping. Seemingly unchanged since the ’80s, said livery has appeared on everything from NASCARs to Baja trucks, and it’s the latter we have here today.
Built by SpaceHopper, this superb Toyota T100 Baja off-road truck features Control+ remote control drive and steering, working suspension, a fully-caged interior, stunning attention to detail, and – most importantly – a simply brilliant recreation of Toyota’s famous TRD livery.
There’s more of Space’s Toyota T100 Baja model to see at both Flickr and Eurobricks, and you make the jump somewhere in the desert via the links above.
It’s been a while since the last Elven smushing, but fear not Fans of Elven Violence, because today’s creation squished several of our little workers before we could get to the controls. The work of previous bloggee apachaiapachai, this neat Technic pick-up features remotely controlled twin L-Motor all-wheel-drive, steering, suspension, and BuWizz bluetooth power, with plenty of ground clearance to make the most its off-road drivetrain. Free building instructions available (one hundred TLCB points to apachai) and you can find out more about the build at the Eurobricks forum or via Rebrickable. Click the links to take a look, whilst we try to remember the best combination of cleaning products for removing Elven bodily fluids from the office carpet.
This astonishing creation is a fully-working 1:10 scale pick-up based tow truck, inspired by the bespoke Isuzus in use by Slovenia’s Automobile Association. Designed and constructed by Zerobricks – one of the team behind the 5-star rated BuWizz bluetooth brick – no fewer than eleven motors accurately recreate the functions of Slovenia’s real roadside recovery vehicles.
Two BuWizz 3.0 bricks power and control those eleven motors, which drive all four wheels, a high/low gearbox, working steering, three differential locks, a winch, and – of course – the brilliantly engineered rear lift, which can raise/lower, extend, and lock/grab the wheels of the vehicle to be towed, all of which can be controlled remotely via bluetooth.
A suite of manual functions compliment the electronic wizardry, including all-wheel suspension, a V8 engine, LED lights, opening doors, hood and tool compartments, and 3D-printed brake discs, whilst accurate decals and brick-built accessories such traffic cones and fuel cans further enhance the model’s likeness to the full-size AMZS trucks.
It’s a spectacular creation that beautifully demonstrates the combined power of LEGO Technic and the BuWizz bluetooth battery and control system, and there’s a lot more to see at the Eurobricks forum, including full specifications, digital renders of the internal mechanisms, and further imagery, plus you can watch the model in action alongside its real-life counterpart via the excellent video below.
Click the links to take a closer look, or here to visit the BuWizz store if you’re interested in how their amazing bluetooth brick could add superpower to your creations.
YouTube Video
This is a 1980s Toyota Hilux, and it is the best pick-up truck ever conceived.
Slow, small, and seemingly unbreakable, the ’80s Hilux is the pinnacle of Toyota over-engineering. It also wore some excellent side stripe decals, which immediately makes it cool, as does (and is) this brilliant Model Team replica of the iconic 4×4 from previous bloggee Vladimir Drozd.
Underneath the wonderfully accurate exterior – resplendent with period-correct stripes, roof lights and fender extensions – is a Technic chassis with both steering and suspension, and there’s much more of the model to see on Flickr.
Take a look at Vladimir’s brick-built version of the best pick-up ever made via the link above.
As mentioned in today’s other post, the world has seemingly jumped backwards 50 years to the 1970s. There’s record inflation, war, nothing works, and everyone’s on strike. Having missed the misery of ’70s first time round, this TLCB Writer is wallowing in the resurgence of the aforementioned afflictions via another ’70s vehicle, the humble Ford F100 pick-up truck.
This fantastic 1972 Ford F100 is the work of Jakub Marcisz, who has recreated the classic pick-up beautifully in Model Team scale. A wonderfully detailed working V8 engine, life-like interior, opening doors, hood and tailgate, functioning steering, and some of the best brick-built ‘chromework’ ever ever seen all feature, and there’s lots more to see at Jakub’s photostream.
Join the queue for over-priced petrol next to the picket-line at the link above!
Christmas at TLCB Towers is over for another year, and thus the slightly depressed-looking Christmas tree in the corner of the office can finally be laid to rest. This usually means strapping it to the roof of the office’s Rover 200, driving to the tip, and lobbing it into a giant container of compostable waste.
Flickr’s Jonathan Elliott takes a much more fun approach to tree disposal though, with his Christmas tree dragged behind a Land Rover 109 tow-truck like a wake-boarder behind a power-boat. Or a soon to-be-executed 15th century criminal behind a horse.
The Land Rover is mighty good too, with the exquisite detailing including probably the best small-scale Land Rover tail-lights we’ve ever seen. There’s more of the model to see at Jonathan’s photostream, and you can take a look via the link above whilst we find out if a knackered Rover 200 is up to the job of towing a Christmas tree through the streets.
‘Restomods’ are big business these days, where classic cars, pick-ups and 4x4s, are brought up to date with the addition of modern engines, suspension, electrics, and brakes, whilst mostly keeping the looks that make classic vehicles so appealing.
This is Tony Bovkoon’s brick-built restomod, a 1956 Ford F-100 pick-up featuring a subtly modified exterior that includes opening doors, hood and tailgate, with a beautifully detailed interior and engine bay inside the first two.
Very un-’56 wheels hint at the powertrain upgrades that would lurk within, and there are over a dozen superbly presented images available to view at Tony’s ‘Ford F-100’ album on Flickr.
Click the link above to upgrade a ’56 Ford.
