Tag Archives: RoscoPC

A Quick Cig

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The FIA is hardly a bastion of morality, but it has at least outlawed cigarette advertising on racing cars. Unless you’re Ferrari of course. Back in the ’90s though, promoting cancer was so acceptable that Williams not only had Camel cigarettes adorning its 1992 Adrian Newey-designed FW14B, they teamed it with alcohol sponsorship too.

We’re not sure the Camel or Labatt’s logos enhanced the FW14B’s speed in any way, but the money they brought sure helped, and Williams duly won the 1992 Championship – and made Nigel Mansell World Champion – with a then-record 9 race wins.

This brilliant small-scale replica of the title-winning Williams comes from TLCB Master MOCer Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC), who is better known for his hugely detailed large-scale Formula 1 recreations. Built using a fraction of the pieces but just as recognisable, Luca has turned his hand to historic racing cars on a much smaller scale, with the advantage of course that these are easier for others to build at home.

Suggested to us by a reader (and past bloggee themselves), Luca’s Williams FW14B is available to view on Rebrickable, where instructions can be purchased alongside those for a host of other famous classic F1 cars. Click here to see all the images and find downloadable building instructions to turn 169 pieces into William’s championship-winning cigarette advertisement.

Tyrrell P34 | Picture Special

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Lego Tyrrell P34 Formula 1

Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) is no stranger to this website. His various incredible historic Formula 1 racing cars have appeared here numerous times over the years and have earned him a TLCB Master MOCer accolade, and his latest build takes his Lego-building even further. This is a 1976 Tyrrell P34, it really did look like this, and it became the only six-wheeled design ever to win a Formula 1 race.

Lego Tyrrell P34 Formula 1

It’s those amazing wheels we’ll start with, designed to minimise the car’s frontal area whilst increasing grip. Luca’s spellbinding recreation of the P34 uses four Technic tyres up front (with some wonderful ‘Goodyear’ decals), but the 1:5 scale meant that unlike his previous P34 build, no suitable rear tyres were available in LEGO’s range. Luca’s solution was to create his own, using hundreds of 2×1 Technic rubber lift-arms, and the result is superb.

Lego Tyrrell P34 Formula 1

The larger scale also allows for greater technical – as well as visual – realism, with Luca’s latest model featuring remote control drive and steering for the first time. A third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery powers an XL drive motor, M steering motor, and a Servo that shifts the four-speed gearbox (with both the steering wheel and gear-lever moving when the motors operate). All four front wheels are suspended as well as steered and a beautifully replicated Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine, complete with air intake cones and radiators, sits behind the cockpit.

Lego Tyrrell P34 Formula 1

The build is completed with an accurate livery including period-correct decals, making Luca’s amazing Tyrrell P34 very probably the finest Lego Formula 1 car we’ve featured yet. There’s plenty more to see, including further images and a full build description, at the Eurobricks forum. Click here to view all of the photos and join the discussion, here to read Luca’s TLCB Master MOCers interview, and here to read our review of the BuWizz brick that powers this spectacular creation.

Matra MS80

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Lego Matra MS80 Forumla 1

Matra may not a be a manufacturer familiar to many of you, but if so they’re one of the greatest companies you’ve never heard of.

Founded in the 1960s Matra have made everything from sports cars to air-to-air missiles, including probably the world’s first crossover and the world’s first MPV (albeit for Renault). However it’s their racing subsidiary, Equipe Matra Sports, that we’re most interested in here.

Equipe Matra Sports produced racing cars for an almost immeasurable number of categories, winning Le Mans three times, five Formula 2 Championships, and both the Drivers and Constructors Formula 1 World Championships in 1969, making them the only team besides Ferrari to win the Championship with a car not built in Britain.

This is that car, the gorgeous Matra MS80, powered by the ubiquitous Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 and run by Ken Tyrrell before he started his own team. In the hands of Jackie Stewart the MS80 won five of the ten races it entered in the ’69 season, winning the Championship by a huge margin, despite the fact that every other race winner that year used the same engine.

This fabulous Model Team replica of the Matra MS80 comes from classic racer extraordinaire Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC, with a superbly-replicated Cosworth DFV engine, working steering and suspension, and some ace period-correct decals. There’s more to see of Luca’s brilliant Matra MS80 on Flickr via the link above, plus you can read our interview with the builder as part of the Master MOCers Series by clicking here.

