This site may have, on occasion, mocked Corvette and muscle car owners. However here in Europe we’re no better, because once a man reaches a certain age – and/or his hairline passes a certain point – he’s almost legally obliged to buy a Porsche Boxster.
This writer is closer to that point than he’d like to admit, but as he has not the funds for Porsche’s entry-level sports car, this will have to do instead.
Built by TLCB Master MOCer Thirdwigg, this brilliant brick-built Boxster (or 718 as they are now called) features a flat-six engine, working steering, opening doors and front/rear trunks, and it includes a working convertible top, for that authentic wind-in-the-thinning-hair experience.
Constructed in an appropriately midlife crisis colour, building instructions are available, and you can join us wondering if buying a Boxster would make us cool again* by clicking here.
There are many famous racing liveries that have arisen from decades of motorsport sponsorship, most of which were for things so bad for you that their advertisement is now banned (like this, and this, and this, and this, and this).
But fast cars seem to attract dodgy businesses, and thus these days the cigarette sponsorship has been replaced by energy drinks (which we’re pretty sure will, one day, been seen like cigarettes) and the biggest scam of modern times; crypto currency. Thankfully however, one sponsorship mainstay from motorsport’s past clings on; oil companies.
For how much longer though we’re not sure, as there is a movement on the fringes to ban the advertising of things related to the fossil fuel industry, and what starts on the fringes has a tendency to gather momentum and become mainstream, where lots of people shout and post things on ‘X’ and get upset.
Which would be a shame, because oil company liveries have been some of the best, particularly this one, the iconic orange-and-blue of Gulf Racing.
Adorning Fuku Saku‘s wonderful (and incredibly intricate) Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the Gulf orange-and-blue livery looks fabulous, and there’s more of the build to see of Fuku’s Flickr album. Click the link above to take a look, or here to peruse the other Gulf Racing vehicles from our Archives.
Almost every modern car on the roads of TLCB’s home nation is grey. And an SUV. Except that is, for one very specific category of owner. The YouTuber.
No, the YouTuber chooses a whole different aesthetic, based on ‘views’, and ‘clout’, and other insufferable influencer nonsense. Which invariably means that their heavily-financed supercar will be covered in some hideously lurid wrap, with the words ‘I’ve TRANSFORMED’ my [Insert Supercar Here]’ emblazoned in bubble-writing across the accompanying ten-and-a-half-minute video.
An exhaust that also ‘TRANSFORMS’ the car will follow, before the finance agreement is terminated early – much to the insincere sadness of the YouTuber doing it – to fund the next pointless cycle of Buy-Wrap-Exhaust-for-views.
Thus, if we had enough money for a supercar, we’d get it in grey. Because that way no-one would think we’re a talentless YouTube douchebag.
Cue previous bloggee Fuku Saku’s superb Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which is not only brilliantly constructed, it’s also quite fantastically grey. Ingenious techniques recreate the 911’s notoriously tricky shape, and there’s more of model to see at Faku’s ‘GT3 RS 991.1 Gray’ album on Flickr.
Click the link above to take a look, and don’t give the YouTuber supercar douchbags your views.
Here at The Lego Car Blog, we – somewhat unsurprisingly – love LEGO cars. And trucks. And motorbikes. Which means we own rather a lot of them.
It also means that the LEGO fans foe – dust – plagues TLCB Team, with our sets and creations all gradually turning grey unless we get a paintbrush out or the bristly attachment thingy on the vacuum-cleaner.
However even then our LEGO models still face a grave peril, what with there apparently being “a ridiculous number” of them, and further partner complaints such as “Our living room is not looking like a toy shop”. But that’s not our fault. LEGO models take up loads of space. Or do they?…
Cue Official LEGO Affiliate IDisplayIt, and their huge range of LEGO display cases. Constructed from 3mm clear acrylic, IDisplayIt’s cases are strong, beautifully machined, and – best of all – stackable, allowing models can be placed on top of one another so that you have space for even more! er, we mean they’re less likely to annoy long-suffering partners.
