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 roving defender of the land

Whenever LEGO releases a big set, talented builders the world over get inspired to build similar models, but better and more epic. You see it with UCS LEGO Star Wars sets, modular buildings, castles (from Helm’s Deep to Hogwarts), and Batmobiles. It also happens in the LEGO Technic world; LEGO releases a 42110 Land Rover Defender, and out of the woodwork start crawling rugged off-roaders like this one by Manuel Nascimento. Not only did Manuel build an enormous and detailed Defender, but he also built a whole display base to demonstrate its capabilities. You can sleep on a Land Rover? That’s intense (get it? in tents?). But the lights and winch work, and it has a working transmission, too, and could in theory drive. But since it weighs in at 14.33 lbs (6.5 kg) driving it is a bit out of the question. Who cares, though, since looking at it is such a treat.

Custom stickers give this a sleek look, honoring a Camel Trophy competition team as well as the builder. It’s got all the details, too, from the cages and bars to the snorkel. The nets in the rear windows look great, and I love the huge knobby tires. My favorite parts usages are the socket wrenches for the door pulls and the DUPLO shovel mounted over the front right wheel. Droid arms serve beautifully for the hood latches, too. Now, I said this was built in response to the new LEGO Defender; that’s not properly true, since this was originally built back in 2017, but it is still an epic ride.

And if you enjoyed this Land Rover Defender, you might also like a pair of Land Rover Defenders by Peter Carmichael.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

It’s a swamp out there

The Land Rover Defender has been newly revitalized for 2020 with a complete overhaul of its aesthetics from the ancient-looking offroading beast that it’s been for decades, and LEGO commemorated the launch of the new generation with the Technic set 42110 Land Rover Defender. Early reports show it’s got promising off-road chops (as any Land Rover should), but it remains to be seen what the durability of the new model is. However, it’s obvious what Peter Carmichael thinks given this diorama of the classic model rescuing the newer one.

Peter says he began his concepting for the classic Land Rover design with an existing LEGO design, but ended up changing nearly every part of it in pursuit of greater accuracy. The result is fantastic, with the Defender’s iconic lines showing through from every angle. The sand blue for the new 110 model is a bold choice, given the paucity of elements in that color, but it works well to mimic the available Tasman Blue.

You ever driven with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Jerry Builds Bricks Returns with a stunning rendition of the Batmobile from Tim Burton’s Batman (1989). This is Jerry’s 2nd iteration of the Caped Crusader’s ride; we featured his building instructions for the first version last year. While it features some design cues found in the first model, the latest rendition looks sleeker and meaner. This is especially noticeable in the curve of the fins and the front fenders, which consist of curved slopes on hinges instead of angular slopes.

Once you’ve finished drooling over Jerry’s bat-tastic Batmobile, be sure to check out our review of LEGO set 76139 1989 Batmobile!

Maz artillery truck pulls its weight, and more [Video]

Building functioning vehicles has been a passion for many builders ever since the introduction of the Technic line of LEGO sets back in 1977 as the Expert Builder series. Some builders add motors so their vehicles can move and steer, but then there are builders like Sariel who go far and above merely building a motorized vehicle to create something truly special. When I first saw this model of a MAZ 535 heavy artillery truck made in USSR, I was impressed by both the scale, and the attention to detail, which compared to photos is remarkable.

But the amazing attention to detail doesn’t stop there. Sariel has created a video that shows off some of the many hidden features, included an opening top hatch, and two speeds for the transmission, which allows the LEGO truck to pull an incredible amount of weight. In the video, the Maz is seen pulling a chair across the floor! There is even a scene of an adorable hamster checking out the fabric hand-stitched canopy.

