Tag Archives: Vehicles

LEGO planes, trains, and automobiles! Well, maybe not trains, since they don’t like to play with the other LEGO themes, but here you’ll find all our favorite cars, buses, boats, ships, helicopters, and anything else with an engine (and some without).

A perfect meld of classic design with modern performance

Indian Motorcycle is one of the most iconic brands of two-wheeled road machines out there. It may not have the same name recognition today as Harley-Davidson, but it is the first American motorcycle company (beating H-D by two years) and had an amazing peak before going bankrupt in 1953. The trademark bounced around for a while before being bought up by Polaris Industries, famous for their snowmobiles and other recreational vehicles, and today Indian Motorcycles are going strong and cruising the open roads once more. Henrik Jensen brings the Chief Classic, a bike with old-school looks but modern technology, to life in LEGO bricks, with a two-tone blue-and-black colorway and lots of beautiful sparkly chrome. The trademark bulky fenders are lovingly rendered in brick form, and I can practically hear the throaty roar shaking that tailpipe. Who wants to do some cruising?

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Made for a purpose but destined for greater things

Every custom builder’s LEGO bin of parts would likely have elements that would leave them bewildered and likely a sigh of defeat can be heard. Elements that fit into this category are typically purpose-built and typically only have one use for its intended purpose. One such example is a cockpit fuselage of a helicopter. Oscar Cederwall (o0ger) is not daunted by such a challenge and seamlessly integrates the part into his Assisted Robotic Maintenance ship and made immensely amazing.

Two mechanical arms sweep out with multiple sensors surrounding the shell of the ship. Maintenace activities in space never looked so good.

From Mustang to Pantera

When some folks buy LEGO sets, they are quite content to follow the instructions and build exactly what the designers had in mind. They build a set, admire the item on the shelf, shampoo, rinse, repeat, and that is the extent of their LEGO experience. But us builders are a different breed entirely. When Serge S bought the 10265 Ford Mustang set he had a different plan in mind for the parts. Taking us to a time when automotive designs were drawn by hand and without the assistance of computers, he constructed the mid-engined De Tomaso Pantera GT5.

This alternate view proves that all doors open and that the engine occupies what would normally be the trunk or boot as it’s called elsewhere. Once again this creation uses only the parts from the official Mustang set. I don’t know about you, but I’m smitten!

Oh, truck yeah!

Some LEGO builds look like they are made from tiny studded pieces of plastic. That’s appropriate, because that is what they are. However, some builds are done so sleekly that nary a stud is showing, save for representation of a specific detail. These builds cause the viewer to do a double take, and this author has been known to utter a muffled “holy bleep, that’s LEGO” from time to time when seeing them. This truck by Dennis Bosman is one such build. It’s a refrigerated Volvo F12 truck, branded for the Stie’s Termo Transport company from Norway. It is way too big for minifigs (it’s 1:13 scale, as opposed to roughly 1:25-1:42 for minifigs, depending on the relevant dimensions), and scaling it that way allowed Bosman to include mind-boggling details. The cab lifts open to reveal a fully equipped engine, the cab is plushly furnished, the trailers are studded both inside and out, and even the refrigeration units on the trailers have motors inside them.

Click to see this truck in greater detail

Not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need.

Every now and again, the LEGO community will be overtaken with a slew of builds in a common theme. The Baby Yoda builds are slowing down a little, but you can usually count on a new take on a Batmobile to surface every week or two. That’s understandable, what with the hype around LEGO’s UCS version of the 1989 Tim Burton design. I’m no different; I love the Batmobile in all its myriad designs. I didn’t think I could bring anything particularly new or interesting to the already amazing fan-builds that we’ve seen, though. So I took things a different (some may say “wacky”) direction. It’s probably safe to say you haven’t seen a Batmobile like this one before…

Yeah, I mashed the Burton Batmobile with the Unikitty! theme. It just seemed like the right thing to do. My first intention wasn’t to build this scale. In fact I had somewhat bigger plans. But, for now, I have both a minifigure and microscale version to share.
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Juxtaposition in Japan

It’s a bit of a cliché, undoubtedly, but Japan is a land full of contrasts. Last year I was lucky enough to travel to Japan in order to attend Japan BrickFest. It’s a two-day LEGO exhibition that takes place on Rokko Island, an artificial island in Osaka bay, off the coast of Kobe.

Fighting crime like it’s 1966

Throughout Batman’s illustrious career, he has driven a wide range of Batmobiles — and LEGO fans have built several wonderful representations over the years. While many people might point to the 1989 Batmobile as their favorite, mine would have to be Adam West’s ride from the 1960s Batman TV series. Custom car legend George Barris owned the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car and modified it into a bat-classic. Therefore, I squealed like a bat with glee when I saw Lucas‘ LEGO version of this iconic car.

