Tag Archives: Van

Whether day or night, these vans are arockin’ so don’t come aknockin’!

My childhood self in the 70s and 80s saw plenty of elaborately painted street vans, a phenomenon that has been sadly lost to time. But LEGO vehicle builder Isaac Wilder has kept the beautiful dream alive with this retro pair of Dodge street vans. Here’s a fiery sunrise van that I can attest was a common theme back in the 70s. That front bumper is totally sick!

Dodge Street Van (Sun)

For emissions more nocturnal we have a dark moonlit Dodge street van counterpart. The magic of these is, without even mentioning it, one can imagine the plush shag interiors and the not-quite-lawful activities going on inside. Also the sticker on the rear window that declares; gas, grass, or ass nobody rides for free. While all three may be enticing, clicking the Isaac Wilder link is a free trip so give it a gander.

Dodge Street Van (Moon)

All aboard the Boo Boo Bus

Were it not for the sirens and lights on the roof, I would have assumed this LEGO Ford Econoline van by Isaac Wilder was just a regular van with a cool stripe on it (you know, for speed). In fact, this is a model of a conversion from van to ambulance (Vanbulance?), dubbed the Collins Crusader or, more affectionately, the ‘Boo Boo Bus’ – which is a name I will start using more often now I’ve heard it!

1972 Collins “Crusader” Type-II Ambulance

Isaac is no stranger when it comes to the superb shaping of vehicles, and while one would think a van’s boxy shape would lend itself easily to a rendition in LEGO bricks, the various pieces pointing in different directions here show it can be deceptively complex. So much so that a few cut decals have been used to pull off some of the more minute details such as the red stripe and A-pillars. There’s no doubt that the effect is well worth the effort though!

This is not the first 1972 Econoline he’s built, either – the first one having been modified from a LEGO Avengers set. It’s always nice to see builders revisit their previous models, especially when the result is this good!

The original custom van

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with vans. When you say the word van, imagery of minivans and hideous box shapes spring to mind. But there are some undeniable gems among the chaff, and the original Ford Transit Mk 1, which went into production in 1965, is one of them. This beautiful LEGO rendition by OutBricks is minifigure scale and 7 studs wide, which is an impressive feat. It manages to capture the chunky 1960s stylings well, right down to the gently angled sides. The best part, though, is the sideways half arches used for the wheel wells.

Ford Transit MK1 01

It’s van life for me

Vans may be trending mostly out of style these days as far as new vehicles go, but no one can deny the inherent cool factor of a sweet custom van, like this awesome LEGO Ford Econoline by Tim Henderson. Despite it’s nearly perfect minifigure scale, it’s got a great brick-built paint scheme with white and lime green swooshes on the side that offset the blue. Plus those headlights, made from the bottoms of 1×1 tooth plates, are just fantastic.

Custom Ford Econoline

Conversion Van Conversion

Sometimes the best inspiration for a custom LEGO Creation is an official LEGO set. When 1saac W. saw the brown van in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame Final Battle set, he knew he had to have one – but in classic black with stylish pin stripes. In addition to the color swap, there’s some more subtle upgrades that make the model even more accurate to the real 1970s Ford Econoline: a round window in the back, an exhaust pipe just behind the rear wheel, and even door handles made from minifigure roller skates. I bet if we could see inside there’d be some stylish shag carpeting and a rocking 8-track player.

1972 Ford Ecoline street van (76192 mod)

What the crazy European kids were into

When I think of my childhood the Ford Pinto comes to mind. That’s because we had one when I was growing up and apparently Dad thought nothing of our safety. But across the pond, LEGO builder Jonathan Elliott tells us that during his childhood, the Mk1 Ford Transit was the ubiquitous thing in the United Kingdom as well as Germany, Belgium, and Holland. It’s still a Ford but apparently far less explosive. In fact, the Ford Transit is so revered out there that the platform is still used today in everything from school buses to police and ambulance applications. Jonathan replicated the shape nicely with this little build proving you don’t need a vanload of pieces to create an accurate LEGO model.

Early Ford Transit

Build a classic van for your everyday LEGO City needs [Instructions]

Having enough space to head out for an adventure to the LEGO store (gasp!) has always been a dream of mine. I like to calculate precisely the number of UCS Millennium Falcons, I could fit into any given area, measuring the exact width, height and depth and doing the math and volunteer that in my conversation as much as possible even when it’s wasn’t asked for. I don’t know how many of them I could fit here, but thanks to Andrea Lattanzio aka Norton74, I could at least calculate the number of LEGO miniature Millennium Falcons versions that could fit back there. You can now go an build one if you like, while I do the arithmetic.

Classic Van | Instructions and part list

Click to see the build guide and parts list