Tag Archives: Toyota

Maximum Mundanity

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We’re half-way through the Festival of Mundanity, in which we’re looking for the most boring vehicles built from brick!

There are some awesome prizes on offer including the ace BuWizz 3.0 Pro, a package of iDisplayit stands for LEGO sets, and any Game of Bricks lighting kit!

Hoping to score said loot, two entrants previously featured here have recently maximised the mundanity of their creations to increase their scores, after we said “this could only be more boring if…”.

That ‘if’ for 1saac W., who had built the default for motoring mundanity (and his own car), involved recreating the tedium of interpreting parking restrictions. In a white Toyota Corolla. Now that really is mundane.

Another builder on the hunt for more mundane points is iBrickedItUp, whose Cozy Coupe manages to span both our Vehicular category and our partner BrickNerd‘s Object category. It was pictured in a rather delightful garden scene, but outside, in the rain, next to the bins… that’s a whole heap more mundane.

IBrickedItUp has also recreated the sea of dull that is a rental car lot, with a choice of ‘white, off-white, pale-beige‘, BHBricks has built a Scion xB – a car that tried so hard not to be mundane it’s the very thing it became – and the tedium of loading a box truck, whilst Sergio Batista has built the Fiat Multipla, which is a quandary for us, as it wasn’t mundane at all, but its purpose absolutely was.

There’s still half the competition to go, and we’d love to see your boring vehicles, built in any scale, whether Town, Creator, Technic or anything in-between. BrickNerd are after your mundane objects; a few of the fantastic entries received so far are pictured above!

You can see many of the entries to date in the contest Flickr group, and we’ll end this competition update with an extra link to surely the most mundane object in the history of mankind… Bravo Tim Inman, bravo.

Check out the full Festival of Mundanity Competition details here.

Motoring Mundanity

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Aaaand here it is; the pinnacle of mundane motoring. It’s the plain white rice of cars. It’s anything by Will.I.Am since ‘Where is the Love?’. If it were a country it would be Belgium. TLCB’s fridge has more character than this. Yes, it’s the mid-2000s Toyota Corolla Sedan. In white.

There are interesting iterations of the Corolla of course, and the current one is actually a rather funky looking thing (even more so when the Gazoo Racing version arrives), but this one… er, no.

Which means it’s exactly the sort of thing we’re’ looking for in the Festival of Mundanity Competition we’re co-hosting with BrickNerd.

Flickr’s 1saac W. is the lucky duck who owns one of these in real life, and has recreated the world’s best selling car in brick form in the hope of winning some most excellent prizes.

He’s scored some decent mundane points, but there’s a long way to go, with a load of new entries appearing in the Flickr group over the last few days. You can check out these and 1saac’s brilliantly boring build via the links above, and if you’re inspired to build you own entry (we haven’t had any large scale cars yet) you check out the competition details here or over on BrickNerd, where mundane objects are the order of the day.

Don’t Mention the War II

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For some reason people don’t seem to like it when Germany and Japan collaborate. What? We’ve already done that joke today? Damn…

Moving on, this is the fifth generation Toyota Supra, a frankly wonderful looking sports car widely hated by the internet for being a partnership between BMW and Toyota. Which means of course that it’s rather excellent.

This spectacular Technic recreation of the internet’s least favourite collaboration is the work of Jeroen Ottens, who was commissioned to replicate the A90 Supra’s wild bodywork in brick form.

Not only has Jeroen done that, he’s included a working 6-cylinder engine linked to the rear wheels, an 8-speed gearbox, independent suspension, and working steering, plus opening doors, tailgate and hood.

It’s a fantastic creation, and – whether you’re a xenophobic internet commenter or can appreciate a good car regardless of badge stamped into the components – one that’s worth a closer look.

Head over to Flickr or Eurobricks for full build details, further imagery, and the potential for “That’s not a Supra”/”Nice BMW” comments.

Lego Land Cruiser

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With Toyota becoming the latest vehicle manufacturer to join LEGO’s growing list of partners, we’re hopeful that the legendary FJ40 Land Cruiser will one day be available in brick form. Until then Flickr’s PalBenglat has fulfilled the brief brilliantly with his lovely Town scale Fj40. Clever building techniques accurately step the width from four to six studs front to rear, there’s room for two mini-figures side-by-side, and LEGO’s classic Town truck wheels have probably never looked more at home. See more at the link above and cross your fingers LEGO have a Land Cruiser of their own in the works…

Tofu Delivery

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Delivering tofu in a Japanese economy car doesn’t sound like the type of story to create an automotive legend, but then stranger things have happened. The Toyota Corolla AE86 Trueno did indeed become an automotive all-star thanks to a cartoon tofu delivery driver, and they’re now worth approximately a $billion.

