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.
Can a funeral coach be a Show Rod? It sure can! I present the Boot Hill Express, a souped-up rod that takes an 1850’s funeral coach and leaves all the somber dignified introspection at the door. Kids in 1967 got to build the original model kit, which is rare and expensive, nowadays. That’s where LEGO comes it, which is admittedly expensive, but not rare. My model sits beside it’s 1:64th scale counterpart.
1:64th scale, most notably Hot Wheels cars, holds a special place in the hearts of many car enthusiasts. Christmas and birthdays during my childhood- and frankly adulthood, wouldn’t be the same without some offerings in 1:64th scale. Sometimes those little automotive wonders are all that’s needed to help design a larger LEGO model. Here’s my imposing Darth Vader model situated next to its Hot Wheels counterpart.
Also posed proudly beside its Hot Wheels inspiration is this Volkswagen Käfer Racer. Some of the compound curvy bits were not available in yellow at the time so instead of the classic Mooneyes color scheme, I went with red and the decals from the 8041 Technic Racing Truck.
Frankenstein joins in on the fun with the Hot Wheels Double Demon Delivery cast. The LEGO mosaic work on the roof is pretty OK for its time. LEGO purists may want to avert your eyes from this one. Those black Lamborghini hubcaps were painted with a thin green line along the edge to replicate the detail on the smaller inspiration model. This marks one of only three occasions in which I had altered official LEGO parts in some way.
I didn’t have the Hot Wheels car at the time so it’s not included in the photo, but one of the early iconic Hot Wheels concepts from 1969 is Splittin’ Image. For my LEGO version, I went with a rare light yellow. Two copies of the 10271 Fiat 500 set offered just enough lemony goodness to flesh out the outer skin of this wild ride. The inside is detailed in white 60s era tuck and roll with a yoke steering wheel.
If we’re going to talk about me becoming a bigwig in the LEGO automotive world, I’d be remiss not to mention LUGNuts. Founded in 2007 by me and my buddy Nathan Proudlove, LUGNuts was the premier online LEGO automotive group. It was a challenge-based group that, in our heyday, boasted well over 1200 members worldwide. It ran for 10 years and hosted a challenge every month- that’s 120 build challenges each based on a certain theme. Occasionally, our special milestone challenges awarded LEGO prizes sometimes sponsored by our friends here at TBB. We even had a LEGO Ambassadorship for a year or two. This meant TLG recognized us as an official LUG (LEGO User’s Group) and we had (very little) input on what sets can and should be produced. While most LUGs are formed based on location, we based ours on a common interest. In a LEGO world of castle builders, spacers and train enthusiasts, we strived to give voice to automotive gearheads around the globe. We were a bunch of guys and gals that were different from the norm; a bit edgier, a little more lowbrow than your usual LEGO crowd. But in embracing all car cultures we were all deeply enriched by the LUGNuts experience. Here’s Nathan and I, clearly enriched, and speeding along in a souped-up hot rod in an image that we used for our LUGNuts Blog. I’m the one with the hat. And the crazed expression. That doesn’t narrow it down, does it? I’m the driver.
We even got to take over Brick Journal way back in October of 2012. Joe Meno was gracious enough to let us put on the journalist’s cap and guest write that issue. It was crude. It was lowbrow. It was all about LUGNuts. I’m pretty sure we left a high octane oil stain on Joe’s soul that he hasn’t quite cleaned up yet. Here’s Nathan and me on the cover next to the ’66 Batmobile I built 17 years ago. (Good lord!) For those bad at math, that’s long before the official LEGO 76328 set came out in 2024. Nathan is the taller one in the Robin Underoos.
In LUGNut’s 10-year run, I enjoyed leading by example and built for nearly all 120 challenges; excluding the ones in which prizes we involved. Based on Flickr views, here are some of your favorite classic rides that I’ve built for the LUGNuts challenges. Nearly 25,000 of you decided that George Barris’ Li’l Redd Wrecker really revs your engine. With its cartoonish proportions, no wonder this odd show rod tickled your fancy.
