Tag Archives: Sweden

Cooler Box

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We don’t care what anyone says, this is the coolest car we’ve ever posted. Yes, this magnificent slab of Swede, a Volvo 242, is so deeply cool that The Brothers Brick can’t look at it directly. We on the other hand, being connoisseurs of cool, can’t get enough of Stephan Jonsson’s glorious grey box. Even more so as it’s the ‘Coupe’ variant.

Of course being an ’80s Volvo the 242 is the single squarest coupe ever devised, and – unlike every other Volvo of the time – your Ikea boxes have to go on the roof rather than in the boot, but that just makes it cooler.

A beautifully detailed engine, opening doors, hood and boot, a spectacularly orange interior, and accessories like a roof rack and tow bar add to our delight, and there’s more to see of the coolest car we’ve ever posted at Stephan’s ‘Volvo 242 Group H’ album on Flickr. We like really like old Volvos.

Heavy Swedish Action

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It’s time for some double Volvo goodness here at TLCB, thanks to the super-talented TLCB regular Damian Z. (aka thietmaier).

Damian’s latest builds are a Volvo FH12 truck, hefty three-axle low-loader trailer, and a wonderfully life-like Volvo EC240 excavator, each of which has been both built and presented beautifully.

All three builds demonstrate stunning attention to detail, with some brilliant building techniques used to achieve it, and there’s more to see of Damian’s Volvo truck, excavator, and the trailer that allows one to transport the other at his album on Flickr. Click the link above to take a closer look.

Not All Ferraris are Red….

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This is a Ferrari 250 GTO, a car numbering less than 40 units and today worth roughly three squillion dollars. They are most famously red of course (as highlighted by the beautiful Model Team version we featured here earlier this week), however a handful of GTOs have strayed from the Ferrari corporate uniform over the years, one being Sir Stirling Moss‘s bespoke green car, and another being this; No. 112, painted – magnificently we think – in the colours of Sweden.

Now owned by a billionaire (what Ferrari 250 GTOs aren’t?), the unique 250 GTO was raced in Europe during the 1960s by Swedish racing driver Ulf Norinder, who competed very successfully in some the continent’s most prestigious events.

This incredible replica of that uniquely painted car comes from previous bloggee and Lego-building legend Jens M., who has recreated No.112 in astonishing detail. A lifelike engine resides under the opening hood, the trunk opens to reveal the fuel tank, and a realistic interior is accessible through the opening doors. Plus, most importantly of course, it’s blue with a big yellow stripe down the middle.

It’s one of the finest Lego cars we’ve featured this year, and there’s more to see of Jen’s stunning creation at his ‘Ferrari 250 GTO album‘ on Flickr. Click the link to make the jump to this one-of-a-kind classic racer, and you can see an equally brilliant brick-built 250 GTO in the more traditional red via the link in the text above if you missed it earlier in the week.

Squarange*

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Lego Volvo 240 DL

Contrary to today’s other post, this slice of orange magnificence is not of interest to the Elves one bit. It is however, so our kind of car! Old, square, and with the design aesthetic of an East German office block, the Volvo 240 DL and TLCB Towers have much in common.

This wonderful recreation of one of the finest lumps of Swedish steel comes from LegoJalex, and never has the humble LEGO brick seemed more suited to a vehicle. Opening doors, hood and trunk-lid all feature, as does a deliciously brown interior. If you’re as much of a fan as we are (and therefore probably a bit odd), you can see more of this classic Volvo on Flickr via the link above!

*Because it’s square. And orange.

Flatpack Hot Rod

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Lego Saab 21R Aircraft

The Swedes; famous for their flatpack furniture, attractive blondes, and – as we can see here – their fighter aircraft. This is a 1950 Saab 21R, and it does look a bit like someone read the instructions upside-down when they opened the box to assemble it. Fear not though, it is supposed to look like that, and being one of the very earliest jet-powered aircraft the Saab’s twin-boom tail design was actually a common solution back in the late ’40s and early ’50s.

The Saab 21R was developed from the earlier piston-engined Saab 21 as an attack aircraft to help Sweden quickly catch up with the other airforces’ jet-engined counterparts. British jet maker de Havilland supplied their ‘Goblin II’ engine from the magnificent Vampire fighter, and Saab shoved it in the back of their 21 to jump them into the jet-age, making the 21R one of only two aircraft in history to be retro-fitted with a jet engine.

The 21R saw service for only six short years before it was replaced by the Saab 29 Tunnan, which was designed as a jet from the outset, and only around 60 were made. Nevertheless we quite like the 21R – shoving a much more powerful engine into something clearly never designed for it is the hot rodder’s way!

This brilliant Lego recreation of Saab’s ’50s airborne hot rod is the work of previous bloggee Stefan Johansson, and it’s a wonderfully intricate build. You can see more of it and Stefan’s other historic Saab aircraft at his Flickr photostream – click the link above to take off.

Swedish Twins

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Lego Volvo Trucks Swedish TwinsFlickr user Smigol stopped searching for the one ring just long enough to build this great Swedish pair. His two Town-scale Volvo FH trucks look the business, and more importantly have allowed us to use some phrases which will return hits from searches that are, er… a little ‘different’ to the usual ones that bring people here, which is always funny. So if you’re here for LEGO, check out Smigol’s work via the link above, and if you’re here expecting Scandinavian sisters, apologies for the trickery!