This wonderfully accurate 8-wide Speed Champions version by Jerry Builds Bricks captures the famous two-tone Trueno superbly, and there’s more to see of his Initial D legend on Flickr. Click the link above to place your order. What even is tofu anyway?

The Joy of the Unexceptional

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We love the unexceptional here at The Lego Car Blog. McLarens, Lamborghinis and Porsches are all very exciting, but we sometimes prefer to celebrate the ordinary. (Maybe we’ll run a building competition to that end one day…)

Ironically, due their uninterestingness, ordinary cars are rarely built by the online Lego Community, which understandably prefers to build things of a more exciting nature. More ironically, ageing every-day cars are probably now rarer in the real world than the aforementioned exotica, which in our eyes makes them much more interesting. We’d certainly pay a 1980s Toyota Corolla station wagon (if ever we saw one) more attention than we would a modern Aston Martin.

And so it is on these pages today, where we’re eschewing brick-built exotica for said 1980s family estate car, with its 1.6 litre engine and well under 100bhp.

This wonderful Technic recreation of the TE70-series Toyota Corolla comes from Danifill of Eurobricks, who has captured the mundane exterior brilliantly in brick-form. Underneath is brilliant too, as a LEGO Buggy Motor, Servo Motor, and third-party BuWizz bluetooth battery provide the model with remote control drive and steering, and a surprising turn of speed.

There’s lots more to see of Danifill’s celebration of the unexceptional at the Eurobricks forum via the link above, plus you can watch the model in action via the video below. Take a look whilst we ponder a possible building contest…

YouTube Video

Life-Size LEGO Supra

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LEGO have a long tradition of building life-size vehicles. From build-your-own McLarens, to full size Lamborghini sets, via drivable Bugattis, a Fiat 500, and a Ducati superbike, all manner of vehicles have been recreated in 1:1 scale from little plastic bricks.

Cue LEGO’s latest full-size creation, this time constructed for Legoland Japan over 4,500 hours, it’s the stunning Toyota GR Supra.

Pictured above alongside the real car, LEGO’s replica faithfully captures the GR Supra’s wild lines from 477,303 mostly-yellow LEGO bricks in 1:1 scale.

LEGO’s life-size GR Supra recreation also features a few components from the real Japanese sports car, including the wheels, tyres, seat and steering wheel. Why the wheels, tyres, seat, and steering wheel? Because this brick-built GR Supra can drive!

OK, it doesn’t feature the real GR Supra’s 3 litre inline six, but nevertheless an electric motor hidden within does enable this full scale model to move. We assume Legoland Japan has a similarly enormous skirting board to crash it into too, for the full Speed Champions experience.

The model’s top speed of 17mph doesn’t quite match the real GR Supra’s electronically limited v-max of 155mph, despite it weighing not too much more than the real deal, but we suspect that’s probably fast enough in a vehicle held together by studs-and-tubes.

Our Japanese readers can check out the full-size LEGO Toyota GR Supra at Legoland Japan where the model is on display, whilst the rest of us will have to make do with something considerably smaller…

FJ40

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If there’s one 4×4 cooler than the Land Rover Defender, this is it. The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 is an off-roading icon, and thus – like all things old and Japanese – it’s now worth about a million pounds.

However with the news that Toyota have become the latest auto manufacturer to partner with LEGO, we may one day see an official Land Cruiser set, which will be a far more attainable way to FJ40 ownership for this TLCB Writer, even with immense fame, glory and groupies that working for this site brings…

Until then though, regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott has created a Speed Champions scale Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 so good we doubt LEGO will do any better should they decide to produce one. And it’s yellow.

Glorious attention to detail and ingenious building techniques are in evidence everywhere you look, and there’s more to see of Jonathan’s brilliant FJ40 at his photostream via the link.

Speed Champions 2021 H2 | Set Previews

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The Elves have been busy! A crack team of ‘volunteers’, sent into the bowels of The LEGO Company’s HQ, have returned, some of them without any German Shepherd teeth marks at all! The fruits of their mission are six new Speed Champions sets for 2021, and – more excitingly – two brand new manufacturer partnerships.

