Leave it to LEGO automotive superstar Tim Inman to build a car with a mullet and a flatulence problem. It’s a 1963 Chevy II Fastback Gasser. With its heightened stance and crazy pipes, it’s not the kind of thing you can buy at your local Chevy dealership, not even in 1963. No siree, this beast is custom! Gassers were a thing in the 50s through the 70s and, while I was a product of the early 70s, I wish I had been born just a bit sooner to really enjoy this gasser phenomenon. I totally would have loved seeing these rip down the dragstrip! This is probably the best thing I’ve seen all day and I’ve Googled “potatoes and jelly”.
Tag Archives: Chevrolet
LEGO Icons 10321 Chevrolet Corvette C1 – A classic car reimagined [Review]
The LEGO Group made a good choice when they changed the Creator Expert line into the Icons theme. It brought a level of sophistication and exclusivity that hadn’t quite been seen before. In addition, it brought out some true world icons. And one of those icons comes from a great legacy of classic cars. The LEGO Icons 10321 Chevrolet Corvette C1 appears at first glance to be a real winner. Come along as we fire up the engine and see how this one drives. The 1210-piece set will be widely available August 4th and retail for US $149.99 | CAN $199.99 | UK £129.99.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
LEGO reveals 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 as next large-scale Icons vehicle [News]
Today LEGO has taken the wraps off the next large vehicle in the newly rebranded Icons theme (formerly Creator Expert), revealing the 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. Based on the iconic 1969 muscle car, the Camaro Z28 will include 1,458 pieces and comes with the option to build as a hard top or convertible. You can also choose to include dark red, white, or light grey racing stripes, or choose between classic and hideaway headlights. It follows 10295 Porsche 911 Turbo & 911 Targa and 10298 Vespa 125 in the Icons vehicle collection. The Camaro will be available starting Aug. 1 for US $169.99 | CAN $209.99 | UK £149.99.
Tim’s take on the Slab Wagon
LEGO car and sometimes architecture builder Tim Inman has built a 1963 Chevy II Station Wagon and suddenly I’m tickled pink. Or tan. I’m tickled tan, actually. It’s a well-known fact that they commonly call the Chevy II Station Wagon the “Slab Wagon”. By “they” I mean me and by “well-known fact” I mean I made that up just now. But it’s fast thinking like this is the reason why they pay me big bucks here at The Brothers Brick. Or so they tell me. It’s hard to keep track of your fortunes when everything is direct deposit. Anyway, I’m loving the red interior juxtaposed against the understated tan paint job. The roof rack, even the ice skater blades used as door handles are all great touches.
Take the top off and show off that old muscle
Gearheads and design fanatics will always find a way to include cars in their life. Those that share a love of LEGO (and sometimes even those that don’t) get to delight in tinkering on their own project cars. Even if they’re a fraction of the size of the original. Builder Dave J faced some extra challenges with this model of ’69 Camaro Convertible in dark azure. The limited parts available in that color forced Dave to get pretty inventive with some brackets to achieve a smooth and clean design.
All hail the shiny slammed pickup
Here at The Brothers Brick, we’re a lot like raccoons in the sense that we love shiny things. (And also eat from garbage cans on occasion.) That’s why when 1saac W. built this sweet slammed LEGO Chevy pickup with shiny chrome rims and engine we were all foaming at the mouth for reasons definitely not having to do with rabies. At least I was anyway. The rest of TBB staff looked pretty normal, come to think of it. Throw in a rare color and that has rendered this particular writer and custom car nerd extra-foamy, kinda like an ill-poured beer. I declare this LEGO creation the best in the history of the world ever for all eternity or until a few hours from now when we see something else that strikes our fancy, whichever comes first. If you like vehicles as much as I do, then click the blue link to see what 1saac and other builders have come up with.
Taking the gasser to a car show
Earlier this year, before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was looking forward to spending three weeks away from home this summer. At the end of July, I was going to attend BrickFair Virginia. After that I’d fly to Denver, to make a road trip with a friend. I’d subsequently return to Virginia for a work meeting before finally jetting home. Now, of course, none of that is happening. Instead, I’m currently having a short “staycation” at home and will actually be working most of August. In the hope of putting myself into a relaxed vacation mood nonetheless, I built a Chevrolet Express conversion van a couple of weeks ago.
It is a very American concept: convert a regular passenger van into a luxury cruiser with captain’s seats, rear seats that can be folded into a bed, tinted windows, a raised roof, cool rims, and some snazzy graphics on the outside. SUVs have cornered much of their market in the last decade or so, but this is the kind of vehicle I imagine would work well for long road trips and family vacations. I particularly enjoyed building the pattern into the sides, with dark tan and old dark grey plates. However, as much as I enjoyed building it, the end result was a bit underwhelming. So, to fit my vacation theme, I considered building a trailer for it, with a jet ski or an all-terrain-vehicle. However, I wasn’t looking forward to building either.
