Tag Archives: Technic

LEGO Technic 42236 Custom Garage Ford Mustang GT | Set Preview


A crack team of TLCB Elves were recently fired – by way of the office catapult – over The LEGO Company’s perimeter wall. Their mission; to uncover the brand new LEGO Technic sets for 2026. And not get eaten by the guard dogs.

Two have already returned (and their ‘Fast & Furious’ finds can be seen in our set reveal here), and today we have another. And it’s even more modified than the ‘Fast & Furious’ pair. This is the LEGO Technic 42236 Custom Garage Ford Mustang GT.

Aimed at ages 10+ and constructed from just under 1,000 pieces, 42236 is an interesting idea (and possibly sub-brand*) that allows builders to modify their model with a range of styling components, including wider arches, a scooped hood, wings and splitters. Which explains the higher piece count and raised price (£80 / $100 / €90) than we’re used to with other sets of this scale.

It’s also the set for you if you like stickers, because 42236 is covered in them. Wheels, grille, body panels, rear lights… they’re all decals. And whilst that does create an interesting colour scheme, we’re kinda at the point where the base car could be anything and LEGO simply change the manufacturer it represents by altering the stickers that come with it.

Working steering and a V8 under the swappable hood do feature though, and you can get your hands on the new 42236 Custom Garage Ford Mustang GT when it arrives this summer.


*We’re eagerly anticipating further Custom Garage sets that represent the modifying scene here in TLCB’s home nation.

B is for BuWizz


TLCB Elves are running for their lives today, because this tremendous Technic remote control Group B rally car is roaring up and down the office corridor. TLCB staff may or may not be at the controls…

Constructed by TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, entered into last year’s BuWizz Gathering, and inspired by a number of ‘80s rally machines, it shows the best of what can be achieved with LEGO Technic and compatible third-party electronics.


Twin LEGO Buggy Motors, Servo steering, all-wheel double-wishbone suspension, a mid-mounted V6 engine, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and BuWizz 2.0 Bluetooth control all feature, as do building instructions so you can create Nico’s model for yourself to terrorise the animals in your own house.

There’s loads more to see at the Eurobricks forum and you can make a beeline there via the link above, plus you can watch Nico’s creation in action via the video below.

YouTube Video

LEGO Technic 42229 & 42231 Fast & Furious | Set Previews


It’s a set reveal day here at The Lego Car Blog, and we have not one but two brand new Technic ‘Fast & Furious’ sets!

Yes, LEGO are continuing to mine the thick vehicular seam of ‘Fast & Furious’ movies, with two more cars from the franchise joining the LEGO line-up. Or perhaps it’s just one…

On to the that ‘one’, and it’s Brian O’Conner’s character genesis. This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42229 Fast & Furious Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Constructed from just over 800 pieces, 42229 captures the lurid modified Eclipse from the very first movie rather well (and brings Mitsubishi into LEGO’s list of officially-licensed manufacturers for the first time).

Aimed at ages 14+ the new set features a working piston engine, ‘HOG’ steering, opening doors, hood and trunk, and stickers that recreate the car’s famous early-‘00s graphics. Expected to cost around $65 / £55 / €65, you’ll be able to take delivery of the LEGO Technic 42229 Fast & Furious Mitsubishi Eclipse in June of 2026. Unless Johnny Tran blows it up first.


The second addition to the ‘Fast & Furious’ line-up is rather larger than 42229, but we get the feeling we’ve seen it before. This is the LEGO Technic 42231 Dodge Charger R/T.

Aimed at ages 18+ and with over 1,500 pieces, 42231 brings Dom’s modified Dodge Charger from the first ‘Fast & Furious’ film to shelves from June, only it’s not called ‘Dom’s Dodge Charger’ because it was last time round.

Six years on from that first ‘Fast & Furious’ Dodge Charger Technic set and 42231 ups the piece-count (and price) considerably, although not the features, which remain as a working V8, steering, suspension, and opening doors/hood, whilst the wheelie-stand from the previous 42111 set has been omitted. Hmm.

Still, recycling content is a staple of the ‘Fast & Furious’ identity, thus LEGO repeating a past formula for another ‘Fast & Furious’ set is rather appropriate.

We also think that the LEGO Technic 42231 Fast & Furious Dodge Charger looks pretty good, helped by the debut of a few new parts (including staggered width tyres – hurrah!), and you’ll be able to get your hands on it for $150 / £140 / €150 when it jumps over a railway track in June 2026.


So there you have it. Two new-for-2026 Technic ‘Fast & Furious’ sets, one of which is a larger more expensive reheat of something that’s gone before. And it doesn’t get any more ‘Fast & Furious’ than that!

String Theory

Unifying quantum mechanics and general relativity, String Theory proposes that the universe is composed of vibrating one-dimensional strings instead of points, incorporating all particles and forces into a single framework. Alternatively it’s adding some string to a LEGO set to make a new one. We’re doing the latter today…

This is paave’s Technic mobile crane, and it’s built only from the parts of the 42175 LEGO Technic Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator set. Plus a piece of string.