Each case arrived flat-packed in a well-protected envelope, and – as per rivals BOXXCO – with all six sides covered in a protective film which is immensely satisfying to peel off. Unlike the previously reviewed BOXXCO offering though, iDisplayIt’s design uses twistable plastic connectors to join the sides together, instead of machined aluminium blocks.
Whilst we appreciated the engineering of those metal cubes, iDisplayIt’s method offers a number of advantages, with the connectors being less visible (matching the transparency of the case panels), requiring no tools (an allen key is provided), and taking mere minutes to construct with half the number of screws. Seriously, we spent longer removing the protective film. Although we did really enjoy that.
IDisplayIt’s cases are also beautifully engineered, with a superbly printed background in the case of the Corvette, and with tolerances that LEGO themselves would be proud of. The result is that IDisplayIt’s cases make the LEGO models within them look absolutely fantastic, so much so – and we don’t give such scores away lightly – that they earn the maximum TLCB rating. Yes, they really are that good.
Order in the next few days (if you’re reading this at the time of publication) and IDisplayIt will guarantee Christmas delivery, or if you’re reading this a little later they’ll do their best (just let them know).
You can check out the full range of IDisplayIt’s LEGO Display Cases via the region-specific links below. We recommend you do.
Following on from the ‘Initial D’ manga series, ‘MF Ghost’ resets the Japanese street racing scene to the late 2020s, when self-driving electric cars are the norm and internal combustion engines are consigned to history. Except in the mountain passes…
Protagonist Kanata Rivington’s Toyota GT86 beats everyone it seems, regardless of how exotic their car is, including Jackson Taylor’s modified Miami-blue Porcshe 911 Carrera GTS, recreated here by Ilya M.
Clever techniques, accurate ‘8’ decals, and top quality presentation all feature, and there’s more of Taylor’s Porsche 911 to see on Flickr, including a link free building instructions. Click the link above to recreate your own ghostly 911, and then lose to a Toyota with half the power.
The Porsche 911, having its roots in the Nazi’s “peoples’ car“, is a rather bubbly, round, and curvaceous vehicle.
The official LEGO 10295 Porsche 911 set is not therefore the obvious parts choice from which to construct a supercar from a brand at the very other end of the design spectrum; wilfully angular Lamborghini.
At least it wouldn’t be the obvious choice for the unimaginative dullards here at TLCB Towers, however previous bloggee Marcin Majkowski is rather more creative.
Taking the resolutely round 10295 set, Marcin has somehow managed to turn it into one of the most straight-edged supercars of modern times, the limited-run Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4.
Utilising 1,204 (c80%) of the 10295 Porsche 911’s parts, Marcin’s Lamborghini includes opening scissor doors, a lifting engine cover, and working steering, and there’s more of his angular alternate to see at Eurobricks, on Bricksafe, and via Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found.
Click the links above to square your 10295 circle.
This incredible car is a Porsche 911.2 Speedster, and it’s been built as a commissioned piece by previous bloggee 3DsupercarBricks.
Consisting of around 1,000 parts, with opening doors, front trunk, engine cover, and flip roof, 3D’s commissioned Speedster has – purists look away now – been custom painted in the real Porsche ‘Azzuro Thetys’ metallic paint to create the amazing aesthetic you can see here.
Custom 3D-printed wheels add to the authenticity and there’s much more of the painted Porsche to see at 3D’s photostream.
Click the link in the text above to take a look at all of the fantastic images, whilst we ponder whether spraying a Lego model faded-red-and-rust to accurately recreate the office’s Rover 214 would deliver the same wow factor as 3D’s ‘Azzuro Thetys’ metallic…
After years of very limited top-tier competition, the fastest class at Le Mans undergoing a spectacular resurgence. Works teams from Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Peugeot, and Cadillac all entered in 2023, with BMW, Lamborghini and Alpine all set to join in the coming years.
The 2023 24 Heures du Mans was won by a jubilant Ferrari, returning almost six decades after their last win, following an epic race-long battle with favourites Toyota. Joining his previously blogged classic Le Mans endurance racers, SFH_Bricks has recreated the 2023-winning Ferrari 499P brilliantly in Speed Champions form, alongside a host of other Hypercar-Class teams from this year’s event.
