Tag Archives: Speed Champions

Touring with Billions

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Historic French car maker Bugatti – now under Rimac ownership – revealed their latest hypercar earlier this year. Named after a watch component (although coincidentally sounding like a Bugatti owner on holiday), the Tourbillon will cost over $4 million, reach 277mph, and be limited to just 250 units.

The Tourbillon also forgoes the Volkswagen-developed quad-turbo-charged W16 of Bugattis past for a new Cosworth-sourced naturally-aspirated V16 and tri-motor plug-in hybrid system, which is said to deliver around 1,800bhp, 800bhp more than the brand-defining Veyron.

Cue The G Brix‘s superb Speed Champions interpretation of the soon-to-be released 1,800bhp hypercar, which includes space for two mini-figures, a detailed engine and interior, a cunning rubber-band rear light-bar, and an opening front trunk appropriately stuffed with a suitcase full of cash.

There’s more of the The G’s brilliant Bugatti Tourbillon to see at his photostream, and you can pack your gold bars and a bag stuffed with notes to join the other billionaires on tour via the link in the text above.

Interception

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TLCB Elves love Mad Max. V8s engines, extreme violence, and everything blows up. Cue much excitement today therefore, when one of their number returned to TLCB with this excellent mostly-LEGO recreation of the 1973 Ford Falcon-based ‘V8 Interceptor’ from the original movie, which they’re now delightedly watching. They have Flickr’s GolPlaysWithLego to thank and you can see more of this superbly-presented homage to post-apoc vehicular violence via the link above.

€2m Statue

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The attribute that matters least with the world’s fastest, best driving, and highest performing cars is… the way they drive. Allow us to explain.

Bought alongside seventeen others by the super-rich, such cars are simultaneously placed on a balance sheet by an incredibly boring accountant, and in a sealed storage unit by company that specialises in not driving cars.

Thus when Ferrari announced a hypercar that couldn’t be driven, was stored by them, and cost over €2 million (back in 2015), it was perfect for their ultra-wealthy client base.

Based on the Ferrari LaFerrari, the FXX-K produced over 1,000bhp from a race-derived 6.3 litre V12 and Kinetic Energy Recovery System (fancy speak for ‘Hybrid’), wore specially developed Bridgestone tyres, featured uniquely engineered Brembo brakes, and generated nearly half-a-ton of downforce from an extreme aerodynamic package.

None of which mattered of course, for what is essentially a €2 million statue.

Cue previous bloggee Fabrice Larcheveque (aka ABFab74), who has recreated the Ferrari FXX-K brilliantly in 8-wide Speed Champions form. Presented superbly, there’s more of the model to see at Fabrice’s Flickr album, including a link to building instructions so you can create your own FXX-K at home. Whereafter – for the authentic FXX-K experience – you can pay someone €2 million to put it into storage…

The Worst Car in the World

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What’s the worst car in the world?

No, it’s the Tesla Cybertruck, a truck that can’t tow, that can’t off-road, that can’t be washed in sunlight, a truck on sale with literally unfinished software, that requires a $5,000 option not to rust, a truck with windshield wipers that drop off, window surrounds that drop off, critical braking issues, critical steering issues, and with wheels that slice into the tyres wrapped around them.

A testament to marketing over substance, the Cybertruck’s only saving grace is that this automotive equivalent of the Fyre Festival is unable to be sold in Europe – because it is so dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists and other road users – so we’ll never have to see one.

Except in Lego form of course, thanks today to Thomas Gion‘s very neatly constructed 6-wide example, which demonstrates another one of the Tesla Cybertruck’s myriad of alarming issues. Click the link above to check it out, or here if you’re not sure why there’s a sliced carrot sticking out of the fender.

Dedicated Follower of Fashion*

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American automotive design was at its most outrageous by the late ’50s. Increasingly wild shapes, jet engine tail lights, and tail-fins half the length of the car were redrawn every two years, with manufacturers reusing the same (often rather tired) underpinnings underneath constantly new fashion-conscious exteriors. ’50s American cars had lifecycles as short as LEGO sets…

Of course there’s probably a metaphor there somewhere about what actually matters being what’s on the inside, as by the ’70s the wheels were starting to come off, but in 1959 no-one was thinking that far ahead. In fact no-one thought further than the next 24 months.

Today’s creation epitomises this time; the fabulously extravagant 1959 Dodge Coronet. The fourth generation car we have here lasted from just 1957 to 1959 (with its predecessors each lasting no more than two years also), measured nearly 6 meters long, and was powered by a range of six and eight cylinder engines, some of which dated from the 1920s.