Ferrari 312T | Picture Special

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Lego Ferrari 312T Niki Lauda

This is the four-time Championship winning Ferrari 312T, shown here in its earliest configuration from 1975, and it’s one of the greatest Formula 1 car designs of all time. Powered by Ferrari’s proven flat-12 engine the 312T was not turbocharged as per many of its rivals, despite the ‘T’ in the name. That ‘T’ in fact stood for ‘Transverse’, denoting the gearbox layout, making the 312T the first Formula 1 car to use the design.

The result was fantastic handling, and whilst the newer turbo-engines in rival cars of the time made huge power it was often at the expense of reliability, meaning their straight-line advantage often came to nought. Ferrari’s handling edge was so good they raced the 312T for six years, evolving the design over that time to meet with changing regulations, before the car was finally replaced in 1981.

Lego Ferrari 312T Niki Lauda

This incredible replica of Niki Lauda’s championship-winning 1975 Ferrari 312T comes from race-car-building-legend Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC. Developed from an earlier model featured here last year, Luca has updated his 312T with the latest LEGO parts, and the model comes complete with beautifully authentic-looking period decals, working steering, suspension, and a faithful recreation of the famous flat-12 engine.

There’s a whole lot more to see of Luca’s stunning Ferrari 312T at his Flickr album via the link above, plus you can learn how Luca creates his amazing historic racing cars like this one in his Master MOCers interview by clicking here.

Lego Ferrari 312T Niki Lauda

Ferrari 640 | Picture Special

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Lego Ferrari 640 Formula 1

The 2018 Formula 1 season is nearly upon us. Grid girls are out, halo driver protection is in, and the sport continues its slide into boring, safe, mediocrity. We’re going to take a trip back to more exciting times then, when cars were powered by a variety of fire-spitting engines, the main sponsors were tobacco companies, and girls were allowed to look pretty.

Lego Ferrari 640 Formula 1

This is a Ferrari 640 Formula 1 car from 1989, and it was rubbish. Driven by Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger, there wasn’t a single race in the 1989 championship where both cars finished. The culprit was Formula 1’s first semi-automatic electrically-controlled gearbox which broke with clockwork regularity. Who’d have thought Italian electronics would be unreliable?

Lego Ferrari 640 Formula 1

When the gearbox electronics weren’t on strike though, the V12-powered 640 was incredibly fast. Of the thirty-two race starts in 1989 the Ferrari 640 finished just ten, but all of those were on the podium, including three race wins.

Lego Ferrari Formula 1 Car

By the end of the season the 640’s troublesome semi-automatic gearbox had been largely sorted, but it was too late for Mansell and Berger who finished just 4th and a lowly 7th respectively, thanks to frequent retirements. However a new line had been drawn. The following year the more reliable Ferrari 641 took six race wins and finished second in the Constructor’s Championship, and by the mid-90s semi-automatic gearboxes had become the norm in Formula 1.

Lego Ferrari Formula 1 Car

This wonderful Model Team recreation of the fast but fragile Ferrari 640 comes from Formula 1-building legend Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC who has appeared here numerous times with his stunning racing replicas. His incredible 640 features beautifully replicated bodywork, including period decals, plus working steering, suspension, and V12 engine. There’s a whole lot more to see at Luca’s Ferrari 640 album on Flickr, plus you can read our interview with the builder as part of the Master MOCers series by clicking here.

Eagle Weslake Mk1 | Picture Special

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Lego Eagle Weslake Mk1

The UK and US have a long and successful racing history. The AC Cobra, the Ford GT40, Lola, Chevrolet-McLaren and many more all prove that Anglo-American collaboration can produce an incredible racing car. The Anglo-American Racing Eagle Weslake Mk1 however, did not.

Built by American Formula 1 driver Dan Gurney the Eagle Weslake Mk1 wowed crowds when it debuted at the start of the 1966 season. The car initially raced with Dan at the wheel powered by a Coventry-Climax four-cylinder engine, until it’s purpose-built Gurney-Westlake V12 was ready for the ’67 season.

Often cited as the most beautiful Formula 1 car ever built, if the newly-engined V12-powered Mk1 went as well as it looked it would be a championship winner.

Lego Eagle Weslake Mk1

It didn’t.

Despite obvious speed allowing the Mk1 to qualify at or near the front of the grid almost all season, chronic fragility of the Gurney-Weslake V12 engine meant the car retired from every race bar two. The two races in which it did finish were both podiums though, proving the speed was there and making Dan Gurney one of only three drivers ever to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix in a car of their own making.

However the Eagle-Weslake’s statistics don’t make for great reading. Of the 26 races the Mk1 started the car finished just six, and in three of those it was powered by the old Coventry-Climax engine. By the end of 1968 Anglo-American Racing closed its doors and Gurney returned to the ‘states under the All American Racing banner to continue competing in domestic championships.