Have a closer look at this classic Batmobile.

This sweet ride will soon be an official giveaway set!

There’s something about a 50s era car that gives me a deep sense of longing for a time and a place that I was never a part of. Well, it turns out so many others share in this notion. The term for that is not nostalgia but rather… anemoia. Versteinert likely knows what I mean as evidenced by this fabulously 50s convertible. The good news for anyone not a sexagenarian but still in love with that 50s style is this ride was the grand prize winner in the LEGO Ideas contest and will soon be an official Gift with Purchase set. Details as to exactly when and which sets you’d need to purchase haven’t been released yet, but our not-too-distant future is looking bright!

Contest rules state that any entry would need to be a generic design. I say “generic” meaning no particular model or brand, but I’m seeing a little bit of ’59 Impala, little bit of ’57 Chevy Bel Air, little bit of Ford, little bit of Cadillac and all things that make my heart go pitter-patter. The ice skate blade hood ornament is inspired, and the Dagmars (named after this actress) on the bumper are an excellent touch, but the pièce de résistance would have to be these surfboards. It would seem giving us all a sense of anemoia just might be this builder’s thing. Here’s a prior time we featured his vintage Chevy truck.

The incredible inedible electric egg

Electric cars existed long before Tesla, dating back to the 19th century. But one of the most bizarre-looking was L’Oeuf Electrique, which is French for the Electric Egg. Designed by Paul Arzens in 1942, the little three-wheeled car consisted of an aluminum body and plexiglass windshield. Small cars like the BMW Isetta would prove popular in post-World War II Europe, and Arzens hoped his eclectic electric might also find a place on the road. While Arzen’s concept never really took off, we’d like to think he would be proud to see his car brilliantly reproduced in LEGO-form by Aido K.

Take a closer look at this unusual looking electric car.

Santa’s ’40 Ford Coupe is the alternative to traditional science.

It’s been proven by…um…science or something that Santa travels the world via a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer named Dasher, Dancer and…um…Vomit and Nixon, maybe? I don’t know, it’s been awhile since my last science class so I’m a little rusty on the names and how it all works. But that doesn’t stop builders like Isaac W. from defying traditional science and going with alternate forms of transportation such as this chopped ’40 Ford Coupe. As a diehard car dude, I am all about this sleek, top-fueled alternate ride!

Now I’m aware that the ’40 Ford Coupe has fairly ample trunk space but I have a thirst for toys as big as the Colorado Rockies. How does Santa accommodate the likes of me? As stated earlier, it has been awhile since science class but I know enough about science to realize it’s going to take a lot more than a coupe trunk to get toys to all the good children of the world. Thankfully, Isaac already has that solution figured out with this matching trailer. Isn’t science grand?

Roofs? Where we’re going, we don’t need roofs [Video]

Iconic cars need no makeovers, but one way to make a car even more special is to make it topless. This is exactly what Alexey Tikhvinsky did to the famous 10187 Volkswagen Beetle set from 2008. More than a decade ago, a bulky model in a rare dark-blue color became an outstanding example of car model-making, which later resulted in a lineup of LEGO Creator Expect cars. Tan/brown pieces give the car some strong retro vibes. Although most of its body has a great resemblance to the original model, there is a fully functional chassis hidden underneath. Equipped with an independent suspension and a functioning gearbox, this Beetle has to offer much more than meets the eye.

The car is driven with three new Powered Up motors (just like the recent LEGO Technic 42099 4×4 X-treme Off-Roader set). The new powerful motors are perfect for such a heavy body. Bonus points are for a functioning gearbox. Thanks to the two sets of gears the car can be turned into a crawler, capable of conquering some of the steepest terrains outdoors. The winch in the front of the car is also functioning and can easily pull the car’s weight.

It would be unfair to leave our readers without a video of the model in action. As usual, the nearest skate park turns out to be one of the most suitable filming locations.

Hitch a ride in the back with a pig

I’m always amazed at the ways LEGO fans can use minifigure accessories as design elements in new and creative ways. One of my new favourites is Versteinert’s vintage Chevy. While there’s no denying how well the shape of the truck has been captured, the use of weapons and utensils is captivating. Whether it’s the frying pan and lightsaber hilt repurposed as a banjo or some of the less intuitive design choices, the exaction is magnificent. The teacup makes a cute side mirror and the revolver is an effective exhaust pipe. Most impressive, in my opinion, is the grille made up of 4 axe heads – what an ingenious way to vent an engine!