Tag Archives: Vehicles

LEGO planes, trains, and automobiles! Well, maybe not trains, since they don’t like to play with the other LEGO themes, but here you’ll find all our favorite cars, buses, boats, ships, helicopters, and anything else with an engine (and some without).

Wind turbine transport: a trilogy in a few thousand parts

When I built my Lego mega windmill trailer, for carrying a wind turbine nacelle, I did not think this would be the start of a trilogy. However, I subsequently built a truck that carries a rotor hub. At that point, it was pretty much inevitable that I would also build a vehicle carrying one of the blades.

I put this off for more than two years, though, because I did not relish building the blade. The nacelle represents a Vestas V90 wind turbine. By now, this is something of an old clunker, and it is quite small compared to more modern turbines. Nonetheless, its blades are still 44 m long. This makes them 128 studs long at the scale of my other vehicles (1/43). And I happen to like building small details. This is one reason why I enjoy building minifigure-scale trucks so much. By comparison, the blade’s size and its complicated shape would make building it pretty tedious. And it was tedious, indeed. However, the finale to my wind turbine trilogy is one of the most beautiful shapes I have ever built.

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Lino rounds up the classic vehicles that put him on the LEGO automotive map [Feature]

Hey there, Lino Martins,The Brothers Brick’s own writer, editor and occasional public nuisance here. I’m about to do the most self-serving thing anyone on any LEGO platform can do; show off a bunch of my own stuff. And that’s coming from someone who has given away three different versions of Adult Fan of Lino brick badges! In my defense, and if it will please the court Your Honor, it wasn’t even my idea. One of my higher-ups proposed the idea to me, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s me, so I said sure thing. Without further ado, let’s check out some of the classic vehicles that made me a mover and shaker in the LEGO automotive world. I may even include some insider info not published anywhere else.

Let’s start with the Popcorn Wagon. This over-the-top show rod, originally designed by Carl Casper, is a prime example of what you’re about to see.

The Show Rod is an automotive phenomenon that occurred in the 60s and 70s that pushed the limits of what a vehicle can be by melding art and engineering. Car legends such as George Barris, Tom Daniel and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth were on the forefront of the scene. Building these wild rides took innovation, imagination- and maybe some degree of controlled substances. One such controlled substance acted as inspiration for Tom Daniel’s famous Beer Wagon that kids in the 60’s and 70’s got to build as a Monogram model kit. I’m not to only one to have LEGO-ized the Beer Wagon. Check out this entry by my friend Andrea Lattanzio who even got to interview Tom Daniel.

Put the pedal to the metal and let the good times with Lino roll after the jump

Heavy haul the American way

Everything is bigger in the United States. Well, maybe not everything, but American vehicles certainly tend to be rather large. Case in point: my Peterbilt heavy haul.

I have been building minifigure scale heavy haulage vehicles for a couple of years now. They are vehicles carrying loads too large or heavy to be carried by a regular truck. Two examples are my modular truck carrying a transformer and a specialised windmill transporter. So far, all of them were European. For my next project, I wanted something different, though. I wanted an American truck.

Click here to see more of these monstrous machines

A trio of blue automotive delights [Feature]

LEGO car guru Tim Inman is on fire lately and no amount of stop, drop and rolling can squelch this blue streak to stardom. First we were wowed by this 1933 Willys Gasser. The term gasser denotes a particular style of retro drag racer known for their heightened stance and exaggerated exhaust pipes that reside usually behind the front tires. It is not named for what happens when you eat refried beans but, truth be told, it sort of sounds like that when it rips down the dragstrip. This particular model is a study in lovely teal blue.

Then we were floored shortly after when Tim dropped this Bill Thomas Cheetah prototype. As the name implies, the Cheetah was designed by, well, Bill Thomas for Chevrolet in order to dominate the Ford-sponsored Shelby Cobra. Things looked promising for the mid-engined prototype until a fire at the factory halted the project. Do I sniff a hint of competitive sabotage, maybe?

Click to see more of the Cheetah and the stunning conclusion of this blue trio

Life is a LEGO highway as Vignweek day 4 goes road tripping [Feature]

Vignweek 2025 crosses the halfway point with the fourth daily challenge prompt: “Road trip!” Once again, incredible builders heeded the call and quickly assembled LEGO vignettes interpreting the theme in a myriad of ways. Let’s have a look at some of our favorite builds of the day.

Fresh off judging the Summer Joust, LEGO legend CheesyStudios drops by Vignweek with this incredible tribute to Badlands National Park. The forced perspective works brilliantly, and the striated rocks with the bands of sand red are stunning.

_BrickBytes hits the road with cozy VW camper van. The metallic fists as a grille is a brilliant use of a specialized part.