Lego Eagle Weslake Mk1 F1

Nevertheless the Gurney-Weslake Mk1 was a race-winner and thus deserves its place in the Formula 1 Hall of Fame. TLCB Master MOCer Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) has recreated the Mk1 in spectacular detail, as he continues to upload his huge back-catalogue of historic racing cars to Flickr.

First built in 2013 (when it appeared here) Luca’s model has been beautifully re-photgraphed, and it features working suspension, functioning steering, and an accurate replica of the unreliable Gurney-Weslake V12 engine. A whole host of stunning images are available to view at Luca’s Eagle-Weslake Flickr album – click here to take a look.

Williams FW14B – Picture Special

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Lego Williams FW14B Formula 1

This is the Williams FW14, designed by the legendary Adrian Newey and powered by Renault’s formidable 3.5litre V10, it won more than half of the Formula 1 races that it ever entered.

Launched in 1991 the FW14 was a technical masterpiece, and one that many thought too complicated to work. With active suspension, a semi-automatic transmission, traction control and incredible aerodynamics, they were initially  right, and teething troubles meant a string of retirements throughout the 1991 season.

Despite the breakdowns Williams still managed to secure seven race wins and second place in the Constructor’s Championship, behind the slower but more reliable McLaren, and they set to work ironing out the reliability issues for the 1992 season.

Lego Williams FW14B Formula 1

The following year Williams returned with the upgraded FW14B and it proved utterly dominant, winning ten of the sixteen races and qualifying 2-3 seconds faster than anyone else. Williams took the Constructors’ World Championship in 1992, with Nigel Mansell becoming World Champion just a year after he considered retiring from the sport.

Williams replaced the FW14B with the FW15C for 1993, further the developing the active suspension, traction control and semi-automatic gearbox debuted on the FW14. The car took the team to another Driver’s and Constructor’s World Championship, before the FIA outlawed electronic driver aids in 1994, making the FW14 and FW15 possibly the most advanced Formula 1 cars that have ever been built.

This incredible recreation of the 1992 Championship-winning FW14B comes from previous bloggee and Master MOCer Luca Rosconi aka RoscoPC, who continues to upload his amazing back-catalogue of historic Grand Prix cars to Flickr. With a working V10 engine, pushrod suspension and functioning steering Luca’s beautiful build is as accurate underneath us it is on the outside.

There’s much more to see at the FW14B Flickr album, and you can read our interview with Luca as part of the Master MOCers series to find out how he builds creations like this one by clicking here.

Lego Williams FW14B Formula 1

Groundhog

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Lego Lotus 79

As detailed in yesterday’s post, Ferrari are back on top after a few years in middle of the F1 pack, but there was a time when they barely won anything. And not because they had a bad car either.

Ferrari (and everyone else’s) woe was due to the utter dominance of one car, the pioneering Lotus 79, the first car to make full use of ground effect aerodynamics.

The first Formula 1 car designed using computer design aids, Lotus took downforce to an entirely new level, with the 79 producing 30% more of it than even their own car from the previous year. The suction generated by the 79 at speed was so strong that early cars suffered chassis fatigue and had to be strengthened to allow them to cope with race distances.

Lego Lotus 79 RoscoPC

The strengthening worked, and the cars went even faster in testing. Upon the 79’s debut at the 1978 Belgium Grand Prix Mario Andretti took pole by over a second, and won the race ahead of the next Lotus in second place by ten seconds, with Ferrari in third almost half a minute behind. In fact, so fast were the new Lotuses that Ferrari could only win if the 79s retired.

Lotus finished the season with 50% more points than the next nearest team, securing the 79’s position amongst Formula 1’s most dominant ever designs.

This spectacular homage to one of Formula 1’s greats is the work of previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC. Built eleven years ago, Luca has recently uploaded his model to Flickr, and despite its age Luca’s 79 is still one of the finest Lego F1 replicas you’ll see. Accurate decals, a working V8 engine, steering and suspension are all included, and there’s lots more to see at Luca’s Lotus 79 Flickr album by clicking here.

Lego Lotus 79

Forced Induction

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Lego Renault RS10 Formula 1 Car RoscoPC

This is a 1979 Renault RS10, and it was the first turbocharged car to ever win a Formula 1 race. It’s been faithfully recreated in Lego form by Master MOCer Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC, whose recently re-uploaded creations have featured heavily here over the past few months. This is Luca’s first entirely new build, allowing him to take advantage of LEGO’s latest parts to brilliant effect.

