It’s been a while since we featured a small scale car, but proof that we do like creations with less than a billion pieces – when they’re constructed and presented as beautifully as this – comes from previous bloggee RGB900, who returns to TLCB with this superb ‘6-wide black sports car.’ Not the catchiest title, but it is a brilliant build, and shows how good a creation can be even when it’s small. See more at RGB900’s photostream via the link.
*Today’s title song. Obviously.
The second most visually arresting thing in 1967’s ‘The Graduate’, the Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider is surely one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
Costing the same as a Jaguar E-Type, early Spiders were fantastically expensive for a 1.6 litre 108 bhp 4-cylinder, but none of that mattered when they looked this good.
Marco Q thinks so too, having constructed this glorious early Duetto Spider, with opening doors, hood and trunk, working steering, and a brick-built recreation of the stunning mid-’60s Pininfarina styling.
There’s much more of Marco’s beautifully presented Alfa Romeo Duetto to see at his photostream, where further top quality images are available, and you can click the link above to graduate.
The second generation Toyota MR2 wowed the world when it arrived in the early 1990s. There was simply nothing more exotic looking for even twice the price, earning it the status as a ‘Poor man’s Ferrari’.
We’d say a ‘Sensible man’s Ferrari’ too, as – being a Toyota – the MR2 was infinitely better built (and – dare we say it – better engineered) than anything coming from Maranello, and the turbocharged version was even pretty quick.
After a period of ‘banger’ status, SW20 MR2s are rapidly becoming sought-after classics, and Daniel Helms (aka danielsmocs) is the lucky owner of one in real life.
Capturing his car in Lego, Daniel has recreated the second generation MR2 in brick form, complete with working pop-up headlights via a switch in the cabin, opening doors, front trunk, engine cover and luggage compartment, sliding seats, and removable ‘glass’ roof panels.
There’s much more of Daniel’s build to see at both his ‘Toyota MR2 (SW20)’ album on Flickr, and via the Eurobricks discussion forum. Join us and other poor men via the links!
LEGO’s town vehicles used to be rather narrow and upright, somewhat at odds with the squat mini-figures that drove them. Of course real vehicles used to be rather more narrow and upright than they are today too, as these days every vehicle seems to be ‘lower and wider’ than the one it replaces.
LEGO have also moved in this direction, presumably to more accurately reflect the cars we see on the roads, with Town (now City) vehicles a full 50% wider than they used to be.
Cue previous bloggee RGB900, who has updated the classic 6644 car and motorcycle set to the new 6-wide standard, adding a dose more detail in the process.
There’s more of RGB’s 6644 Redux to see at his photostream – take a look via the link above, where you can also see the original 4-wide Town set that inspired it.
The car of nine thousand memes. And nine thousand revs. Which is a lot.
The Honda S2000 was quite a special thing when it debuted in 1999, taking Honda’s VTEC system to the max, and fitted with a naturally-aspirated engine delivering a higher specific output per litre than anything that had gone before. Supercars included.
It also had rather spiky handling and a gauge cluster from a 1980s microwave, but none of that mattered when you reached peak power output at 8,800rpm.
This one was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr, and comes from Mihail Rakovskiy who has captured it near perfectly in brick form.
Take it to the 9,000rpm red line via the link above.
There are many great things about working for The Lego Car Blog; The rock-star level of fame. The immense riches. The queue of attractive girls waiting to enter TLCB Towers for a piece of the action.
However it’s not all paparazzi, wealth, and wild parties. Offsetting this are – as with everything in life – a few negatives; The Elves (obviously). The constant Cialis spam. The daily removal of (sometimes wildly) inappropriate images added to the Blogged by TLCB Flickr group. And lastly, the ‘Where can I buy this? / How do I build this? / Building instructions please’ comments, when every single post has a link to the builder’s page.
So today we’re addressing the latter of these, by – as you can see here – publishing the complete photo-based building instructions for Andrea Lattanzio (aka Norton74)‘s excellent Speed Champions scale ‘Classic Sports Car’.
Suggested by a reader and built from 160 fairly common pieces, Andrea’s classic Camaro-esque convertible can be constructed in just eighteen steps, each of which has been photographed superbly alongside a complete parts listing.
Andrea’s instructional album can be found on Flickr via the link in the text above, plus you can read his Master MOCers interview here at TLCB to learn more about how he designs creations such as this one.
Click the links to take a look, whilst this TLCB Writer responds to one of the countless Cialis messages in readiness for this evening’s wild party…
Over one in three Americans are obese, but TLCB’s home nation isn’t far behind, with 28% of the population being medically categorised as ‘chunkadunk’. Today though, we have two really small Brits, each being constructed in diminutive Speed Champions scale, yet still instantly recognisable as miniatures of their real-world brethren.
The first (above) is a tiny car in real life too, being a delightful recreation of the late-’50s Austin-Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite by RGB900. The real Spite measured just 3.5 metres in length, making it almost a third shorter than McLaren’s ridiculously-long 5.1 metre Speedtail.