Featuring working steering, outriggers, boom elevation and extension, superstructure rotation, and an inline-6 engine, paave’s alternate is an excellent reconstitution of the 42175 donor, and one you can build for yourself as instructions are available. As long as you have some string. Find a link to them and further build details on Eurobricks via the link above.

YouTube Video

Not in Iran

If you’ve been vaguely aware of the news over the past few weeks it’s been getting a bit bomby in the Middle East.

That’s because President Trump knew that Iran were going to start a war with America, a war that they in fact started 47 years ago, and so he started a war himself, that’s not a war, that Iran started. Ok it might be a war, but it’s not about regime change. It’s about Iran’s imminent use of the nuclear weapons that America “completely and totally obliterated” only last year. Although the regime has also changed.

Anyway, the not-a-war will only last a few weeks, in fact it’s already been won. Although it might go on forever. And NATO need to grow a pair a get involved. Not that Trump needs them.

And if all that sounds like the ravings of an unfiltered toddler making the words up literally as they leave their mouth, that’s because it is.

Thus here’s NATO’s actual front line – the one designed to keep America safe from the Soviet Union behind the buffer of Europe, which isn’t in the Middle East at all – a tremendous Czech Tatra 815-7 8×8 Starkom electronics jammer.

Constructed by Samuel Nerpas (aka Tatrovak), this incredible creation features all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering via eight Power Functions XL Motors and two Servos, working all-wheel suspension with adjustable ride height via two M Motors, and pneumatically driven stabilisers via another M Motor. Two CaDa micromotors power the roof-mounted weapons system, with all fifteen operable remotely via a pair of BuWizz Bluetooth bricks, plus there’s a tilting cab complete with a fully detailed interior, opening doors and hatches.

It’s a hugely impressive build, and you can take a closer look at what is still the front line of NATO, which is not in Iran, via both Eurobricks and Flickr.

Skiddadle

It’s an alternative day here at TLCB, as we’re back B-Modelling. This excellent skid-steer loader is our alternate of choice, being constructed only from the parts found within the Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane and retaining the donor set’s focus on motorised functionality.

A gearbox enables power to go to the boom elevation, bucket tilt, or drive, although not all at once. Which means you can chase a TLCB Elf down the office corridor but not simultaneously scoop it up. Not that we’ve tried…

Anyway, building instructions are available and you can see more of this neat 42082 B-Model courtesy of paave at the Eurobricks forum.

Mining Cornwall

The Cornwall Peninsula in the very south of the United Kingdom is famous for its pasties, beaches, cider, and – at one time – mining.

This began with silver and tin, plundered by the Romans, and ended with coal, plundered by the Government.

Mines were a combination of dangerous ‘pits’ and open cast, with the latter exploited by enormous mechanisation in later years. This is one such machine from the time, the 390-ton Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B electric rope shovel.


Recreated in 1:28.5 form, this spectacular replica of the Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B comes from recent bloggee Beat Felber, to work alongside his Terex 33-11C mining truck.

Like his previously featured Terex, Beat’s electric rope shovel is packed with electronics to bring it to life, with four Power Functions motors driving the tracks, two the swing motion, another the main winch, and an eighth the dipper handle. No, we don’t know what a dipper handle is.

Finally two CaDA micromotors power the bucket door release and motorised access ladder, there are two sets of LEDs lighting the model, and the whole lot is controllable remotely via twin SBricks.

It’s a hugely impressive feat of engineering, with lots more of the model to see at Beat’s ‘Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B’ Flickr album – where it’s pictured alongside the Terex 33-11C with which it would have worked mining Cornish coal.

Grab a pasty and a cider and head to 1980s Cornwall via the link above.

Blue and Yellow*


There are few things cooler than a red (they were all red) Ferrari F40. But if that thing is a blue and yellow F40 racer, that’d do it.

Cue Lachlan Cameron’s spectacular Technic Ferrari F40, which appeared here in road-going form back in 2023, and has now been built – courtesy of Lachlan producing instructions for his models – in a brilliant blue and yellow racing livery by another builder.


Xiao Baiya is behind the F40’s stunning conversion from road car to racer, which includes custom 3D-printed wheels with brakes behind them, and of course the epic decal work required to transform the model into the 1996 Team Ennea Ferrari F40 Le Mans contender.

There’s much more of the F40 to see at its original designer’s photostream, and you can check out our interview with Lachlan Cameron via this bonus link.


*Today’s excellent title song.

Big Forker

One of LEGO’s finest themes and eras was the early-’90s ‘Town’ range. Railways, airports, emergency services, and harbours all featured, with perhaps the best of them all being the huge 6542 Launch & Load Seaport.

Cue regular bloggee Thirdwigg, who has set out to recreate all of the elements of the wonderful 1991 set in Technic form, including the crane, containers, ships, truck, and forklift.

