Just the Tip

Leave a reply

The Mazda RX-8 was a triumph when new. With an astonishing buttery-smooth rotary engine displacing just 1.3 litres yet making 240bhp, bizarre rear suicide doors, seating for four, and styling – to quote one famous Top Gear host – “busier than the Pope’s hat”, there was nothing else like it.

And then they got old, and that amazing engine… failed. A lot. Even well maintained RX-8s suffered from terrifying oil consumption and rotor tip wear leading to engine failure, but the poorly maintained ones (as older sports cars often are) died alarmingly quickly.

Values tanked, and now one of the most interesting cars of the ‘00s is worth absolutely nothing at all.

But we like weird, flawed, unreliable cars here at TLCB, and so we love today’s model; this fantastic Model Team Mazda RX-8 from previous bloggee Mihail Rakovskiy. Featuring a highly detailed interior, realistic drivetrain, a remarkably replicated exterior, and a working rotary engine, Mihail has captured Mazda’s mad ‘00s creation beautifully in Lego form.

Excellent presentation matches the build, and there’s lots more of the model to see at Mihail’s ‘Mazda RX-8’ album on Flickr. Take a tip from us and check it out via the link above.

Grave Robber

Leave a reply

Everyone knows grannies are loaded with cash, but Nonna Vittorina’s grandchildren can expect a larger payday than most. The wheeled bandit’s latest score complete, she makes her escape as the banknotes from her heist blow behind her.

We suspect she’s not acting along though, and a shifty looking Loïc Gilbert is a likely accomplice. Follow the trail of loot back to Loïc’s photostream via the link above.

Super Nova

Leave a reply

Here in TLCB’s home nation we know the ‘Nova’ as an early-‘80s to early-‘90s supermini that was everywhere, and then nowhere, as rust and neglect killed – like all ‘80s economy cars – almost every last one.

In 1960s America however, an ‘economy car’ meant something rather different, and General Motors used the same nameplate for the Chevrolet Nova, the base engine for which was more than twice as big as the largest engine ever fitted to its later Vauxhall namesake.

But we’re not interested in the base Nova, not when there was a V8 engine of over five litres available in the Super Sport variant. Imagine that in a Vauxhall shopping car…

This beautiful ‘67 Chevrolet Nova SS is the work of Flickr’s PleaseYesPlease, and it’s about a billion times cooler than the Novas we got. Superbly built and presented, there’s more to see at Please’s photostream and you can take a look via the link.

Special K

Leave a reply

TLCB is the sort of place where we like an improbably large engine attached to something wildly inappropriate. And there’s few vehicles more inappropriate for massive power than a Japanese Kei truck.

Limited to 3.4m in length and engines no larger than 660cc, Kei trucks are really very small indeed. But that hasn’t stopped newcomer Fukku Guen from fitting his with an enormous bed-mounted engine plus a pair of nitrous tanks.

We expect the handling – not to mention the carrying capacity – may be slightly compromised, but it more than makes up for that with fantastic silliness.

There’s more of Fukku’s modified Kei truck to see on Flickr, and you can take a look at his photostream via the link!

Studs for Pixels

Leave a reply

2015’s ‘Rocket League’, wherein teams of players use rocket-powered buggies to play football, has become something of a cult phenomenon. Despite a somewhat ropey physics engine, the game attracted over 40 million players by 2018, has been rated as one of the greatest games of all time, and even has a professional e-sports championship. Which proves that Fun counts more than Realism (and hence why we employ mythical Elves).

This awesome Miniland scale recreation of the ‘Octane’ – one of the three base cars within ‘Rocket League’ – comes from recent bloggee Joey Klusnick, who has captured it brilliantly. There’s more to see at Joey’s photostream and you can swap pixels for studs via the link above!

My Other Piece of Agricultural Equipment is a Unimog

Leave a reply

The new and rather excellent looking LEGO Technic 42242 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5023 set brings a whole lot of lime to the Technic line-up.

Which means a famously-lime agricultural brand is within B-Model reach. And reach Eurobricks’ Ngoc Nguyen has done, because he’s created this tremendous Claas Torion 530 front loader solely from the parts found within the aforementioned Unimog.

42242’s pneumatics have been redeployed to create a twin-cylinder boom lift and tilt, at the end of which is a mechanically-operated removable grapple, whilst there’s articulated steering via both ‘HOG’ and the steering wheel.

Building instructions are available and you can find further details of Ngoc’s excellent 42242 alternate at the Eurobricks forum. Swap your ‘Mog for a Claas via the link above.

BuWizz Gathering 2026

Leave a reply

BuWizz-powered creations have been appearing on The Lego Car Blog for years, and with programable bluetooth control, mega power, and a 5-Star Review when we tested their awesome 3.0 Pro system, it’s easy to see why.

If you’re a BuWizz builder or a fan of seeing what remote control Lego can do, the BuWizz Gathering 2026, held in BuWizz’s beautiful native Slovenia, is coming this July 11th-12th.

The 2026 event will include multiple vehicular competitions, daily prizes, conferences, and a social dinner, as well as attendance from 95-million views YouTuber RacingBrick and TLCB Master MOCers Sariel and Nico71.

Tickets are on sale now for €60 (competitors) and €20 (spectators).

Find full details and tickets for the BuWizz Gathering 2026 here

There’s also currently 10% off BuWizz components in their Summer Sale. Click on the image below to take a look at what’s available.

Industry of Machinery & Tractors

Leave a reply

Before Yugoslavia dissolved into seven separate countries (we’re counting Kosovo – live with it Serbia), it was a communist dictatorship like so much of Eastern Europe. And with the usual foibles of Communism, that meant magnificently unimaginative naming.