This lovely 8-wide Speed Champions recreation of the ’59 Coronet comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks, who has added it to his ever growing roster of classic automotive Americana. With so many short-lived designs crammed into America’s golden age, SFH has no shortage of real-world cars to replicate, and you can check out this wonderful Dodge and much more besides via the link in the text above.

*Today’s title song.

Collection of Letters

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This is a Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE, which is very boring name. It’s not a boring car though, being designed for the World Endurance Championship’s GT-Class (which includes Le Mans), and being the single loudest thing that this TLCB Writer has ever heard*.

Built by newcomer Reddish Blue, this superb Speed Champions example replicates the works cars that competed in the 2017 championship and came 4th in class at the famous 24 hour race.

Building instructions are available and you can find out more about Reddish’s Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE at his album of the same name via the link above.

*Except for your Mom last night.

Muppety Relations

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Kermit and Miss Piggy might be the world’s most famous puppet-based couple, but the mechanics of their relationship are probably not something upon which to ponder too deeply. Cue this green pig, as however nightmarish the offspring of a frog and a pig might be, in car form the result is fantastic.

Previous bloggee PleaseYesPlease is the builder behind this stunning Speed Champions modified Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2, which – even in American-safety-bumper form – looks the business.

Stretched tyres and a little window stickerage aren’t strictly purist, but then we started this post with an amphibian-swine sex metaphor, so don’t go looking to us for formality.

There’s more to see of Please’s gloriously green Porsche 911 at the link above, plus you can find every time their works have appeared here to date via this bonus link.

All Night Smokin’

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Back in the 1980s, anything that was bad for you could be found on the side of a racing car. Which has got to be cooler than the crypto currency and credit cards we get today.

This particular mobile billboard for cancer comes courtesy of Porsche, and the last time they won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the 962C, when Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Al Holbert crossed the line twenty laps ahead of the second-placed car. Which was also a Porsche 962C.

Built by SFH_Bricks, this exquisite Speed Champions replica of the 1987 race winner includes a superbly authentic livery thanks to Brickstickershop, custom wheels, and building instructions are available too.

Head for post-race cigarette via the link above.

Summer of ’59

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As uninspired, dreary and monotonous as American cars have been since the late-’90s, they were spectacular, inventive, and pioneering in the late-’50s. Tail-fins, chrome, and delightful shapes abounded during America’s automotive golden years, with two high watermarks being Chevrolet’s gorgeous C1 Corvette and iconic Impala.

Recreating these icons of Americana is SFH_Bricks, who has begun a new series building the most famous ’50s cars in Speed Champions scale. Joining his previously blogged Cadillac El Dorado, the Corvette and Impala pictured here capture each classic Chevrolet beautifully in miniature (with the pieces used for the Impala’s tail-lights in particular perfectly formed for the task).

There’s more to see of SFH’s wonderfully presented classic Chevrolet Corvette and Impala models (including details on building instructions) on Flickr via the links, where we’re sure a fleet of ’50s American classic will be sure to join them.

From Monaco to the Moon

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Barely a week goes by without yet another supercar start-up promising to build a brand new supercar, hold their own race series, and go to the moon. Which means of course, that most never build anything more than a fancy website and a few ludicrous press-releases before fading into nothingness within a year.

But back in the ’90s, a supercar start-up really did build a brand new supercar, hold their own race series, and – unbelievably – they’re now going to the moon.

Funded by the heir to the Agusta company (of aviation and motorcycle fame), Monaco-based Venturi’s bi-turbo 400 GT was designed for endurance racing, with around one-hundred produced to race in various GT championships, their own one-make series, and the Le Mans 24 hours. It was good too, competing with – and sometimes beating – racing stalwarts Ferrari and Porsche.

Under twenty were also produced for road use before production ceased in 1997, with this superb Speed Champions recreation of the road-going 400 GT constructed by LegoSEB77, who has absolutely nailed the French supercar’s mid-’90s aesthetic.

But what of the moon? Well Venturi folded in 2000, before being bought by a new owner who -with incredible foresight – transitioned the company to focus solely on electric motors. Motors which amazingly are now part of both NASA and SpaceX’s lunar rover programmes.

So there you have it, a supercar start-up that really did make the car it promised to, won races with it, and is now going to the moon, and you can see more of SEB77’s excellent brick-built version of the Venturi 400 GT on Flickr via the link above.