Hitch a ride and for more amazing road trip vignettes

The low-rider you live in

At first glance, I didn’t realize this was a LEGO build, primarily due to the wonderful scaling. But I was also caught off guard by Tim Inman’s choice of model. I have seen low-rider trucks, and I have seen campers. But I have never seen a low-rider camper. While the exterior design, from running lights to the paint scheme, is great, don’t skip out on a peak at the interior.

The engine and cab fit the time period perfectly…space to jump around in both!

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Recognisably a Renault

For years, I was not much of a fan of LEGO minifigures, mostly building models on a large scale instead. One reason why minifigure scale did not work for me is that I struggled to recognisably build a particular brand of vehicle or a specific model. However, as I have mentioned in previous posts, this is becoming easier. I have learned new tricks and there are a lot of parts that come in very handy. Case in point: my recent Renault T High truck.

I already had MAN, Mercedes, Volvo, Scania and DAF trucks, so a Renault makes for a nice addition. I picked an example with a very restrained colour scheme, but it is a very distinctive-looking truck nonetheless, with a lot of diagonal lines. The roof tile 1X6X1 introduced last year came in very handy for this. It also has some fun details, such as the array of lights above the windscreen. What also helps to make it recognisable, of course, is its oversized Renault Lego, which I reproduced using a 1×1 plate mounted on the front at a 45-degree angle.

Take me home, country roads

No stranger to The Brothers Brick, Andrew Tate showcases this terrific LEGO build of an old-timey truck with a vignette that is the very picture of rural life. While I don’t believe this is meant to be any specific make or model, Andrew’s use of the 2×6 train windscreen element is an absolutely perfect choice for capturing the character of a truck of this vintage. For me, the whole scene is reminiscent of the nostalgic mid-century pre-war “when and where is this exactly?” idealized look of a Studio Ghibli film, and I’m really digging it. I’d love to get a behind the scenes look at a couple areas of this build, especially the supports of those beautifully spaced fence pickets, and those lovely wheel hubs.

Building a little help to clear up the table-scraps

A few days ago, I wrote about W.F Ikhasi’s efforts in letting an idea for a LEGO creation simmer for a while before finishing it. As I wrote that article, it’s a topic that was fresh on my mind. My desk is absolutely covered in table-scraps; little builds that never fully grew into a finished article. And when I say covered, I mean I’m starting to struggle for space! It’s about time I enlisted some help to clear them. Fortunately, one of those ideas – a frame for a folded net piece – did grow into a scavenger’s speeder. So now this guy can help me clear out things, like this old engine, that were sitting around gathering dust!

The crane/tow-rope was also lying around among the detritus and quickly became this speeder’s party piece. Of course, it folds up neatly for zipping around the mud flats, where you might spot some older builds too… This walker is an older MOC, but it’s far from being a table-scrap!

A hotrod with some hotdog parts usage

Sérgio Batista is known for his amazing trains and automobile builds. His latest is a low-sitting station wagon in a flashy lime green deco with lots of interesting parts usage, including a guide dog harness on the front grill. Sérgio says this car sits lower than a minifigure stands, so despite it being a station wagon, I’m not sure we can get the whole family inside.

Read our interview with Sérgio Batista to learn more about the builder’s journey and unorthodox building techniques.

DORA and friends explore the post-apocalyptic wastelands

At last year’s Bricks Cascade expo, Martin Hulth shared a post-apoc behemoth on treads cheekily named D.O.R.A. the Explorer (DORA as in Deep Outpost Research and Armament.) This year, with encouragement and collaboration from Mark Cruickshank, Martin returned to Cascade with two new vehicles that expand on this emerging world that rests somewhere between Mad Max and the Mortal Engines. Leading the new pack is BIG BERTHA here. It’s a kid’s dream of a mobile base fused with a monster truck, backed with sophisticated techniques. You might call it a spiritual successor to the Rock Raiders theme. And the use of color, with bold yellow and red paired with muted sand green and blue, is striking.

Explore the wasteland with us and see more of Martin’s epic builds

Ma.K.ing the most of LEGO’s wildest theme

Sometimes it pays to sit on an idea for a while. Occasional LEGO builder W.F Ikhasi tells us he had the fuselage of this Maschinen Krieger-inspired walker sitting around, unfinished, for no fewer than three years. Happily, it’s complete now – and thanks to… Galidor?! Yes, a piece from LEGO’s weirdest theme provided just the shape Ikhasi was looking for for the hind legs. So much so, in fact, that the front legs are a brick-built riff on the idea, and the end result looks great!

If you’re not familiar with the kitbashing dieselpunk world of Maschinen Krieger, why not get a taster in our archives?