76900 Koenigsegg Jesko

The first of the two new manufacturer partnerships is the hardest to spell. Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg have been a bedroom wall staple for years, and 76900 will bring Koenigsegg’s 1,300bhp (and rumoured 300+mph top speed) Jesko to bedroom floors too when it arrives alter this year. The Speed Champions version includes 280 pieces and – to our eyes – really looks the part. Expect it to cost around $20/£15 when it hits stores, and for bedroom floors to be a much faster place.

76901 Toyota GR Supra

The second new partnership is the one we’re most excited about, although perhaps not the first model to come from it. 76901 marks the first officially licensed Toyota set, and brings their spectacularly styled fifth generation Supra into the Speed Champions line-up. It’s a shame then that the resulting model looks so awkward, in particular the dodgy-looking stickered headlights. Still, LEGO know what sells, and we suspect that 76901 will be mighty popular. Plus, if it opens the door to a Technic or Creator Toyota Land Cruiser, Le Mans racer, or Yaris WRC car, we’re all for it. Aimed at ages 7+, expect 299 parts and the usual $20/£15 price-tag.

76902 McLaren Elva

The third new set in the 2021 Speed Champions line-up recreates yet another McLaren in brick form. The near $2million Elva is one of far too many real-world McLaren special editions, giving LEGO a vast range of McLaren cars to turn into sets. It’s not one of our favourites this one, although the wing-mirror looks cool. Less stickers (good), less parts (bad), and likely the same price-tag as the sets above.

76903 Chevrolet C8.R & ’68 Chevrolet Corvette

This is more like it! The first double-car set of the 2021 Speed Champions range, 76903 brings the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R racing car and ’68 Corvette C3 to the line-up, and they both look fantastic. The modern C8.R shows how stickers should be applied (i.e. to create a livery, not as a substitute for the brick-built basics), whilst the classic C3 might be one of the nicest Speed Champions road cars ever. 76903 includes 512 parts, two mini-figures, and is expected to cost around $40/£35 when it arrives later this year.

76904 Mopar Dodge Top Fuel Dragster & ’70 Dodge Challenger

The American road and racing car combo continues with 76904; Dodge’s iconic ’70 Challenger (in their excellent ’70s purple!) alongside an enormous Mopar Top Fuel dragster. Unlike the larger sets from previous years no gantry or starting lights are included (which is fine by us as they always look a bit rubbish), but the size of the dragster alone increases the piece count to 627. Two mini-figures and a lot of stickers for the dragster are included, and we expect 76904 to cost around $60/£55.

76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition & Bronco R

The final new set in the 2021 H2 Speed Champions range continues LEGO’s successful partnership with Ford, recreating the Ford GT in Heritage Edition spec and the brand new Ford Bronco. The GT features as many stickers as the rest, although they do work well here, whilst the Bronco R is covered in even more. They kind of suit the Bronco though, which also includes a very cool looking blue roll cage, sump guard, and spare tyre cage too. Like the other double vehicle sets, 76905 is aimed at ages 8+, and actually includes the most parts at 660 (although many are small pieces). Expect 76905 to cost around $55/£50, and for that Bronco to be used to jump over all manner of household objects after it goes on sale later in the year.

Little Tow

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This pleasingly-coloured classic tow truck was found by one of our Elves on Flickr today, and the only thing detracting from its perfection is that it’s pictured here towing what looks like a Toyota AE86, an impossibility because – as we all know – Corollas never break down.

Otherwise TLCB regular de-marco has nailed it, and you can recreate his ‘Old Tow Truck’ for yourself as instructions are available. Head to de-marco’s photostream via the link above for more.

Thunder’s Toyota

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Indiana Jones, er… we mean ‘Johnny Thunder’ is one of our favourite ever mini-figures. He’s one of 1saac W.‘s too, who has built this gorgeous riverside jungle scene for our plastic hero to explore as an entry into a mini-figure-based competition. Star of the show isn’t Johnny though, rather the fantastic tan Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 which he has used to take him into the jungle. A variety of animals are busy stealing Johnny’s equipment and there’s more to see of him and his FJ on Flickr via the link.

I Owe You a 10 Second Car

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‘The Fast & The Furious’ has a lot to answer for. Terrible dialogue, questionable physics, and finding a way (any way*) to keep characters going throughout the series (however absurd) are standard action-movie faux-pas, but the film franchise has had a larger and more irritating impact on the minds of internet commenters.

What? The new Supra doesn’t have a 2JZ? Not a Supra! What? The new Supra doesn’t have 1,000bhp from the factory? Not a Supra! What? The new Supra shares parts with BMW? Not a Supra!