It’s the latter of these that he has recently completed, supersizing the original forklift from the set to Technic scale with working rear-steer, and tilting / raising forks, all operated mechanically.

There’s much more of Thirdwigg’s Technic 6542 forklift, and the other components completed so far, at his ‘6542 Bigger’ album, and you can take a look on Flickr via the link above.

Technically Trucking

From a tiny RC truck to one that’s rather larger, this is nico71’s splendid fully remote controlled 1:30 Scania.

Fitted with a pair of LEGO Power Functions motors for drive and steering, Nico’s truck also features opening doors, a tilting cab, lockable three-axle trailer steering, working support legs, and – if motors aren’t your thing – a manual version that switches the electronics for ‘HOG’ steering and a piston engine.

Building instructions for both versions are available, and you can find full details plus a video of the truck in action at the Eurobricks forum here, plus you can check out Nico’s interview in the Master MOCers series via this bonus link.

Peak Nineties Nissan

Japanese performance cars, and Nissan in particular, used to be on top of the world. With all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering, and a twin-turbocharged inline-6 engine, the ‘R32’ generation Nissan GT-R dominated early-’90s Class A racing.

Around 50,000 road-going examples were produced alongside the racing counterparts, with the GT-R quickly becoming one of the cars of Japan’s golden performance era.

This phenomenal brick-built replica comes from Eurobricks’ NoEXIST, who has not only replicated the R32 GT-R’s exterior wonderfully via a blend of Technic and System parts, he’s included the car’s defining all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering, and twin-turbocharged inline-6 engine, plus all-wheel independent suspension, working steering, and opening doors, hood and trunk.

Building instructions and a remote controlled version are both available, and there’s more of this amazing Nissan GT-R recreation to see at the Eurobricks forum, where full build details, links, and a video of the RC version can also be found, with the complete image gallery available at Bricksafe. Click the links above and jump back to peak ’90s Nissan.

Horse Handler

Ford Bronco owners like to think that by driving their boxy SUV people will think they’re outdoorsy farming types, rather than Jeff from Marketing. But they’re fooling no-one. However Flickr’s M_longer can help! Because this splendid telehandler – complete with working arm elevation and extension, deployable stabilisers, spring operated forks, all-wheel steering, and an inline piston engine – is constructed solely from the parts of the official 42213 Technic Ford Bronco set. No-one’s gonna think you work in marketing driving this! Switch up your Bronco for a real farm machine courtesy of M_longer via the link above, where building instructions for this brilliant Bronco B-Model can also be found.

Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car | Set Preview

TLCB have just reviewed a championship-winning Formula 1 car, and now we have another! This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car.

Like the Williams-Renault FW14B a quarter-century before it, the McLaren MCL39 won both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships (making Lando Norris a world champion), and with LEGO’s longstanding relationship with the British car maker and its race team, the arrival of 42228 was almost to be expected.

At 1:8 scale and with 1,675 pieces, 42228 is a hefty Technic set, with a price-tag to match, costing £189.99 / $229.99 / €209.99 when it arrives on March 1st ’26. For that sizeable outlay buyers will get working steering and pushrod suspension, a V6 engine and two-speed (boo) gearbox under a removable engine cover, and a functional drag-reduction-system (DRS) on the rear wing linked to the transmission’s top (aka ‘only other’) gear.

You also get a seriously large amount of stickers to recreate McLaren’s 2025 sponsors (even the dodgy crypto-currency ones), but not – and unlike the aforementioned Icons 10353 Williams FW14B set – staggered width tyres. Again. Come on LEGO, this is a $220 set.

Still, we suspect 42228 will be a hugely successful Technic set when it lands later this year, and further cements LEGO’s relationship with the pinnacle of motorsport and – for 2025 at least – the team at the top of it. Even with a two-speed gearbox and chronically lazy tyre sizing.

 

Town to Technic

The early-’90s were a golden era for LEGO’s ‘Town’ theme. Shops, restaurants, race tracks, 9V trains, and – our favourite – sea ports. The pinnacle was 6542 Launch & Load Seaport, which included two ships, a marvellous crane, and a truck, from which containers of various loads could be transferred to sea or rail, with LEGO ingeniously standardising the container mounts across a wide variety of sets.

Friend of TLCB Thirdwigg (aka wigboldy) is on a mission to recreate this glorious Town set in Technic form, including an upscaled version of 6542’s truck and the containers it carried. With working steering, deployable trailer support legs, and a piston engine under the tilting cab, the increased scale affords a few more working features than the four-wide original, and you can check out further images of Thirdwigg’s fantastic truck and the other components within his 6542 project created so far via the link above.

Free Dump

No we’re not talking about the utter scumbags who tip their trash on the side of the road, but – today – all of us, because this lovely mini dump truck can be built for free, courtesy of previous bloggee Thirdwigg.

It features working steering, a mechanically raising tipper, opening doors and dropsides, plus those free building instructions (a hundred TLCB Points to Thirdwigg), and you can dump for free on Flickr via the link above.