My biggest car yet; an idea in the making for a long time finally finished...
About this creation
Hi,
...At last, here it is !
This isn't just a lego model - it's much more, so you could either just skip to the end and gawp at the photos or you could read the story that goes with it first...
Quite a while ago, whilst still working on the 1/3 Lamborghini megaproject, I was thinking how cool it would be to make a huge - though still manageable sized car. (I was thinking bigger than this; say 1/6 or 1/5... but of course when it comes to realistically building something I'm limited by the amount of Lego I own)
Lego's fun, as I'm sure everybody on this website will agree - why else would you be on here? - but I have many other hobbies too. I've always been a creative person (not to be confused with an artsy person... I just don't understand art critics or anybody who goes to art school; they think a load of random squiggles is talented whereas a photo-realistic painting isn't... I'm the opposite.)
My creativity is usually on paper, not Lego. Drawings mainly, some paintings occasionally. I also like to make 3D models, sometimes paper macé, sometimes proper things out of wood etc, and most often out of Lego - it's clean, fits together without falling apart (uusally), doesn't need to dry and comes in loads of colours. If you tink of it as an art tool, then compared to clay or plasticine or paper maché it's just better in nearly every way (except price).
So it's not just making models, it's a way to express creativity and ideas, too.
I've always loved cars, from many eras and styles - though generally, the older the better. I draw a great many cars, and sometimes make up my own designs, some of which look a little dodgy, some look, if I may say, quite nice.
So now my big idea was to design my own car, but this time in 3D. And big; big enough to impress and fit plenty of detail.
I wanted to honour the old pre-war cars - back when it was all about quality and looks, not about maximising profit by making the insides out of plastic and the bodies out of metal as thick as a baked bean tin; and all this eco-safety nonsense to ruin the fun and the whole point of driving. Back when you could actually *want* a car instead of just need one to get from A to B.
I wanted to make a big model of one of these cars - the kind of car that ppeople from all ages and backgrounds - even those who aren't into cars - can look at and think "oooh, that looks nice!"
I hope I've succeded :)
When I put up my introduction page, I had some guesses as to what the car was, judging by the teaser photos I'd given.
A 1930's cadillac maybe ?
Well maybe. But no. As much as I think the nicest cars of the 50's were american, in ly opinion the nicest of the 30's were european.
A rolls royce phantom drophead ?
Looked a little like it, especially from the front. Good guess. Funnily enough, though I can see a resemblance, this car wasn't in my list of influences.
No guess would have gotten it of course; this car never existed - though was influenced by half a dozen specific cars.
If you ask me, I'd say that though I didn't actually rely or use many of the influences, the finished product looks most like a mix of Mercedes 500K (http://richworks.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/54.jpg ; http://www.getnet.com/~edg/rodeo/mercedes500k.jpg) , Delahaye 165 Figoni & Falaschi (http://www.calconnect.com/weekly_photo/1939_Delahaye_Cabriolet_165_HR.jpg ; http://home.comcast.net/~dashriprock899/1939DeLaHaye165S.JPG) and Bentley Mk. VI Franay cabriolet (http://www.bdcnsw.com.au/Bentley-1947-MKVI-Franay-2Dr%20DHC-2.jpg ; http://img.motorpasion.com/1947_bentley_mark_vi-02.jpg)
Other influences include the Bucciali Tav 30, Bugatti Type 57 Figoni & Falaschi, Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic (the one with the batmobile-ish back), Auburn boat-tailed speedster, Mercedes SSK, Bugatti Type 41 Royale Esders, and the vintage black sports car I'd previously made out of lego. In fact the front end looks very similar to that last one, thinking of it.
Now, Kelso & Friends are probably thinking "pah, this is tiny!" but consider the fact that most 'big' car makers here do 16-wide ; my big cars are around 1/12-1/10 scale - the recently finished Bugatti Type 46 is quite big. Until you put it next to this. This is 6 studs wider than the Bugatti (making it 30-wide) , a full 17 studs longer (74 total). Just look at the comparison photo at the end; it's big. I would have made it bigger had I more lego; but alas, I'm just a starving student with no money and limited to the used lego I already own - the only colour there being enough left of was white (fair enough as I was planning on white anyway).
This model was made for looks, not functionality. Lego don't make wheels big enough anyway, so there's no point making working steering or suspension. The boot, bonnet and doors open, though.
I went with a classic look; covered wheels with chromey bits in a nice design, chrome strips on the sides of the bonnet would, if the real car existed, have small slits in them, or mesh, to replace the slits that would have otherwise been on the bonnet to cool the car down. An idea directly influnced by the aforementioned Delahaye.
Rounded doors, an expression of the Art Deco car design of the time. A front with a big imposing radiator grill and fancy mascot; headlights that, though it may sound silly, had to be positioned just at the right height to give the stance intended.
A nice flowing back with an opening boot, lined with dark red leather (or plastic bricks, anyway). Nice big comfy dark red seats, double rimmed steering wheel, check out the gearstick design, glovebox on the dashboard as well as various dials.