Cue the Industry of Machinery & Tractors (IMT) 533, a 33hp tractor licensed from Massey-Ferguson and built in large numbers from the 1950s and for decades thereafter.

This neat Lego example comes from Flickr’s Keko007, and pulls an equally neat wooden drop-side drawbar trailer. There’s more of the model to see at Keko’s ‘IMT 533’ album and you can head to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia via the link.

N Vision

Leave a reply

We still don’t have many Hyundais in our Archives. Which is strange, as they’ve been around for decades, they make reasonably interesting products, and they’re one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers.

In fact all but one of the Hyundais in the Archive are this, the awesome N Vision 74. Constructed by Flickr’s jklu17legodude this Miniland scale version captures the wedge-shaped concept to perfection, and you can check out the only Hyundai that seems of any interest to Lego builders via the link above.

LEGO Editions McLaren Mastercard F1 Team Helmets; 43017 Oscar Piastri & 43023 Lando Norris | Set Preview

Leave a reply

McLaren are celebrating their 1,000th Formula 1 Grand Prix, which is quite a milestone. In fact only Scuderia Ferrari have entered more. And what better way to celebrate than by recolouring your sponsors and releasing the results as LEGO sets! Thus for June 2026, here are the brand new LEGO Editions McLaren Mastercard F1 Team 43017 Oscar Piastri & 43023 Lando Norris Helmets.

Like the Ferrari helmet sets that preceded them, 43017 and 43023 recreate the drivers’ helmet designs (in this case unique for McLaren’s 1,000th race) from just under 800 parts apiece, with a stand, plaque and a bespoke minifigure included too.

Both feature McLaren’s signature papaya colouring, with Piastri’s adding blue stripes, whilst Norris wears the champion’s ‘No.1’ and looks to have his brain on the outside. Good thing Lance Stroll doesn’t use a similar design or there’d be nothing there to see.

Both sets are aimed at ages 14+, cost around $89.99 / €89.99 / £79.99, and are available now.

Smiles in Space

Leave a reply

We’re in a sub-genre of a sub-genre today. In space. Which means that TLCB Team are light years away from their happy place next to an internal combustion engine. And yet we’re still happy, because how could we not be when looking at Rubblemaker’s joyous ‘chibi’ Neo-Classic Space creations. Assorted smiling Classic Spacemen, cartoon proportions, and clever construction combine for some delightful cosmic whimsy, and you can join us not knowing what we’re looking at, but enjoying it anyway, via the link!

Get Your Skates On

Leave a reply

From one beautiful classic car to another, only this one isn’t real. But gosh we wish it were.

Created by Flickr’s SHARPSPEED, this gorgeous classic coupe has notes of Corvette, Volvo P1800, E-Type, Aston Martin, and many others, with our particular favourite elements being the conical rear lights and ice-skate grille.

There’s more to see at SHARPSPEED’s photostream and you can take a look via the link.

D-Cup

1 Reply

Exactly half-way between the death of King Edward VII and Salad Fingers came this, the glorious 1957 Jaguar D-Type.

Launched in 1955 the D-Type was specifically designed to win the Le Mans 24 Hours, with a 3.4 litre straight-six and a host of aeronautical inspired innovations – most notably the tail-fin to provide stability for the (then un-chicaned) Mulsanne Straight.

The result was an outright win in ‘55, ‘56, and most dominantly in ‘57, when 250,000 spectators watched the D-Type – now with an enlarged 3.8 litre engine – take first, second, third, fourth, and sixth places.

This lovely Speed Champions recreation of the ‘57 Le Mans winner comes from regular bloggee SFH_Bricks, with custom stickers from Brickstickershop and building instructions available too.

There’s more of the model to see at SFH’s photostream, and you can head down the Mulsanne Straight in 1957 via the link above.

Technic 42240 Aston Martin Aramco AMR25 F1 Car | Set Preview

Leave a reply

LEGO’s extensive partnership with Formula 1 has just added another set the grid! This is the brand new 1,547-piece LEGO Technic 42240 Aston Martin Aramco AMR25 F1 Car.

Despite us currently being a third of the way through the 2026 Formula 1 season, 42240 recreates last year’s Aston Martin mid-field competitor (rather than their disastrous 2026 effort) – as piloted by one of the world’s greatest F1 drivers. And Lance Stroll.

Joining the previously revealed championship-winning 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car at the top of the Formula 1 line-up, 42240 matches 42228’s scale (1:8) and technical features, with steering and suspension, a V6 engine with a brick-built ‘electric’ motor, working DRS, and a miserably curtailed two-speed gearbox.

Authentic sponsor decals add accuracy to the AMR25’s appearance, although the standard green parts (which don’t match the real car’s unique hue) and equal-width tyres front and rear do not.

On sale from July 1st, aimed at ages 18+, and expected to cost an enormous $230 / £200 / €230, the 42240 Aston Martin Aramco AMR25 feels like a bit of a rehash, carrying the same limitations as the McLaren MCL39 that preceded it, only being six months late and without that set’s title-winning kudos. Which we suppose means that 42240 does share one attribute with Aston Martin’s current Formula 1 car; it’s pointless.

Packing Meat

Leave a reply

Sharing a title with that video of your Mom, today’s post is full of meat, because this DAF FAS 2300 DHU truck and twin-axle Jumbo trailer pairing was built for transporting pigs.

Flickr’s Arian Janssens is sending them across the Netherlands in this superb classic truck and trailer combo, and you can await their conversion into various tasty meats via the link above!