With this year’s BrickCon theme being Steam, I resurrected this Steampunk snake-themed beast from 2013 called Copperhead. It’s an entirely invented concept with no reference photos; merely allowing the pieces I had on hand to take shape. It seems to still be a crowd favorite at BrickCon this year and also nearly 28,000 views online.
Another crowd favorite (to the tune of over 32,000 views) has also had a resurgence of sorts. Thirteen years ago, LUGNuts looked to the future to figure out a Batmobile that would appear in a movie in the far-flung year of 2025. My entry imagined the Batmobile as an Art Deco behemoth that is part locomotive, part big rig, part mobile command unit. Why red and not black, you may ask? I looked to the past and paid homage to the original 1930’s Batmobile, which was red.
Now that it’s actually 2025, I recently brought back my bold creation as an artistic drawing. Compositionally, I borrowed from a Motörhead album cover, even giving a nod to the band’s well-known font; proving that, despite my advanced years, my influences and maturity level remains the same.
While I may be immature, well over 33,000 of you decided that your tastes are understated, refined, and performance-driven. The 2009 Mercedes McLaren Stirling Moss SLR remains among your favorite classic rides.
I’ll get to your all-time favorite classic ride that I have built and admittedly it’s a doozie. But first, let me include a few of my favorites, which differ a bit from yours. They hold a special place in my heart and I wish would top the list, but the public knows what it likes. Lucifer’s Advocate is a fever dream mixing a bit of Steampunk, a bit of Batmobile, and a whole lot of dark magic. I see it on my shelf, and it still makes me smile.
I’m frankly surprised that something this classy is included among my favorite automotive builds, but there’s just something special about this 1939 Delahaye 136. The crawling stance and elegant sweeping complex curves just makes the heart go aflutter. Since the tires are not seen at all, I used the crappiest wheels I own; they probably don’t even match color-wise, a strange rarity for me as I often insist on color matching parts, even when they’re not seen. This ride is elegant, yet with oddly cartoonish proportions; like something Mickey Mouse would drive.
ReDONKulous checks all the boxes of what a Lino-fied ride should be: over-the-top, immature, loud and just a bit repugnant. Or a lot repugnant. This mid-80’s Chevy Monte Carlo SS boasts scissor doors, t-tops, a thumpin’ sound system in the trunk and the extreme stance of a hi-rise Donk. If I had the cash in real life, I’d totally make this my daily driver.
Without further ado, here is your favorite Lino-fied classic ride of all time based on views on Flickr. It’s a total wreck. No, seriously, look at it; total wreck! It’s a little embarrassing in the sense that it lacks slick build techniques, it doesn’t have an edgy personality, no flashy paint scheme, no tricked-out adornments; there’s a freakin’ tree growing out from where the engine used to be and the photo quality is not the best. But this 1949 Buick fastback demonstrates what happens when Mother Nature reclaims what was once her own. Maybe that is the magic of it? Or maybe the magic lies within the kinetic potential this ride represents in the hearts of the car builder; with some power tools and a lot of elbow grease and grit, this heap of rusted-out out trash can be reborn into something truly breathtaking. Whatever the reason, with still generating dozens of new views almost hourly, nearly 64,000 of you and counting decided this build is the bees knees. I’m told this particular piece has influenced many other LEGO car builders to try their hand at building edgy classic rides.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this sort of self-indulgent roundup of some of the classic car builds that has put me on the map as a LEGO car builder. Great automotive builds, even trash heaps such as the last one, are not developed in a vacuum. There are legions of like-minded friends and amazing builders that have come before and after me who have built or are still building some amazing rides. In no particular order, here are a list of builders that I often looked to for inspiration: Paul Hetherington, Nathan Proudlove, Tim Inman, Firas Abu-Jaber, Ralph Savelsberg, Peter Blackert, Isaac Wilder, Andrea Lattanzio, and The Arvo Brothers. If automotive LEGO builds revs your motor as much as it does mine, then be sure to check out our Vehicles archives.