This neat Town-scale Volkswagen Crafter flatbed recovery truck comes courtesy of Сергей Антохин of Flickr, and it’s only missing a broken Peugeot for maximum realism. Click the link above to see all the images. We’re not really fans of VW’s ‘new’ Beetles. Volkswagen are on their second ‘new’ Beetle, yet despite beating both the new Mini and the new Fiat 500 to the market for retro compact cars, the bug seems to lack the charm and fun of either of them. No matter, because car-building legend Firas Abu-Jaber has brought the fun back with this brilliant GRC-bodykitted 2017 Beetle, made almost entirely from the pieces found within the official 10252 VW Beetle Creator set. There’s more to see of the 2017 GRC Beetle on both Flickr and MOCpages, and you can read Firas’ interview with us here at TLCB by clicking here. Certified LEGO Professional Ryan McNaught is a veteran of these pages with his incredible (and massive) commissioned creations.
This is his latest, designed and built by a team of three builders and containing almost 24,000 LEGO pieces, Ryan’s Volkswagen Beetle (complete with a brick-built oil leak!) took nearly 100 hours to construct. The build pays homage not only to Volkswagen’s iconic People’s Car (the most produced car in automotive history with over 21 million made) but also to the official LEGO Volkswagen Beetle set of 2008, a product which paved the way for the hugely successful authorised manufacturer partnerships that LEGO fans are benefitting from today. There’s more of this spectacularly impressive build to see at Ryan’s Flickr photostream, where you can also find a link to his website and previous works. You don’t need to be the first to do something to receive the credit of invention. Apple have been hugely successful by refining other companies’ ideas and marketing them to the masses, and so too it was with Volkswagen and the hot hatch. Widely credited with creating the formula, Volkswagen’s Golf GTI was not the first sporty hatchback, but it was the best, and as such is now synonymous with the genre.
This neat Creator-style recreation of the iconic car is the work of Hasan Kabalak and there’s more to see on Flickr and Eurobricks. Volkswagen’s Golf GTI (or ‘Rabbit’ in the ‘States) was not the first hot hatchback. For that you need to go back a few years to the Chrysler/Talbot/Simca/Lotus Sunbeam (car manufacturer takeovers in ’70s were very complicated!). However it was the first to popularise the formula, and in doing so it nearly killed off the traditional sports car – at least until Mazda reinvigorated it a decade and a half later. Launched in 1975 and powered by a fuel injected 1.6 litre engine with 110bhp, and later a 1.8 with a little more, the GTI was more than a match for the traditional sports cars of the day. And you could get five people on board. And they wouldn’t get wet if it rained. This brilliant little Lego version of the iconic classic hot hatch is the work of serial bloggee Ralph Savelsberg aka Mad Physicist, and there’s more to see at his photostream on Flickr via the link above.
Dude, we could like, totally go to outta space! This far-out space Beetle and Camper pairing arrive courtesy of Flickr’s Priovit70. Drink the bong water via the links above to go on the trip of a lifetime!* *Don’t do drugs kids. Everyone here at The Lego Car Blog enjoys a good hotrod*, so we were charmed by this pair from Tim Henderson on Flickr. Both cars use the ready-made LEGO car nose, angled to get the look of Volkswagen’s classic Beetle. The thing that really grabbed our attention are the nicely greebled engines, which are different for each car. Click this link to see more details in their Flickr album. *Yes, and so does your Mom. Esso Service 1953 – Picture Special This magnificent 1953 Esso service station is the work of previous bloggee Andrea Lattanzio (aka Norton74) and it’s probably as close to perfect as a Lego creation can possibly be. Designed by Dutch architect Willem Dudock 112 of these beautiful structures were built across the Netherlands following World War 2 in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding road network.
Dudock’s brief was to design a station that was cheap and simple to construct, and that minimised the raw material usage – a critical factor for a country rebuilding itself after years of conflict. Andrea’s incredible recreation of Dudock’s ingenious design is not light on raw material however, as every conceivable detail has been replicated perfectly in Lego form, from the beautiful art deco fuel pumps (attended by Andrea’s previously blogged Volkswagen Transporter) to the brilliantly detailed workshop tooling. We highly recommend taking a trip Andrea’s wonderful Flickr Photostream where you can see more of the Netherlands in 1953, and we may also be seeing more of Andrea here at TLCB soon… “Medic!!”, is a cry that can often be heard screamed in Elvish across the TLCB executive editorial penthouse. Our research team enjoy every possible opportunity to smush each other into the deep shag carpet. Well, we assume that’s what they’re shouting. To be honest we’re a monoglot lot and haven’t a clue what they’re saying.
We tend to conduct negotiations with our crew in terms of the carrot and stick (Mr. Airhorn and Smarties). If Elvish paramedics were to respond to the call, they’d do well to turn up something like this vintage VW Splitscreen Barndoor Ambulance from redfern1950s on Flickr. Included in its description are details of how these vehicles differed from the minibuses from which they were converted. Redfern’s photostream is well worth a visit. It also contains fire engine, pick-up and hearse versions of this classic vehicle, plus his interpretation of Colin Furze’s hoverbike. Put a Tiger in Your Tank This gorgeous replica of Volkswagen’s classic T1 Transporter comes from TLCB favourite and previous bloggee Andrea Lattanzio aka Norton74. The latest version in his line of classic Volkwagens, Andrea’s newest build depicts the iconic van in an unusual 1950s canvas pick-up specification, and it looks absolutely wonderful. Complete with an Esso oil barrel load and some superb exterior decals it’s one of the most realistic models that we’ve found this year.