Le Mans ’71

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It might be Ferrari and Toyota at the top of endurance racing right now, but there’s one manufacturer that has dominated Le Mans more than any other; Porsche.

Winning the Le Mans 24 Hours on nineteen occasions, the first of Porsche’s victories came in 1970 thanks to this; the magnificent 917K.

Powered by a wild flat-12, the 917 debuted in 1969, where it was… rubbish. Dodgy aerodynamics (which were still largely experimental at the time) made the car terrifying to drive at high speed, but Porsche refined the car, chopping the tail off and later fitting it with two stabilising fins and a magnesium chassis.

The result was the most dominant one-two in Le Mans history, when in 1971 both 917Ks finished some thirty laps ahead of the third place Ferrari.

This spectacular Speed Champions recreation of the ’71 race winning car, complete with its iconic Martini Racing livery, comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks of Flickr, who has captured the 917K absolutely beautifully in brick form.

Building instructions are available and there are more stunning images to view at SFH’s photostream. Click the link above to take a look, and wait thirty laps for the Ferrari to catch up.

Porsche vs. Porsche

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Le Mans is getting very exciting of late, with a raft of new works teams entering or re-entering the world’s most revered motor race. Lamborghini, BMW, Cadillac and Peugeot have all joined or are about to, plus – most famously – Ferrari, who took the outright win upon their return last year.

Back in the late-’70s however, the competition was rather more… one-dimensional. Porsche were the only works team competing for outright victory in 1979, and even though their 935 was already several years old, its 800bhp twin-turbo flat-6 and immense reliability meant it was so dominant that one by one all other manufacturers dropped out of endurance racing.

The result was that a third of all the entrants in the 1979 24 Heures du Mans were Porsches, and no other works manufacturers took part. Unsurprisingly, it was Porsche that took victory, competing mostly against their own cars raced by customer teams, with the Kremer Porsche 935 K3 of Klaus Ludwig, and Don & Bill Whittington crossing the line having covered the most distance after 24 hours, followed home by two other Porsche 935s and a 934.

This superb Speed Champions replica of that race-winning car comes from previous bloggee K MP of Flickr, who has recreated both the car and its livery in beautiful detail. Take a look via the link above, and get ready for a much more competitive 24 Heures du Mans than it was in 1979 in just a few days time!

8-Stud Huayra

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LEGO are yet to release a Speed Champions Pagani Huayra, but if they do it’ll have to be quite a set to beat this one.

Constructed by Flickr’s Fabrice Larcheveque, this 8-wide homage to the wild Italian hypercar captures the real car brilliantly, including a detailed engine and interior, and with building instructions available you can recreate it for yourself too.

Head to Fabrice’s Flickr album to take a look.

8-Wide-8

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Remember when BMW’s were understated and classy? Well this was not one of those cars. But by today’s BMW standards it’s positively minimalist.

Launched in 1990, the E31 8-Series was a technical tour-de-force, featuring the world’s first drive-by-wire throttle and the first combination of a V12 engine with a manual gearbox. And BMW were going to go further still, with an even more powerful ‘M8’ version.

However it wasn’t to be, with a global recession and the Gulf War (thanks Saddam) killing the M8 before it could be released. That hasn’t stopped Flickr’s LegoSEB77 from imagining what could have been though, and you can check out his excellent 8-wide BMW ‘M8’ via the link above.

We’re All Like, People of the World Man

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It was the Eurovision Song Contest last night, and if any non-European readers tuned in during the vote reveal, they may have thought they’d accidentally arrived at a 1970s Vietnam War opposition rally.

Almost every country’s host took the opportunity to remind us that the competition’s songs were not in fact banal Euro-pop as we thought, but the source of love and world peace. Urgh. It’s enough to make us want to start a fight.

It was more straightforward back in actual 1970s, when world peace was dispensed not by pseudo-intellectual television hosts, but by Volkswagen-van-driving-hippies with names like Waterfall and Crystal, via beads, tie-dye, and foreign narcotics.

Cue previous bloggee 1saac W., whose Volkswagen T2 bus is so peaceful it has itself been tie-dyed. A kaleidoscope of coloured plates, afforded by LEGO’s ever expanding colour-pallet, make up the VW’s groovy exterior, and you can collect your beads and foreign narcotics from Waterfall and Crystal at 1saac’s photostream via the link above.

You’ll be contributing to world peace about as much as this does anyway…