Tag Archives: László Torma

The brick that loved me

The Q-Branch of MI6 in the James Bond series has a real fondness for outfitting flashy cars with even flashier upgrades. One of the flashiest has been captured here by László Torma in their outstanding LEGO model of the famous Lotus Espirit featured in The Spy Who Loved Me. 007 drives his souped-up sports car off the end of a dock and transforms it into a slick two-seater submarine. László has captured the clean lines of both versions of the Espirit. The slim black stripe across the side of the car is created by using a variety of brackets built on their sides. I want to give a special shout-out to the 2×4 bow above the rear wheel; this part has been around for a while, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it used this smoothly! I’m also sure László was happy by the release in 2003 of the 1×6 slope which used to make the clean lines of the car’s hood. All this fantastic comes together to capture the classic silhouette the Bond’s Espirit in the 8-wide form factor of a Speed Champions style model. Maybe one day we’ll get a Jaws minifigure to go with it!

Lotus Esprit S1 - James Bond - Instructions 12

This Ferrari F40 goes from zero to heart’s desire in two seconds flat

I thought I loved everything I could love, but this LEGO Ferrari F40 by László Torma just might prove me wrong. I mean, look at those curves, look at that sleek styling! The real thing was built from 1987 to 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 1994 and 1996 respectively. This LEGO model, however, dates back to late last month. It’s still a classic though. If there wasn’t a minifigue in the photo, I’d think this was the real deal. It’s as breathtaking as all those Ferrari posters we used to have in high school that featured beautiful supermodels lounging languidly over the hood. Much to my chagrin, these posters did nothing to attract actual supermodels to my wood-paneled clubhouse in my parents’ basement. Although a guy did come by one time to look at the water heater so that’s something, I guess.

Ferrari F40 - instructions 1