Powered by a tiny 1.5 litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine the Renault RS10 produced over 500bhp… when it worked. Which to be honest it didn’t all that much, but when it did the RS10 was phenomenally fast. Renault’s single 1979 win with the new turbo engine forced every other front-running F1 team to hastily begin turbo engine development, and if it weren’t for F1’s constantly changing (and pointless) restrictions banning turbocharged engines by the late-’80s (when they were producing as much as 1,400bhp), we doubt any naturally-aspirated engine would have won an F1 championship again. Of course those same pointless restrictions now mandate the use of 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engines, so the sport has come full circle…

Lego Renault RS10 Formula 1 Car RoscoPC

Renault never won a Formula 1 Championship with the technology they pioneered though (although they did earn some excellent results), but the RS10 can be credited with completely changing the landscape of F1, ushering in the wonderful insanity of the ’80s turbo-era until forced induction was outlawed in 1989.

There’s more to see of this stunning recreation of one of Formula 1’s most game-changing cars at RoscoPC’s Renault RS10 Flickr album – click the link to make some boost.

Lego Renault RS10

You Can’t Leave Your Hat On

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Lego Ferrari 312T RoscoPC

This is Ferrari’s 1975 312T Formula 1 car, recreated in spectacular detail by TLCB favourite and Master MOCer Luca Rusconi aka RoscoPC. Rosco continues to upload his huge back-catalogue of stunning historic racing cars to Flickr, and his latest is one of the most successful single designs ever to race in F1.

Launched in 1975 the Ferrari 312T was the first Formula 1 car to feature a transversely mounted gearbox, with the ‘T’ donating that layout rather than the turbocharger you might expect, the engine being Ferrari’s long-standing naturally aspirated flat-12.

The clever gearbox position gave the 312T superb handling, something that its 312B predecessor wasn’t blessed with, and it delivered immediate results, winning Ferrari’s first F1 title in eleven years. During its long racing life from 1975 to 1980 the 312T won three Drivers and four Constructors World Championships, evolving over this time to take into account the changing regulations. Even losing its characteristic high air-box in 1976 due to an FIA ban on the design didn’t stop it winning.

The 312T was finally replaced in 1981 by the new 126C, Ferrari’s first turbo-charged Formula 1 car, leaving the 312T to be remembered as one of Ferrari’s greatest ever Formula 1 designs, and the car that made World Champions of Nikki Lauda and Jody Scheckter.

There’s much more to see of Luca’s incredible Lego replica of the Ferrari 312T at his Flickr album, and you can read our interview with the builder as part of Season 2 of the Master MOCers series by clicking here.

Lego Ferrari 312T RoscoPC

Tyrrell P34 | Picture Special

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Lego Tyrrell P34

This is not a Hot Wheels car. Nor is it an outlandish concept of what Formula 1 could look like in the future. This is the mid-’70s Tyrrell P34, and it really did look exactly like this.

Designed to minimise the drag caused by the front wheels protruding above the front wing, Tyrrell opted for tiny wheels with specially made Goodyear tyres that could sit behind it. However, tiny wheels meant a tiny contact patch, and therefore less grip, so the wheels were doubled to keep the grip levels on par with its larger-wheel counterparts.

The P34 was revealed in September 1975 to astonished onlookers, many of whom thought it was a publicity stunt, however all six wheels duly hit the track the next month, and following testing the Tyrrell P34 entered the 1976 Formula 1 season.

Lego Tyrrell P34 6-Wheel F1 Car

Solid results followed, including a 1-2 result for Team Tyrrell at the ’76 Swedish Grand Prix – the only time a six-wheeled car has won a Formula 1 race (and probably the only time one ever will, seeing as the FIA outlawed cars with more than four wheels several years later, in another pointless addition to the rule book…).

The P34 remained competitive for a few years, before the advancement of other teams and Tyrrell’s reliance on the specially-made Goodyear tyres led to the team returning to the conventional four-wheel layout in 1978, however such was the P34’s unique design that the retired race car became a collectors item overnight.

This perfect Lego replica of Formula 1’s most innovative race winner is the work of Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) and it recreates the incredible Tyrrell P34 in breathtaking detail. Accurate bodywork is enhanced by a period-correct stickered livery, and like the real car all four front wheels are steered, plus there’s a working V8 engine and suspension too.

There’s lots more of this amazing build to see at Luca’s Tyrell P34 Flickr album by clicking here, and you can read our interview with the builder as part of the Master MOCers series by clicking this link.

Lego Tyrrell P34 6-Wheel F1 Car