The second place Toyota GR010, doubtless still miffed at being slowed down by the FIA ‘Balance of Performance’ rules that likely cost them the win, the wonderfully-liveried (if uncompetitive) Penske Racing Porsche 963, and the third-placed Cadillac V-Series.R join the Ferrari 499P in SFH_Bricks’ ‘Le Mans 2023 Hypercars’ album.
Each Le Mans Hypercar wears an accurate livery -created in collaboration with brickstickershop – and is presented flawlessly, with building instructions available too. Join the 2023 race courtesy of SFH via the third link in the text above, plus you can check out the top-tier Le Mans cars from decades past via the second.
Porsche – as per Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and almost every automotive brand – are today mostly an SUV manufacturer. Sigh.
But they haven’t abandoned their roots quite as much as would first appear, as they – like Lamborghini – have off-road vehicles as much a part of their early history as their current line-up.
Many of these were of a military purpose designed for a certain moustachioed maniac, which Porsche don’t seem keen to highlight in their corporate history, but Porsche also built tractors, such as this rather cute Porsche-Diesel Standard 218.
Powered by a two-cylinder 25bhp air-cooled diesel engine, the Standard 218 could be outrun by even the fattest TLCB Writer, but unlike the fattest TLCB Writer it could also lift over half-a-ton on its three-point-hitch.
This lovely Model Team replica of the Porsche-Diesel Standard 218 recreates the tractor (and hitch) beautifully, with superb attention to detail paid in particular to the Porsche’s visible mechanical parts.
TLCB newcomer dimnix is the builder behind it, and there’s more to see of this excellent classic Porsche-Diesel at their Brickshelf gallery. Click the link above to jump back to when an off-road Porsche didn’t mean an aggressively-driven Cayenne.
The world’s greatest motor race celebrates its century this weekend. Founded in 1923 on a public road loop around the village of Le Mans, a route that would later become today’s ‘Circuit de la Sarthe’, the 24 Heures du Mans remains the pinnacle of endurance racing.
Of course due to some German expansionist policies in the late 1930s, the 2023 event is not the one hundredth running of the race, rather the 91st, but nevertheless it’s going to be a special year, with both a notable increase in Hypercar competition and the final year of the GTE class before it’s replaced by the more widely adopted GT3 regulations.
Flickr’s SpaceMan Nathan is celebrating Le Mans’ centenary, and the final year of GTE, with this lovely recreation of the Circuit de la Sarthe pitlane, complete with five Speed Champions GTE AM cars. Accurate liveries and trackside sponsorship add to the ambience, and you can enter the pitlane at Le Mans’ centenary year via the link above to watch the GTE finale.
No, really. Because this amazing looking Lamborghini Murcielago is constructed only from the parts found within the excellent 10295 Creator Expert Porsche 911 set.
Built by Lego-building legend Firas Abu-Jaber, who must be some sort of wizard, the pieces from the resolutely curvy Porsche have somehow been re-purposed to recreate the almost entirely trapezoid mid-’00s Lamborghini.
Opening scissor doors, accurate pop-up air-vents, a removable roof panel, and an opening engine cover and front trunk all feature, and this incredible 10295 alternate is available to build yourself thanks to the building instructions released alongside the model.
The complete suite of top-quality imagery can be viewed at Firas’ ‘10295 Lamborghini Murcielago’ album on Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found (or click here to jump straight to Firas’ own excellent website store), plus you can read his interview as part of our Master MOCers Series to learn how he builds astonishing models like this one via the second link in the text above.
It’s the final part of our 2023 Set Previews, and today it’s perhaps LEGO’s most successful and well-regarded range of recent times; the fantastic officially licensed Speed Champions theme.
LEGO’s decision to bring real-world cars to bedroom floors everywhere at pocket money prices was an inspired one, and the list of partner manufacturers is now at eighteen strong. Yup, that means there’s a brand new manufacturer joining the line-up for 2023 – read on to find out who!
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76914 – Ferrari 812 Competizione
The 2023 Speed Champions range kicks off with this, the 76914 Ferrari 812 Competizione. For $25 / £20 you can own one the greatest Ferraris of recent times, constructed from 261 pieces including a mini-figure, a printed canopy, and a lot of stickers. Too many? Well to our eyes yes, but LEGO know what appeals to 9 year olds, and they’ll be on to a winner.
