Tag Archives: Racecar

Wacky racers, unite!

We feature a lot of Serious LEGO Models™ here on TBB, with spaceships and mechs and fantasy dioramas. But sometimes it’s fun to just cut loose and celebrate the zany, and this Wheel-o-zoom by Nikita Nikolsky is the perfect antidote to the serious. Piloted by a crazy character mashed together from the Trolls theme who features a flower hat, the bright racer reminds me of LEGO’s various racer themes from the early 2000s, and the brilliant photo editing sells it. Despite being a completely ludicrous design, it’s still got loads of good techniques, from the side panels made of shield tiles to the Bionicle Tohunga feet as front axles. My favorite detail though? That purple wing from the Electro Throwbot hiding near the back. I haven’t seen one of those used on a model in ages.

Wheel-o-zoom

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Time to move over, McQueen!

I don’t know how he does it, but builder Djokson has managed to breathe life into yet another extinct LEGO Racer with his tribute to 4573 Lightor. We’ve seen prior successes from this builder in the past, but I’m particularly drawn to this one. Maybe it’s that color scheme, all ROY and no GBIV. Maybe it’s the outstanding parts usage, what with these windscreens in orange nested within a dump truck bed for the air intakes on the sides. I mean, those are some awesome side panels! No, I’d say it’s probably the driver. The engineering the make a figure with such character and yet such a skinny cross-section is like catching lightning in a bottle.

Rolling Thunder Lightor

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A vintage racer from automobile history

Back in the 1920s and ’30s, when Ferdinand Porsche and Enzo Ferrari were not heads of exotic sports car companies but mere racecar drivers, Mercedes-Benz pushed the limits of racing using supercharger technology developed from airplane engines. One sports car that utilized this enhancement was the Mercedes-Benz SSKL of 1931, which LEGO Technic and Model Team expert Pawel Kmieć (Sariel) faithfully replicated. This old roadster jumps out from black and white photographs with a clean white livery, custom-chromed parts and the laurel wreath of champions.

Mercedes-Benz SSKL

Pawel is a master of building accurate vehicles that are also packed with functions. He includes everything an essential large-scale LEGO vehicle needs: suspension and steering. In addition, he often crams the body of these vehicles full of LEGO electric motors, allowing remote control. This display model becomes a real-life racer, pushing a top speed of 5mph. Watch Pawel’s in-depth video of the build process, and the speedy drive outdoors.

Check out more builds depicting LEGO Mercedes-Benz vehicles!

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A tale of two GTOs

The Ferrari 250 GTO may be one of the most beautiful cars ever built. It’s certainly one of the most valuable, with a 1963 example currently holding the record for the world’s most expensive car having sold a few years ago for $70 million. However, with its shapely curves and swooping lines, it’s a challenge to translate to LEGO, which makes it quite a surprise to come across not one, but two stunning renditions in brick debuting online within short order. First up with have the 250 GTO wearing its iconic red paint job by builder Lennart Cort.

Ferrari 250 GTO

And then we have a gorgeous version by Jens M. which is modeled after a specific real example that bears the blue-and-yellow livery of its former Swedish driver.

Ferrari 250 GTO

What’s fascinating to look at here is how the two builders–both excellent in their craftsmanship–have approached the model differently. Both cars are roughly the same scale (about 1/15th, according to Lennart) and despite being built completely independently of one another, employ the same tires, hubs, windscreen, and even headlights. But that’s about where the overlap ends. For instance, the front fascia is radically different between the two versions, although both clearly evoke the source material. Continue reading →

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Buckle up, this car is a real winner

Okay, so the BMW M8 GTE didn’t actually perform well in the 2018 Le Mans endurance event, nonetheless this vehicle translated into LEGO by builder Lasse Deleuran is still a winner in my eyes.

BMW M8 GTE from LeMans 2018

The custom decals, the gold rims, and the racing colors on this brick-built racecar make me want to speed away, luckily for everyone on the roads in New York that actually won’t happen. Deleuran’s choice in rendering this sportscar’s windshield using black LEGO tiles instead of a trans-clear piece is an interesting, albeit effective one. I also thought his use of the clipped 1×2 plate along with the black bar was a clever way to build windshield wipers. While the actual BMW M8 GTE isn’t exactly a winner, its brick-built counterpart has surely won my heart.

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Built for speed and set the standard

1967 was the year Formula 1 changed forever, as the birth of the Lotus 49 set the bar not only as the car to beat, but also to replicate. Fifty-two years on, Pixeljunkie has presented us with a gorgeous homage to this feat of engineering mastery. Sporting the classic colour scheme and markings of driver Jim Clark, this brick rendition has some stunning custom chrome pins as well as some nicely employed stickers to really bring the realism to the fore. Working within the Minifig scale can be an obscure challenge that restricts an amount of detail. I feel Pixeljunkie has made some excellent compromises without straying too far from the source material.

Lotus 49

Looking at the rear of this beautiful build, we find a minifig hammer head used ingeniously as the gearbox. I’m not sure another piece could have been used so well in this application. I’m also a massive fan of the many uses builders find for the rubber tread attachments. Using them as wheel hubs on top those metallic silver dish rims, has really captured the era well.

Lotus 49

If this open-wheel beast inspires you, check out another of Pixeljunkie’s classic race machines, the Alfa Romeo P3.

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This Le Mans racer is alternately awesome

Real Le Mans racecars are carefully built and strategized to maximize efficiency and performance over the grueling 24-hour race. So it’s fitting that LEGO builder Milan has chosen to build this sweet Le Mans racer with a key restriction. He’s used only the elements from the LEGO set 42093 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. That’s especially impressive because the Corvette is about the same size, yet features a radically different shape.

Milan has lots of experience with building custom creations using only the parts from one set, though (AKA alternates). In addition to being an expert Technic builder, alternates are his signature style. He also frequently provides instructions, meaning if you own the Corvette set, you can follow Milan’s guide to build a Le Mans racer of your own.

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