I finally got a little bit excited thinking about putting a custom car on the trailer instead. Custom cars generally don’t float my boat, but since I liked building the pattern on the van so much, I relished building a car with a paint scheme with flames. To fit the van it had to be American, of course. So, I picked a “Gasser”. This is a particular type of classic drag racer. It uses a body shell of a stock car, with really fat rear tires, a stripped-out interior, an oversized engine, and a jacked-up front end. The flames are optional, but I built mine using yellow, bright light orange and orange plates. The car is a ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air, which is just about the most American car I can imagine. It isn’t quite the holiday vehicle I had in mind, but at least it’s fun.
Low, square, and fast
With over two-hundred articles into this gig, I still approach most with about this much enthusiasm. I’m shorter and not as buff but just as bald and just as shirtless. It makes everyone here at Brothers Brick Headquarters a bit uncomfortable but I keep telling them I can’t help it if I’m follically challenged. Anyway, you can understand that I was extra giddy when I saw Chris Vesque’s LEGO ’67 Chevy C-10. It has all the things I’d be into; an old-school dragster square-body with ground-scraping stance, a striking color scheme, a blown engine, copious silver bits and a racing number that matches the year of this custom Chevy.
A commenter on Chris’ photostream even mentioned that this would be something I’d totally dig and his response was that indeed I was his inspiration for coming into the LEGO scene. Kinda gets you right in the feels, doesn’t it? I’m glad we can help inspire great builders like Chris in some way or another. Would it be uncouth of me to pull a Sally Field?
The new Chevrolet Corvette C8 is really a very pretty car, even in LEGO
I have got to admit something quite shallow. I’m ashamed to say, but when it comes to cars, I judge the book by its cover. I only care what it looks like on the outside; I can’t figure out how many pistons or spark plugs it requires to blast off from 0 to 100km/h. Nor do I care! What I do know, however, is how difficult it is to capture the essence of beautiful curves and do justice to the real Chevrolet Corvette C8 using only hard-edged plastic bricks! The top trophy goes to Lasse Deleuran for even attempting this feat. And what I like about car builds like this one is how the windscreens are built using regular non-trans clear pieces. And though it’s not exactly new, I always love the Round 1×1 Quarter tiles used in many builds to smooth out the rough edges.
Click to see more of the Corvette C8
A new take on the jet-assisted Chevy
Have you heard the urban legend about the JATO rocket car? If you’re unfamiliar, it’s the story of a man who straps a rocket engine to his Chevy and ends up embedded in the side of a cliff. As cautionary tales go, it’s a pretty straightforward one: Don’t strap a jet engine to your vehicle. Pasq67 thinks otherwise, at least when it comes to the world of LEGO. Benny and Lenny are going for the ride of their lives in a 1970 Chevrolet C10 Pickup with a serious need for speed. The base vehicle has all the clasic lines you’d expect, and the rocket is a well constructed nightmare of high speed bad decisions waiting to happen.
The multiple air intakes fit well with the mix of Technic and system parts, and the trans-orange discs make for an excellent hit of explosive force just starting to push the car forward. Lenny had better hold on to that pretzel…
Tiny homes for tiny LEGO people
This vintage 1970 Chevrolet C10 and accompanying mobile tiny home by Thomas Gion may just be the cutest LEGO model I’ve seen on eight wheels in a very long time. To begin with, the sand green and white color scheme both fit the era perfectly and look fantastic, making the tri-tone truck completely believable. Then, the shake-siding on the tiny home, made of 1×1 and 1×2 cheese slopes, brings a homegrown vibe to the trailer.
But best yet, much like a real tiny home, the trailer packs a lot more on the interior than you would expect. Thomas has utilized every stud of space, packing it with a left bed, bathroom, kitchen, and foldaway dining set. The only problem I see is that there’s no place to store the ever-growing LEGO collection!
From restoration shop to the toy box, this ’57 Bel Air is a cruising classic
When it comes to 1950s cars, the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is especially popular. Plenty of LEGO fans have made examples of this classic car, but few come with a personal story. Builder 1saac W. decided to build the 1957 Bel Air that his girlfriend’s father has owned since high school. The real car is being restored, so 1saac W. decided to build the car in its current state. By his own account, this is why his LEGO car lacks whitewall tires. The minfigure-scale Chevy looks superb, with curves in all the right places and some intricate-looking geometry forming the fins.
The gas pump makes for a nice prop and was inspired by an example built by Norton74. Finishing off the car is the grille’s beaming “smile.”