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76915 – Pagani Utopia
Yes the eighteenth manufacturer to join the Speed Champions line-up is Pagani! Maker of wild AMG-powered carbon-fibre hypercars, the Utopia is the brand’s latest, with an 850bhp 6 litre twin-turbo V12 and an ultra-exclusive 99-unit production run, although we suspect there will be a few more owners of the car in brick-form. Expect 249 pieces, lots of stickers, a slightly lazily-printed canopy, and a $35 / £20 price.
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76916 – Porsche 963
2023 will finally see the expansion of the prototype series at Le Mans, with a raft of manufacturers joining to challenge Toyota’s dominance. Two categories will race within the top-tier class; LMH (Toyota, Peugeot, Ferrari), in which full works-built prototypes can be built using entirely bespoke components, and LMDh (Cadillac, Acura, Alpine and Porsche), using spec chassis and hybrid systems. 76916 brings Porsche’s entry to the Speed Champions range, with 280 pieces, clever SNOT building techniques, and stickers on every surface.
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76918 – McLaren Solus GT & McLaren F1 LM
2023’s final Speed Champions set is a double, featuring two cars from the McLaren range. OK, one really, as the 25-unit, V10-Judd-engined, track-only Solus GT that we hadn’t heard of exists only in Gran Turismo at the moment. But let’s be honest, you wouldn’t be buying 76918 for that…
The reason we all want 76918 is for the fantastic McLaren F1 LM, which looks absolutely magnificent in orange bricks. It doesn’t even need many stickers. 581 pieces, two mini-figures, and some genuinely tricky building techniques feature, making it one of the best Speed Champions cars to date. And there’s a Solus GT or something too.
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That’s the brand new 2023 Speed Champions line-up; five new sets (including the previously-revealed 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R R-34), one new manufacturer, and six-hundred new stickers. We’ll be taking the 76918 McLaren F1, and consider it an expensive single model set, but with a bonus pack of white and black parts thrown in for free. Couldn’t LEGO have made it with two F1s instead?…
After spending some time with your Mom over Christmas, she said we needed ‘more endurance’. Well today’s post will rectify that (we assume this is what she meant), with no less than five glorious historic Group C / Endurance racers.
Each is the work of TLCB debutant SFH_Bricks, who has recreated an array of classic Le Mans racer winners wonderfully in Speed Champions scale, with some of the best decals (courtesy of Brickstickershop) that we’ve ever seen.
From the iconic Rothmans Porsche 956 (top), the wild V12-powered Jaguar XJR-9 LM, the Sauber C9 (above) that was so fast along the Mulsanne Straight that chicanes were added the following year, the Mazda 787B (below) – still the only car to win Le Mans without using a reciprocating engine, to the Peugeot 905 Evo (bottom) that took victory in ’92, each is a near perfect Speed Champions replica of its amazing real world counterpart.
Each model is presented beautifully and all are available to view at SFH’s ‘Le Mans Collection Series’ album on Flickr, where you can also find links to building instructions at the Rebrickable platform. Click the link above for even more endurance.
Built for just two years in the mid-’00s, Porsche’s Carrera GT has become one of the most sought-after supercars of recent times. A 600bhp V10 – designed in secret for Porsche by the Footwork Formula 1 team in the early-’90s but never used – a six speed manual gearbox, and no driver aids make for one of the last truly analogue supercars, and one of the greatest vehicular sounds of all time.
We’re going to have a very fat Elf today. One of our mythical little workers brought back these three blogworthy Porsche 356s, meaning it receives three meal tokens. Will said Elf spread them out in order to moderate its intake, or binge on all of them on one go? We all know the answer to that…
Anyway, the three models are appropriate for the aforementioned piggy Elf, as each is a glorious Porsche 356, as built beautifully in Model Team form by ZetoVince of Flickr. All have opening doors, a detailed interior, and passive steering, with the red version available to buy in this year’s Creations for Charity fundraiser.