If 2020 had a word (aside from ‘dumpsterfire’), it would be ‘mask’. Enacted to protect the vulnerable and elderly from an unknown and deadly disease, laws requiring the wearing of masks were widely adopted across the world, much to the anger of a small but very vocal minority of morons.
It’s also rather ironic that the ideology displaying said anger about being asked to wear a mask for protection seemed to have no qualms with carrying a gun… for protection. Sigh.
Anyway, with winter approaching and COVID on the rise again, we may have to get used to another round of mask wearing, which leads us neatly-and-in-no-way-tenuously on to these rather good creations by nickgreat.
Suggested by a reader, Nick’s models recreate the vehicles from the mid-’80s cartoon TV show ‘M.A.S.K’, in which the ‘Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand’ (because ‘M.A.S.C’ wasn’t as cool) fought ‘V.E.N.O.M’, the Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem, whilst wearing super-powered helmets (or masks. Ah… it all makes sense).
And if that isn’t the ideal marketing recipe for a range of plastic toys we don’t know what is.
With vehicles such as the ‘Rhino’, ‘Switchblade’, ‘Thunderhawk’ and ‘Jackhammer’ – that could transform into fighter jets, gun turrets, and hydroplanes – plus a protagonist named ‘Matt Trakker’, you’d be forgiven for thinking M.A.S.K might be the most American thing since excessive patriotism, but it was in fact French, and animated in Japan.
Nick has created seven of the transforming vehicles from the ’80s TV show superbly in mini-figure scale, three of which are pictured here, and you find the full array of ‘M.A.S.K’ models at his album on Bricksafe.
Put on your mask and take a look via the link above, or alternatively shout angrily about masks being part of a global conspiracy or something, depending upon your IQ.
The brand new 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 set is a fantastic addition to LEGO’s real-world vehicle line-up. But what if you prefer your Chevy’s a little more… trucky? Previous bloggee Tomáš Novák (aka PsychoWard666) has the answer, having converted his 10304 Camaro into this excellent mid-80s Chevrolet C10 pick-up, using only the parts from the official LEGO set.
Building instructions are available if you fancy having a go yourself, and there’s more to see of Tomáš’ classic Chevrolet B-Model at both his Flickr photostream and the Eurobricks forum. Click the links above to swap one Chevy for another.
The Elf. Green, weird looking, and rather small. Of course we had to publish this one.
First produced in 1959 and still sold today, Isuzu’s Elf light truck has seen six generations, been built in over twenty manufacturing facilities, and worn a multitude of badges on its nose, including Chevrolet, Nissan, Mazda, Hino, GMC and Bedford.
This is the first, as built from 1959 to 1968, and recreated here beautifully by regular bloggee 1saac W. 1saac’s model wears the marks of its life wonderfully (much like our own Elves), and there’s more of it to see at his photostream via the link above. Take a look whilst we award an extra Smartie to the Elf that found it.
The sedan-based pick-up known as the ‘Coupe Utility’ is an icon of Australian motoring. Built by all of Australia’s indigenous manufacturers, and with a few others importing to Australia too, they were hugely popular in decades past.
But with Australian motor manufacturing having ceased in recent years, the Australian ‘Ute’ has almost died out, although the body type lives on (in a smaller form) in South America.
Flickr’s chris.elliott.art remembers the golden age of the Aussie ute however, with this ace ‘1971 Aussie Turbo Coupe Utility’.
Based on no particular model, but somehow looking like all of them, Chris’ ute captures the Australian motoring icon brilliantly, and there’s more to see of his superbly presented creation at his Flickr album. Click the link above to visit Australia some time in the early ’70s.
This is an FSC Zuk, a Polish one-ton truck based on an FSO based on a GAZ from the ’50s. And we love it. Because it’s crap.
Like pretty much everything from behind the Iron Curtain, the Zuk was cheap, simple, and produced for far longer than it should have been. It’s TLCB of trucks.
This lovely Model Team recreation of the FSC Zuk in curtain-sided flatbed form comes from Soviet specialist Legostalgie of Flickr, who has captured the Polish workhorse beautifully. Expert detailing and some rather clever building techniques make this one of our favourite vehicles of the year so far, and there’s lots more of it to see at Legostalgie’s photostream – Click the link to make the jump.
Subaru don’t just make the WRX. In fact they’ve made all sorts of weird things, from trains and planes, to wind turbines and generators.
From a vehicular perspective Subaru’s products vary widely too, some of which are rather further from the WRX than you might think.
This is one of them, the dinky Sambar micro-truck. A ‘kei’ car in Japan also badged as the Daihatsu Hijet and Toyota Pixis, the Sambar first launched in the ’60s, and today is on its tenth generation, powered by a 660cc engine and available in a variety of body-styles.
This is the pick-up variant, as built rather nicely by Joey Klusnick in Miniland style, replicating a Sambar owned by his local model shop. There’s more to see at Joey’s Flickr album, where his model is pictured alongside its real world counterpart.
Click the link above for a Subaru that’s not driven by an irritating bro with a blow-off valve.
Aaaand at the other end of the Chevrolet cool scale we have this; a dilapidated El Camino camper, cobbled together from assorted junk, inhabited by someone you’d expect to see throwing dice in an alley, and parked in a swamp. It’s TLCB of cars.
Which means we feel right at home posting ‘Florida Man’s El Camino & Cab-Over Camper’ by previous bloggee IBrickedItUp, and you can join us huntin’ ‘gators in the swamp via the link above.
