1990’s ‘Total Recall’ was a brilliant idea made not very well. But it did have Sharon Stone in it. Thus in 2012 Hollywood decided to release a remake, and it was a brilliant idea made not very well. But it did have Kate Beckinsale in it.
Perhaps the third time will be the charm, but the 2012 version wasn’t without merit, and it also included some cool police hover-cars not unlike those more famously featured in another Philip K. Dick book-turned-movie.
This recreation of the ‘Total Recall’ police hover-car comes from cixpack of Flickr, there’s more to see via the link above, plus you can watch the movie version (and Kate Beckinsale) in action by clicking here.
It’s the early-’80s, and if you’re in the back of a Ford LTD Crown Victoria it means one of two things; you’re either paying a fare to cross a city, or you’ve been busted.
Cue Jakub Marcisz‘s wonderful 1983 Ford LTD Crown Victoria police car, resplendent in a black-on-white highway patrol livery with a red/blue light-bar, rear-facing red lights in the rear window, a detailed V8 engine, and the optional ‘push bar’, so law-enforcement officers can ram you before shooting.
There’s lots more to see at Jakub’s superb ‘Ford LTD 1983’ album on Flickr; click the link above to bust on over, or here to see another LTD Crown Victoria with a few modifications that even the cops don’t get…
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.
It’s time for an old-timey police chase! Which would be similar to a modern police chase, only with more “Stop you reprobate, do you hear me? Stop!” type phrases being shouted somewhat politely through a loud hailer, and fewer ‘News’ helicopters broadcasting the unfolding mayhem live to the serially unemployed.
The cars would also likely be much cooler than today’s police chase defaults of battered Dodge pick-ups or 2003 Honda Civics, at least in the mind of this TLCB Writer, and certainly if 1saac W.‘s glorious ’53 Hudson Hornet and ’51 Nash Statesman police car are involved.
Built using only original LEGO pieces and off-cuts from LEGO sticker sheets, 1saac has captured each car beautifully in Speed Champions form, and there’s more to see of both the Hudson and the Nash at his photostream – click the link above to jump downtown in the mid-’50s.
Christmas is over, the decorations are down, and work begins tomorrow. Versteinert‘s previously featured classic station wagon, as driven by Santa himself, has now been repurposed as a police car, and represents this slightly depressing return to normality in Lego form.
Of course ‘return to normality’ is a relative term, as our emergency workers face probably the most difficult January in living memory, thanks to COVID-19’s decision to become even more transmissible. Yay.
So it’s Christmas hats off to our emergency service readers; you are the heroes we need right now, and there’s more to see of Versteinert’s ’50s police car at via the link above.
The Lego Car Blog Elves are gradually being returned to their cages for our Christmas break, but we still have time for a few more of their finds before the drinking, er, we mean ‘festivities’, begin.
This wonderful little classic police car was discovered by one of their number today. Leewan is the builder, and the model features opening doors, room for two mini-figures, and some beautifully neat construction techniques.
There’s more to see of Leewan’s excellent creation at the Eurobricks forum – click the link to make the jump.
American police cars are cooler than those we have in TLCB’s home nation. Oh sure, we have the occasional fast pursuit car (which include some surprisingly awesome models), but it’s mostly economy hatchbacks. Not so in the USA, where police cars have names like ‘Charger Police Pursuit’ and ‘Interceptor’. It’s the latter we have here, a Ford Explorer with an Ecoboost V6, all-wheel-drive, and a bar on the front for ramming criminals. Ralph Savelsberg is the builder and there’s more to see of his excellent NYPD Ford Interceptor Utility by clicking here.
Undercover detectives need an understated, invisible ride. Something that draws no attention, that can slip by unnoticed. A Dodge minivan for example. Or a Toyota Corolla. Not a bright red Ford Gran Torino with a giant white vector stripe down each side.
Still, maybe things were different in the ’70, and Starksy & Hutch’s wheels still seemed to nab them plenty of crooks. Cue Pasq67‘s 8-wide recreation of one of TV’s most famous vehicles, complete with Starsky & Hutch mini-figures and ‘magnetic’ pot-plant flashing beacon. Oh, and a giant white vector stripe down each side of course.
Head to Pasq’s Flickr album via the link above for all the imagery and click here for a nearly twenty-minute montage of the real Gran Torino in action!
Toyotas don’t always have the most fortunate names. There’s the ISIS, the BJ, and the perfectly-acceptable-until-recently Corona. Which is now a deadly virus. Oops. The name Corona actually means ‘crown’, just like Toyota’s Corolla, Camry, and, er… Crown.
