We considered linking to that infernal late-’90s Italian song in the title, and then thought better of it. But by then it was already stuck in our heads, so if we have to suffer you do too. And if you don’t click on that link we’ll still find a way of annoying you with Eiffel 65’s madness later in this post.
Oh yeah, cars. These six brilliant Speed Champions scale classics were discovered by a soon-to-be-very-fat-Elf on Flickr. They come from previous bloggee Thomas Gion, and clockwise from top left – in various levels of blueness – are a ’69 Chevy Nova, a ’63 Chevy Nova ‘Gasser’, a ’66 Buick Riviera, a ’54 Ford Thunderbird, a ’70 Plymouth Barracuda, and a ’69 AMC AMX Superstock.
Each is excellent and you can check them all out via the link above. Da-ba-dee-da-ba-di!
In the late ’90s to mid 00’s, American car manufacturers went nuts. There was the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the Pontiac Aztek, the Chevrolet SSR, and this, the Plymouth Prowler.
Inspired by hot rods of the ’40s and ’50s, the Chrysler Corporation hoped the Prowler would reinvigorate the dying Plymouth brand, and the wild two-seat rear-wheel-drive sports car certainly made headlines upon its reveal in 1997.
Sadly though, like everything else coming from the Chrysler Corporation in the late ’90s, it was also complete crap.
A 3.5 litre V6 from Chrysler minivans – making just over 200bhp – mated to a four speed automatic gearbox (four!) did not an invigorating drive make, whilst interior and build quality was, well… typical ’90s Chrysler
Less than 12,000 Prowlers were sold before its demise, along with the entire Plymouth brand, in 2002, whilst Chrysler itself filed for bankruptcy just seven years later.
But here at TLCB we still applaud the Prowler, as we much prefer interesting cars to good ones (which is probably why we’re writing about cars and not managing a car company…). However it probably would’ve been better for everyone if the Prowler had been built by anyone other than late-’90s Chrysler.
Oh yeh, the model! This superb Speed Champions scale Plymouth Prowler captures the outlandish design brilliantly – no mean feat at this scale – and there’s more to see courtesy of Thomas Gion of Flickr. Click the link to take a look!
This wonderful 1971 LAPD Plymouth Satellite police car was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr. It comes from regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott, whose Speed Champions scale models are beautifully diversified from the usual Ferraris and Lamborghinis that dominate the genre. Details and presentation are top-drawer and there’s more to see of this, and Jonathan’s other brilliant Speed Champions style builds, at his photostream here.
If you have a Plymouth Barracuda, it has to be purple. Fortunately Jonathan Elliott’s is, thanks to the new purple pieces available in the LEGO 76904 Dodge Challenger set, and if you’re still in doubt about purple being the best colour ever, click here.
If – like this TLCB Writer – you think that Land Rover’s new Defender is just another version of the Range Rover to be bought by wealthy but unimaginative financiers for driving between the electric gates of their mock-tudor house and the golf club, then this post if for you.
You see, underneath the utter madness of this build is the new Land Rover Defender, or rather the official LEGO 42110 set, and we know which we’d rather have.
It’s the work of previous bloggee “grohl”, who had clearly had a lot of sugar, turning the 42110 set into the wild ‘Claw Car #2′ from the Elves’ favourite post-apocalyptic wreck-fest, ‘Mad Max – Fury Road’.
Loosely based on a late ’60s Plymouth Barracuda, “grohl”‘s 42110 alternate replicates the movie car superbly, and it’s packed with Technical functions too. Some of which the Elves have found very amusing.
Four-wheel-drive, a four-speed gearbox, a mid-mounted V8 engine, and working steering and suspension make this a qualified ‘Technic Supercar’, plus there are a few items of additional equipment that Land Rover didn’t see fit to include with their Defender…
Firstly there’s a roof mounted gun with two axis of movement, followed by a working harpoon gun mounted inside the engine bay. Said harpoon gun fires a Technic axle around two metres, which the Elves have found particularly fun today. Finally there’s the rear-mounted plough; a huge ratchet-operated claw for slowing down harpooned tanker trucks.
If that’s hard to picture in action then check out “grohl”‘s excellent video below, and you can see full details, imagery, and find a link to building instructions by clicking here.
Green is very much in fashion right now. Totally misreading the memo is Michael217 of Eurobricks, whose ‘green’ car is a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda dragster.
Powered by a LEGO Buggy Motor and with Servo steering (not that dragsters really need it), Michael’s ‘Cuda is fully RC, and – as you can see – it really is very green. We’re not sure it’s Greta Thunberg’s sort of green though.
Head to the Eurobricks forum via the link to see more of Michael’s build and to find a link to the complete gallery of images.
After posting definitely Not a Car yesterday, here’s over a dozen! Ralph Savelsberg‘s brilliant expanding classic car garage includes some wonderful pieces of beautiful, historic and iconic American metal. And a Buick Roadmaster.
Many of the cars have featured here at The Lego Car Blog over the years and you can see more of Ralph’s scene at the Great Western Lego Show in the UK later this year, or on Flickr via the link above, which is probably more convenient.
Founded in the late 1920s, mis-managed into administration, and then closed down in the last decade or so, Plymouth and Pontiac are best known in recent times as victims of the Big Three’s sorry tale of arrogance, greed and incompetence.
But before all that there were some good times. Really good times. In the late-’60s to early-’70s the muscle car was in a golden age, and both Plymouth and Pontiac were riding the crest of that wave.