Bring the future home with the Sky Rider Special

Scientists, writers, and other visionaries of the past imagined we’d all have flying cars and bikes by now. What happened? What they were expecting was a revolution of energy but what happened instead was a revolution of data. The result means that the average person carries far more computing power in their pocket than what it took to put men on the moon but we, as of yet, have no efficient or affordable means to fly to work on the daily. Still, a boy can dream and Vince Toulouse has such a dream with this Sky Rider Special. Dark blue and tan make for a handsome color combination while a ball socket acts as a terrific headlight encasing. The pièce de résistance however involves the use of two Bionicle airpumps in the engine area to emulate some brilliant hover-bike wizardry.

Someday Vince’s vision may still come true but for now I’ll have to appease myself with entire libraries worth of data at my fingertips in order to watch dachshund videos on Youtube.

Build James Bond’s Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me [Instructions]

Looking back at the action scenes from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me make them seem downright cheesy today. Having said that, the reason why the Lotus Esprit is still remembered and loved is just how realistic the way the car submerged and reappeared on the sandy beach. Simple designs are sometimes the key to making things rememberable. Hachiroku24’s take on this vehicle not only looks great from the sides, but also has great detailing on the rear using simple 1×1 plates for its rear tail lights.

Click for full instructions to build your own

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.

Lamborghini unveils the new 8-stud wide LEGO Speed Champions Huracán Super Trofeo EVO and Urus ST-X [News]

Earlier this month Jaguar shared the new LEGO Speed Champions in its new 8-stud wide design. Lamborghini now takes center stage to show off their new addition to the same LEGO design language with the Huracán Super Trofeo EVO and Urus ST-X. The two new models were revealed at the Super Trofeo World Final on stage in Jerez.

Click to take a closer look

First to the flames

Fire engines are serious business, with each one being built to the specifications of the fire department placing the order. When building a LEGO version of a fire apparatus, you almost have to see it in person to analyze all the details that make it unique. Last year, Sven’s vacation in New York City landed him the opportunity to ride around in the Harlem Hilton firehouse’s Engine 69. The experience left such an impression on him that he had to make his own version of the truck and, as you can see, it is packed with plenty of detail. The proportions feel just right, as does the greebling of the gauges and switches. Finishing off the model are some phenomenal custom decals, allowing the LEGO truck to faithfully represent its real-life counterpart.

Flipping the engine around reveals that Sven’s model can be appreciated from multiple angles. The only thing that’s missing are some minifig firefighters! Perhaps they’re taking a needed break from fighting fires to fire up the grill and eat some burgers.

Tim dropped a Deuce and a Half

The M35A2 is a powerful military truck aptly nicknamed the “Deuce and a Half” for weighing in at two and a half tons. However Tim Inman’s rat-rodded version has shed some considerable weight. It’s been lowered, chopped, channeled, stretched and bobbed (removed second rear axle). The result is a mean rat-rod that loses its military function but retains its color and some of its prior identity. Maybe it’s more of a peace offering now?

But before you go thinking such silly ideas a rear view reveals a gas can, fifth wheel for towing and a skull taillight cluster letting any would-be peacenics know this ratted-out deuce still means serious business.

Who says electric vehicles are slow?

Building fast cars in LEGO has always been a popular theme, and that only sped up with the launch of the Speed Champions theme. And while the creation of racecar models isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, there are some LEGO fans giving this genre a serious boost. One such builder is Malte Dorowski, whose newest model off of the assembly lines is this beautiful Porsche 99X Electric. I am a big fan of the 3-color scheme in stark black, white, and red, with my favorite part being the front fenders made from panels found in 1980s and 1990s space sets.

It’s time to pick up the Ford Mustang set, thanks to this alt build

LEGO Creator Expert’s latest vehicle, 10265 Ford Mustang, is one of the best vehicles LEGO has made. But Nathanael Kuipers decided to use the parts from the set to build another stunning vehicle, this beautiful classic pickup. With the clean lines and split grille that marked the Ford F100 trucks of the early 70s, it’s remarkable that every element in this truck came from a single copy of the Mustang. Now that LEGO has moved away from cars with a Volkswagen Camper Van and a Technic Range Rover Defender, maybe they’ll turn an eye to gorgeous trucks like this, too.