Open the hinged two-sided bonnet to reveal the big juicy engine - I imagine back then something like a straight-eight would have been appropriate for this kind of car - these were common in expensive Bugattis, Mercedes and Auburns of the time, among others.
Though it's a roadster, I made up a soft-top for it, at the request of my little brother who thought it should have one.
I could rattle on forever, but hey, a picture says a thousand words, so to save typing out 8 gazillion words, here are the photos...
I hope you enjoy this as much as liked making it; it's been a lot of work and lego bricks, and I hope it will be appreciated by all those who take the time to have a look at this page :)
- Dan














































See, it's big. :)

This is how I 'pre-planned' it, making a life-size grid of lego brick width by plate height - then drawing my design over it. This proved very useful for making those hard chrome shapes on the wheel covers, yet pretty useless for everything else.
I'll be going back for another year of boredom at university soon, so I hope to end my current building spree on a nice positive high note with this model; see you soon when I'm next back (possibly christmas) where I've already got some more models planned :)
- Dan
P.S. Somebody should make a petition, maybe in the form of a group here on MOCpages, that we can all sign and send to good old Sean so the he can, in addition to the 'large scale vehicles' category (that is dominated by microscopic 16-wides), create a "Dan the Man scale vehicles" category :)
Comments
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October 29, 2012 |
Magnifique !!! |
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I made it |
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September 21, 2012 |
Quoting hhhhhklh hhhhklh
J'adore cette voiture!!! Très bon travail :)!! Faites vous des instructions sur ldd?
Car j'aimerais faire des voitures, je suis pas tres fort pour faire les voitures :(
Merci beaucoup!
Comme tous les autres formes d'art, je me truve bien plus confortable avec des matières physiques devant moi. J'ai tenté ldd une ou deux fois, mais j'ai trouvé plutôt lent et compliqué par rapport à avoir un tas de pièces devant moi... donc en gros, pas d'instructions sur ldd.
Parcontre pour une ou deux de mes voitures, j'ai fait des pages 'en progrès' et pour toutes j'essaie de mettre beacoup de photos. En principe à partir de tout ça, tu pourrais t'inspirer pour quelques idées de construction.
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September 20, 2012 |
J'adore cette voiture!!! Très bon travail :)!! Faites vous des instructions sur ldd?
Car j'aimerais faire des voitures, je suis pas tres fort pour faire les voitures :( |
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August 14, 2012 |
Quoting Starscream Soundwave
Simply beautiful!
Thanks !
It's currently sitting on my desk, place of pride lol |
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August 14, 2012 |
Quoting Halhi 141
It looks amazing...the shaping, the colors, and the opening parts are all brilliant. I think the only minor flaw I can point out is the steering wheel. Definately one of your best cars (if not your best).
Thank you very much! The thing with building such large models, is that you can get away with making curves out of blocks - the bigger it is, and the more blocks make up the curve, the less obvious and blocky the overall shape looks - unlike my similar style, smaller black car.
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August 13, 2012 |
Simply beautiful! |
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August 12, 2012 |
It looks amazing...the shaping, the colors, and the opening parts are all brilliant. I think the only minor flaw I can point out is the steering wheel. Definately one of your best cars (if not your best). |
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May 21, 2012 |
That is awesome, thats like the biggest Lego car I have ever seen. P.S. Do you think maybe you could give me some ideas for my Technic figure's name here www.mocpages.com/group_conversation_FORM.php?groupid=20459&topicid=80468&reply=981486 |
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January 24, 2012 |
simply EPIC! 10/10 :) |
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July 9, 2011 |
I like it very much. |
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June 20, 2011 |
this is fu... beautiful man !
all the curves and specially the way of your construction picture... => i'm speachless :) |
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June 19, 2011 |
Quoting Ben Shaw
You've somehow managed to squeeze every possible kind of angle and graceful curve out of a fundamentally square building tool
Thank you very much :)
I do love the shape of old cars, especially the ones with such artistic styling as this was trying to imitate.
I had actually planned on making another car this summer, which would have made this one look quite anguler and straight-edged in comparison... though I may not do so, not only due to a shortage of pieces, but I'm actually lucky enough to help make up the real thing this summer... If I get time, and find enough parts I may have a go at doing a lego version too at some point :)
- Dan |
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June 16, 2011 |
You've somehow managed to squeeze every possible kind of angle and graceful curve out of a fundamentally square building tool |
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May 20, 2011 |
mind blowing |
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March 14, 2011 |
Yeah, I forgot to mention it in the rules. Sorry. |
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March 14, 2011 |
Quoting Lego Builder
I need to remove it from my group because it needs to be a real car. I'm very sorry.
Fair enough. You should say so in the rules if that's the case, though.
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March 13, 2011 |
I need to remove it from my group because it needs to be a real car. I'm very sorry. |
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November 24, 2010 |
Quoting W Mark
A work of art. Once again, old cars are shown to be cooler than new ones. Basic wheels would have been nice, I think... but this is still a 5/5. Wonderful!