It’s the Crown we have here, which means essentially the same thing as Corona, but doesn’t evoke the ongoing mass morbidity of the elderly. This Lego version of the Crown comes from Ralph Savelsberg of Flickr who has recreated the Japanese saloon in Tokyo Police specification, complete with authentic decals and the odd raising light-bar on the roof.
There’s more to see of Ralph’s Toyota Crown police car at his photostream via the link above, which has gotta be better than a Corona. Probably not a BJ though…
Range Rovers aren’t just for rich London types. Well they are now, but back when the original was around even the police used them. This neat Speed Champions style recreation of a classic police Ranger Rover (in Manchester police livery) comes from TLCB favourite Jonathan Elliott and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link above.
Blade Runner wasn’t all about the ‘Spinner‘. Largely forgotten, the movie featured several vehicular oddities that appeared alongside the famous hovercar, each managing to look both futuristic and decidedly sheddy at the same time. Flickr’s keiichi kamei remembers two such designs, the ‘Armadillo‘ van and the ‘Deckard‘ car, each shown here in both civilian and civil service roles.
Previous bloggee keiichi has recreated the designs wonderfully in mini-figure scale, with some ingenious building techniques and custom decals used to enhance the models’ accuracy. Head to the futuristic time of November 2019 (yes, Blade Runner is now set in the past!) via the links above.
It’s blue Smarties all round today as three Elves returned to TLCB Towers, each with a blue town-scale creation. It turns out all three are the work of the same builder, Flick’s de-marco, who is becoming a regular on these pages. Each has been constructed in LEGO’s classic ‘Town’ style (a favourite here at TLCB) and recreates a well known(?) real-world vehicle in mini-figure scale.
The first of de-marco’s build is perhaps the most true-to-life, a classic Dacia 1300 from a time when the Romanian brand was independent from Renault, but also simply built discontinued Renault products (and fairy badly at that…). It turns out that the Dacia 1300’s ugly blocky sloping shape is perfect for recreation from angular LEGO bricks and the result looks remarkably close to the real thing.
de-marco’s second Town vehicle is a classic Austin/Morris Mini in British police ‘panda car’ specification. LEGO’s ‘Maersk’ blue with white doors and a single blue light (using a piece from LEGO’s 9V lighting sets) works a treat, even if the car looks a little long for the famously small classic car.
Lastly de-marco has built something a little larger, in the form of this excellent Kamaz drop-side truck. As with all three creations the details are spot on, yet simple enough to fit into a Town scale build, and there’s more to see at de-marco’s photostream via the link. There are also video instructions available for each build – you can find a link to these under each image in de-marco’s photostream should you wish to jazz your own Town up with some iconic classics!
We don’t know why the police are known as the ‘old bill’ (amongst many other names) in TLCB’s home nation. Whatever the reason, today’s post looks like really old bill, being a gloriously ancient-looking police car inspired by Mercurys and their like from the 1950s. UK cops had to make do with embarrassing stuff like this* in the ’50s, so we’re loving this Model Team build by previous bloggee Redfern1950s. There’s more to see of his brilliant 1950s police car on Flickr – click the link above to dial 9-1-1.
A double post today, as two previous bloggees appear here with a pair of black mini-figure scale classics. First up (above) is _Tyler‘s glorious 5-wide Ford Anglia 100E in police specification, complete with a brilliantly authentic 1950s British police officer.
Today’s second black classic comes from Jonathan Elliot who has built a lovely 6-wide ‘anonymous black sedan’ from a similar era. Smart techniques abound on both models and there’s more to see of each via the links above.
The Lego Car Blog staff might all have clothes slightly too small for them after Christmas but the Elves, locked up over the festive period, are hungry. Imagine the delight of the first Elf back then, when it was awarded not one but four meal tokens. Will it spread its four meals out, or binge on four dinners in one go? I think we all know the answer to that.
The cause of this Elven gluttony is Vibor Cavor (aka Veeborg) who has built four beautiful versions of the mid-1940s Chevrolet Fleetmaster. Clockwise from top left is a police fastback, a taxi sedan, a fire chief coupe, and a delivery-bodied ambulance conversion. Each model is wonderfully detailed inside and out, includes opening doors, hood and trunk/tailgate, and features hand-of-God steering.
There’s more to see of all four Fleetmasters at both Vibor’s Flickr photostream and MOCpage – click the link to check them out.