Plymouth’s Barracuda (above) launched in the mid-’60s with a range of engines beginning at just 100bhp, yet by 1970 it was making up to 425bhp from an enormous Hemi V8. Unfortunately 425bhp didn’t sit really suit the market once the oil crisis hit in 1973, and production ended shortly afterwards, but if anything that short life has helped the ‘Cuda become one of most sought-after muscle cars in history.
General Motors were also in on the muscle car action in the 1960s, bringing – via their Pontiac brand – the GTO (below) to market in ’64. By the 1970s they too were making over 400bhp, with stock cars delivering 13.4 second 1/4 miles times straight from the forecourt. Like Plymouth the oil crisis put an end to that, but in its hay-day the Pontiac GTO sold almost 100,000 units annually, despite its slow steering and ‘amazingly inadequate’ brakes. The roads must have been a fun (if slightly terrifying) place!
The two superb Speed Champions versions of the Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda and Pontiac GTO pictured here are the work of Thomas Gion, who has faithfully recreated both cars in just 6-studs of width, capturing the styling cues of each brilliantly.
Today both brands are gone, but the legendary cars they created in the 1960s and ’70s mean they won’t be forgotten for some time yet.
The relentless pace of uploads by Flickr’s de-marco continues, with his two latest builds delightful slices of classic Americana. Above is a lovely 6-wide Plymouth Fury, before things turned strange courtesy of a Stephen King novel, whilst below is a neat 1960s police car in a rare blue-over-yellow paint scheme. There’s more to see at de-marco’s photostream via the link above, where there are also instructions for each model available!
Only one Elf returned to TLCB Towers with a find this weekend, but fortunately you guys earn yourself a Smartie* too as we also have one of your suggestions to post.
First up is the Elven discovery; this superb classic Plymouth Barracuda drag car. Built by TLCB regular ER0L it’s one of the coolest mini-figure scale cars we’ve come across – it has flames and everything! There’s some very creative brickwork used to create the famous ‘Cuda shape and you can see all the images at ER0L’s photo stream via the link above.
Our second creation has been built by a newcomer to TLCB, Eurobricks’ tfcrafter, and was suggested by a reader. Featuring all-wheel independent suspension, a 4-speed gearbox, working steering, a V8 engine,and opening doors and hood tfcrafters’ ‘Mercury’ supercar is flying the flag for mechanical Technic. There are full details and an extensive bank of images available at the Eurobricks discussion forum – click the link above to see more.
It’s a well-known fact that a flame paint-job unleashes at least an extra 50bhp. Tim Inman’s 1968 Plymouth Fury is going to need all the help it can get, because the Fury was massive. Still, try telling an American that size doesn’t matter…
Tim’s classic Plymouth was suggested to us by a reader and you can see more at his photostream by clicking here.
This impressive trio of classic American muscle cars comes from MOCpages’ Heiko Rüütel. From left to right; ’65 Ford Mustang, ’71 Plymouth ‘Cuda and ’70 Dodge Challenger R/T. There’s more to see of each at Heiko’s MOCpages account – click the link above to check them out.
Body by Plymouth. Soul By Satan. 1983 saw the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel Christine, starring a dilapidated 1958 Plymouth Fury with a Herbie-like personality instilled within it. Only this car was nothing like Herbie.
TLCB favourite Ralph Savelsberg aka Mad Physicist has added ‘Christine’ to his ever-growing garage of superb movie cars. All the photos of the build can be found on Flickr here, and we’re delighted to announce that Ralph has also been cornered by The Lego Car Blog Elves, becoming the penultimate builder in our Master MOCer Series.
Mr. Savelsberg’s interview in The Lego Car Blog’s Master MOCers Series, where he explains how he started building LEGO, what has influenced his style, and how he creates amazing models such as the Plymouth above is available now; simply click this link to read his story!
This spectacular Model Team creation was discovered on Flickr by one of The Lego Car Blog’s multitude of Elves (if anyone knows what the collective term for Elves is please let us know). It’s a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, built by the car geniuses Bing-Bong Brothers. The Superbird was the American manufacturers first attempt at applying downforce to a race car, with the aim of generating more stability and grip for NASCAR oval racing.
The rules stated that the race car must be based on a road-going vehicle, and thus Plymouth created just under 2,000 Superbirds for the road, so you could look as ridiculous on the street as it looked on the track. You might think the colossal rear wing was placed optimally to generate maximum downforce whilst minimising drag, but actually it’s that high simply to allow the trunk lid to open!
It’s estimated around 1,000 Plymouth Superbirds survive today, and those that remain are amongst the most expensive and sought after muscle cars ever built. You can see more of the ‘Brothers far more affordable LEGO version at their excellent photostream via the link above.
It’s the weekend, hurrah! And we’ve got a very special post for you today. MOCpages-based Henrik Hoexbroe has featured on The Lego Car Blog a number of times over the past two years with his superb Town-scale vehicles of all descriptions. Henrik uses these cars to add life and realism to his ‘Mega MOC’ Town displays, filling the streets with all sorts of wonderful classic metal.
Henrik is currently working on his latest large Town scene and has shown a preview of the vehicles that will feature within it. They range from historic vans, buses and trucks (above) to well-known and easily identifiable classic cars, like the Ford Capri, Mercedes Taxi and Citroen DS (below).
We highly recommend a visit to Henrik’s stunning MOCpages preview here, and we can’t wait to see the finished Town. We know he’s a reader of The Lego Car Blog, so Henrik, if you’re reading this, we’d love to interview you upon your Town’s completion!