OK internet commenters, here goes; The A80 Supra is not the fastest most awesomest car ever made. It was fairly fat cruiser for fairly fat people, with an engine that you could also get in a Toyota station wagon. Putting ‘NOS’ in it won’t give it 1,000bhp, and to get that power you’d need the world’s laggiest single-shot turbo, making the car borderline undrivable on the street.

Right, now that’s cleared up, here’s the fastest most awesomest car ever made, with ‘NOS’ and 1,000bhp.

Brian O’Conner’s modified A80 Toyota Supra Targa has become possibly the most revered movie car of all time, setting the stage for a dozen mostly terrible ‘Fast & Furious’ sequels, blasting fourth-generation Supra values into the stratosphere, and creating an unsurmountable barrier of hype for any future cars wearing the nameplate.

This glorious recreation of O’Conner’s A80 Supra brings the iconic movie car to life in full ‘Technic Supercar’ specification, with working suspension, gearbox, steering, and a replica 2JZ engine.

More importantly builder spiderbrick has faithfully replicated the slightly weird livery, bodykit, roll cage, nitrous system, and huge rear wing found on the movie car to such perfection that we can almost hear Dominic Toretto breathing the word ‘family‘ for the six-hundredth time for no discernible reason.

There’s loads more of Spider’s ‘The Fast & the Furious’ Toyota Supra A80 to see at his Brickshelf album, including a link to a video showing the model’s features, plus engine and chassis images. Click the link above to live your life a 1/4 mile at a time…

*Bad guy turns good? Check. Back from the dead? Check. Bad guy turns good again? Check.

Escape to the Wilds

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2020 has been a weird year. By ‘weird’, we mean ‘total crap’, and thus we completely understand those who choose to leave it all behind and head out into the wilderness.

Two of the best vehicles for ‘overlanding’, as it is known, are the Toyota 4Runner and Jeep Wrangler, recreated here brilliantly in mini-figure scale by Christian Cowgill of Flickr. Well, we say ‘overlanding’, but the Jeep does look to have an enormous gun on the roof, so maybe these mini-figures are expecting something a bit more end-timesy than a trip the wilderness would first suggest.

They’re probably right too.

Join us preparing for the inevitable apocalypse at Christian’s photostream via the link above.

Yellow Tinted Glasses

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The world’s most vibrant cities have often been defined by their public transport system. London’s red Routemaster bus, Tokyo’s Toyota Crown with its amazing self opening doors, Hong Kong’s wonderful Star Ferries, and – perhaps most iconic of all – New York City’s yellow cabs.

Checker sedans and Ford Crown Victorias were long part of NYC’s street furniture, and were big, softly sprung, and almost ridiculously inappropriate for taking one or two people a short distance at a low speed.

Despite their thirst, pollution, and unnecessary size, to a tourist they were somehow rather wonderful, however recently (and probably rightly) their days were numbered.

Today few cities have their own bespoke taxis. The cost of developing or adapting a vehicle for just a few thousand sales a year is too great, thus New York’s yellow cabs can now be one of any number of mainstream vehicles that are about as interesting as a white sock. Even if they’re yellow.

Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg, whose glorious classic Checker NYC cab appeared here a few days ago, has now updated his brick-built taxi fleet inline with New York’s recent changes, building this excellent (and incredibly boring) Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

We’re sure that Toyota’s large SUV makes a far better taxi than the Ford Crown Vics and Checkers that preceded it, but when it’s the very same car used to collect Tommy and Ashleigh from school, it’s somehow not better at all.

There’s more to see of Ralph’s NYC Highlander at his ‘LEGO NYC Taxis’ album on Flickr, where you can also find his Lego recreations of a few other real-world yellow cabs that might not be as good, yet are somehow better in every way.

Stacking Votes

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This is a Toyota Stacker, or ‘Forklift Truck’ as it’s known here at TLCB, and it’s been built rather brilliantly in Model Team form by recent previous bloggee Andre Pinto.

As the U.S Election hangs on the postal votes yet to be counted, the ballots inside the containers carried by this forklift are off to the counting centre, where they could well decide the outcome. Or they could be heading for a river if Donald Trump has anything to do with it, claiming first that postal Republican votes were dumped there, and now – ironically – that we should cease counting and dump the uncounted postal votes.

Whoever ends up in the White House we’re glad we’re far, far away here in TLCB Towers.

There’s more to see of Andre’s excellent Toyota Stacker at both Flickr and Eurobricks. Open the containers and start counting via the links above.