Tag Archives: Toyota

Go anywhere in the rugged Toyota FJ40

LEGO automotive enthusiasts lost our collective cookies when they came out with the 10271 Fiat 500 set in bright lemony yellow. (I think I peed a little!) It was a previously difficult color to come by but as Jonathan Elliott pointed out, even with the Fiat, there are only 352 parts available in that shade, a large chunk dedicated to minifig hairstyles. This means building your own creations in that tasty color is still somewhat difficult. Boy, don’t I know it! That didn’t stop Jonathan from building a totally awesome Toyota FJ40 though. This model is so accurate it almost feels like you can actually go off-roading in it. While he is no slouch with building LEGO cars, his automotive chops really shined with this one. Check out the archives to see what I mean.

Toyota FJ40

First look at the 2021 LEGO Speed Champions lineup featuring Toyota, Ford, Dodge and more [News]

German retailer JB Spielwaren reveals six new sets featuring 9 new vehicles to be added to the Speed Champions lineup for 2021. The new sets are expected to be released on June 1st 2021.

Click to take a closer look at the new Speed Champions 2021 sets

The Toyota Stacker does the heavy lifting so you don’t have to

For those undecided whether or not you want to see any more cool LEGO creations today, don’t worry, I just made that decision for you. André Pinto does all the heavy lifting with this stunning Toyota forklift. I would have been impressed enough with the lift’s many controls and overall look but André goes above and beyond with a simple yet detailed environment including a safety sign and fire extinguisher. While the builder doesn’t state this model actually works, it looks as if it can be rigged with power functions. Upon closer inspection, I can see that the shifter knob is an eight ball. Nice touch, André! We’ve been smitten by his detailed work before. This is probably the best thing I’ve seen all day and I’ve seen a small dog startled by her own farts.

TOYOTA STACKER

Delivering tofu with style in a Toyota AE86

This build by Peter Blackert is a throwback to the culture that sparked drifting and made the Toyota AE86 an iconic phenomenon. It’s said that, to date, Toyota AE86’s inflated price is not only because of its rarity but also because of its cult following from fans seeing it featured in the Japanese manga Initial D in the mid-90s and its appearance into the anime scene in the late 90s. The AE86 was popular for its capability to drift with its relatively lightweight and rear-wheel drive combination and also the main premise of the legendary stories in the aforementioned manga. In LEGO, the 10-stud wide design gives it a lot more room for design language compared to the regular 6-stud wide designs from the Speed Champions series from LEGO’s own take on popular cars.

Initial D - Toyota AE86 Trueno Sprinter

Initial D - Toyota AE86 Trueno Sprinter

Who drove it best? Lamborghini Aventador or Toyota Prius

A couple of really high quality LEGO car models rolled across our monitors this week so I thought we’d take the opportunity to feature both models, hailing from very different economic classes but from a pair of equally talented creators. On the affordable-by-the-common-man end of the spectrum, we have hachiroku24‘s Toyota Prius model topping out around USD$24,000. And he’s provided a handy parts guide and instructional video.

Lego Toyota Prius MOC

Breaking the bank at the other end of the scale is Jonathan Elliot‘s high class USD$400,000 Lamborghini Aventador.

Lamborghini Aventador

I genuinely appreciate when iconic shapes are accomplished with creative parts use, and both these cars fit that qualification. Both builders are masters of their craft, consistently perfecting minifig scale automobiles. My absolute favorite new(er) piece use here is the front bumper of the start white Aventador achieved with mirrored Wedge 2×1 with stud notch Left and Right. It’s such a distinctive shape at such a small scale. The utilitarian grey Prius’ curved frame is brought about with flex cable and the Bar Holder with Handle

And if you like these cars as much as we do, make sure to check out hachiroku’s chill, easy-to-follow VW Bus building instructions from last week and Jonathan’s trio of classic cars shared earlier this summer.

“How about a ride, mister?”

When it comes to fan-built Back to the Future models, there are a plethora of DeLorean time machines out there. Heck, there was even an official LEGO set! While I love the DeLorean as much as the next person, who can forget the 1985 Toyota SR5 pickup truck (also known as the Hilux outside of the U.S.)? This was the truck Marty McFly pined over with his girlfriend, became a reality when he returned home to a transformed 1985, and nearly ruined his life when Needles called him “chicken” for refusing to race. Fortunately, Nikolay Gamurar remembered Marty’s truck and built a fantastic rendition of the vehicle in Technic form. While the Toyota from the movie was a two-door model, Nikolay modified his truck to have four-door extended cab. Outside of this mod, the sculpting of the rest of the body feels faithful to the original truck. As a Technic build, it looks stunning in black.

LEGO Technic TOYOTA HILUX N40 by RM8 MOD Back To The Future

Nikolay’s truck is packed with a lot of detail, right down to the Chassis. This photograph also gives at glimpse at some of the Toyota’s key mechanical functions.

LEGO Technic TOYOTA HILUX N40 by RM8 MOD Back To The Future

It also features a nice and roomy interior, perfect for a comfortable drive to the lake.

LEGO Technic TOYOTA HILUX N40 by RM8 MOD Back To The Future

A trifecta of tiny travelers

When it comes to minifigure-scale cars, Jonathan Elliott has proven to be the master of his craft. Jonathan is back on the road with three great cars, two of which might look a little bit familiar if you happened to be following us back in November 2017. He is back with two sweet mods, as well as something completely different! Get ready to start your engines for the Porsche 911 Turbo, which first hit the scene back in 1975.

Porsche 911 (930) Turbo

Jonathan’s modifications bring the 260 hp turbocharged legend to life, complete with the famed “whale tail” spoiler. The iconic Porsche curves are also here, right down to the subtle slant of the rear windshield and feels proportioned just right. (If you will recall our review of Speed Champions set 75888, one of our laments was that the 911 was just a stud too long.) An added bonus is the car’s vibrant orange exterior color, which is reminiscent of the Porsche 911 set available through LEGO Shop at Home.

See more of Jonathan’s fantastic LEGO cars