Suggested by a reader, this neat Speed Champions version of one of McLaren’s million special editions is the work of newcomer User 5346 and there’s more of each small-scale Brit to see on Flickr. Take a look via the links above whilst we go and eat a donut or six.
Ask the internet any sports car question and the answer is always ‘Miata’. Except when it’s ‘Put an LS in it’. Although sometimes the answer is both.
Today’s answer is Miata too, courtesy of David Elisson‘s neatly recreated version of the iconic Japanese sports car in its fourth (ND) generation.
There’s space for two mini-figures, the doors and hood open (the latter revealing a well detailed engine underneath), and – rather impressively – the convertible roof works too.
Click the link above for the obvious answer.
This beautifully presented Datsun 240Z ‘Fairlady’ could be yours! Well, not this one; it’s owned by builder SP_LINEUP, but he’s also released his superb restomod classic Datsun as a kit available to buy. The model includes opening doors that reveal a wonderfully detailed interior, and an opening hood under which lives an accurately replicated RB26DET engine. See more of SP’s stunning Datsun 240Z at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump.
LEGO’s 42098 Technic Car Transporter is an interesting looking set. It comes with instructions for a B-Model too, but that hasn’t stopped TLCB Debutant Matthew Terentev from building his own creation solely from the parts found within the set.
Matthew’s C-Model takes the car transporter and sports car from 42098 and turns them into…. well, a car transporter and a sports car. But they really are most excellent.
Both models feature working steering and miniature working piston engines, whilst the truck also includes a sliding ramp to allow the car to load/unload.
See more of Matthew’s build on Flickr via the link above, where you can also find a link to instructions should you own a 42098 set and wish to build Matthew’s alternates for yourself.
We don’t particularly like the Porsche Boxter here at The Lego Car Blog, as they tend to be driven by… well, the title is a clue. Still, it’s a superb drivers car even if the drivers are knobs and one that deserves recognition, which TLCB regular SP_LINEUP (previously known as Simon Przepiorka) has given in Lego form through his excellent 1:24 version. The model includes opening doors, hood, trunk, plus a removable roof, and you can see more at the link.
Whatever the question, the answer is always Miata. Or MX-5 if you’re not American. Or Eunos if you’re in Japan. But you get the point. Light, reliable, fast enough, and able to go sideways, the Miata/MX-5/Eunos is very probably the greatest sports care ever made. This is SP_LINEUP‘s Speed Champions scale recreation of the second generation of Mazda’s iconic two seater roadster, and it captures the look of the real car beautifully, with opening doors, hood and a removable roof too. SP has made instructions for his design available should you wish to build your own and you can find these and further images at his photostream via the link above.
TVR and MOCpages have much in common. Unreliable yet much loved, they both enjoyed a glorious peak and then slipped into obscurity.
But there is hope.
TVR has a new owner and a new car on the way designed by McLaren F1 legend Gordon Murray, whilst MOCpages can, if the moon is in the right place and the servers are working, still reveal an absolute gem. This is one, created by a builder prolific during the site’s heyday, and it’s a car from TVR’s glorious mid-90’s heyday too.
Nick Barrett built this lovely TVR Griffith as a commission for an owner of the real thing, and he’s captured the British sports car superbly. You can head to MOCpages (if the site is working*) for all the photos, plus you can read Nick’s interview here at TLCB as he now builds Lego models for a job. And it all started on MOCpages.
*Or here if it’s not. Just like a TVR owner, it’s best to have a back-up.
We like usual cars here at The Lego Car Blog, and they don’t come much more unusual than this.
‘This’ is a 1954 HWM Cadillac, built for amateur racer Tony Page and raced across England in the mid 1950s. Page took the Cadillac engine from his previous racing car, an Allard J2, and fitted it to a chassis and body from Hersham & Walton Motors of London, who built competitive Jaguar-engined sports and Formula 2 cars in the early ’50s.
After racing successfully for a few years Page sold the car, whereupon it raced in New Zealand until 1970 when it disappeared into storage. The car surfaced again in 2012 when it was acquired by a new owner and fully restored.
This gorgeous recreation of the HWM Cadillac comes from Tim Inman of Flickr who has done a stellar job of recreating the one-off classic, complete with a detailed replica of the Cadillac engine that powered the car. There’s more to see of Tim’s excellent build at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump to the full gallery.
Those of you with good memories will known that Simon Przepiorka‘s excellent slighlty-larger-than-Speed-Champions-scale Honda S2000 has appeared at The Lego Car Blog before. Back in March Simon’s model featured here sporting an Amuse bodykit, about which we wrote “Whether you like that addition or not will be a matter of taste (TLCB Elves and TLCB staff differ somewhat here…)”.
Simon has now updated his AP1 S2000 for those of us who aren’t TLCB Elves (or aged seven), by removing the aforementioned bodykit, lightly modifying the fenders, and fitting a great looking black hardtop.
As before Simon’s Honda includes opening doors and an opening hood, under which sits an easily removable F20C engine, famous for its bolt-activated high-lift cam system and 9000rpm redline. He’s also made instructions available should you wish to build your own version of his design and you can find the link to them, plus see all of the superb imagery, at Simon’s Flickr photostream. Click the link above to take a closer look.