Thanks !
I do agree... of course there are exceptions every so often; but generally cars have just gone downhill over the years :(
Most kids growing up now aren't even aware of the really nice old ones, or think that because they're old, they're boring...
I think that's why Morgan is still going quite well, unlike most small-time british car makers - they've realised that people still like the older models. |
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November 24, 2010 |
A work of art. Once again, old cars are shown to be cooler than new ones. Basic wheels would have been nice, I think... but this is still a 5/5. Wonderful! |
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September 25, 2010 |
nice car!what happened to the wheels anyway? |
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September 7, 2010 |
Wow, thanks for showing me that - I wasn't aware of it, but it's absolutely awesome - that guy's done an amazing job ! |
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September 4, 2010 |
Dan, this is simply stunning! The whole curvy shape, the decorations, the emblem on the hood. The details on the interiour. Very clever to cover the wheels (if there are any;-) In one word: FANTASTIC! |
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August 30, 2010 |
Wow! No wonder you are called "the Man"! |
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August 30, 2010 |
Impressive indeed! I thought it was a drawing from the main pic, yes it's that good. Although I prefer smaller scale models for many reasons; this is one of those MOCs that you'll never forget, well done Dan. |
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August 30, 2010 |
J'aime voir ce genre de creations sublimes utilisant les techniques "d'origine" du Lego, a savoir studs apparent, briques "normales"... le resultat est d'autant plus impressionnant. Chapeau l'artitste !
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August 30, 2010 |
This is simply amazing! |
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August 30, 2010 |
Houaaaaa !!! elle est toute simplement sublime !!!! |
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August 29, 2010 |
Wow...cool details. Awesome job! |
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August 29, 2010 |
Hello Dan - it's up! A 1970 Citroen DS - almost (but not quite) as big as this wonderful creation. |
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August 29, 2010 |
Quoting Nick Barrett
That's wonderful.. so elegant like the best French coachwork of the 1930s. Funnily enough, I've just finished a big build of my own but you just outdo me (mine's 28 studs wide and 77 long - also 1/8 scale). I hope to post it soon. Anyway, very well done.. you win!
Oooh sounds good !
I mlike your models, so let me know when you're done - I'll be sure to take a look :)
- Dan |
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August 29, 2010 |
abolutely amazing car. great work on the curvs. it does look very realistic. 5/5 |
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August 29, 2010 |
Interesting choice of car, half of the length is engine. I wonder if there is any tires inside that body? :D Great representation of a shape. |
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Josh Lucas August 28, 2010 |
Now that is a gorgeous car. You live in the Pyrenees? |
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August 28, 2010 |
Awesome! You never cease to amaze! You push the limits of LEGO with every single car you make! This thing is huge, beautifully sculpted, well detailed, and all around it has a shocking presence. This is truly a LEGO car that any artist could appreciate! Very well done! I just hope the Lamborghini is still coming along okay, until then you're doing a great job of wetting appetites! Nice job, 10/5 :)
-Dylan |
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August 28, 2010 |
That's wonderful.. so elegant like the best French coachwork of the 1930s. Funnily enough, I've just finished a big build of my own but you just outdo me (mine's 28 studs wide and 77 long - also 1/8 scale). I hope to post it soon. Anyway, very well done.. you win! |
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August 28, 2010 |
Dan, you are certainly the Man! This is an awesome creation! the size and looks are definitely reminiscent of the pre-war automobiles. Not sure if it's a coincidence, but my brother and I were just admiring pre-war cars yesterday...Keep up the great work. I'm inspired |
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August 28, 2010 |
Quoting Sander van Kreijl
Some remarks...
1. What kind of wheels did you use?
2. Why not take the LEGO back to university or build during now until christmas?
3. What address should our lawyers use for claims of immaterial/mental damage if we really have to wait untill christmass for your posts? I'm hooked...
4. Eh.... wow! Great build.
5. Envying your massive amount of white lego pieces
6. And eh... again... wow.
Hahaha thanks :)
So...
1. black plates to make the curves of wheels - Lego don't make big enough wheels for this (and even if they did it'd be hard to squeeze them inside the wheel covers)
2. Because even though I've got no money and haven't bought a new set for years, I have managed to acquire a huge load of second hand lego over the years. The two big reasons for not bringing it to uni are my little brother still wanting it at home; and the fact that bringing a shedload of lego from the pyrenees to edinburghis very expensive. And I don't have a great deal of empty space there either... :(
3.... Well, I dunno :) I'm glad you like my models so much ! If you want more you could always check out the older ones if you haven't already; and if you (or anyone else reading this) want to keep in touch my e-mail (and msn) is ibeatgodzilla@gmail.com.
4. Thanks !
5. Well... you need to own more than you need. Believe it or not I still have a ton of white bricks left... yet certain types (1x2 , 1x4 and 1x6 plates for instance) I've used all up, or nearly all...
6. Thanks again ! |
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August 28, 2010 |
Quoting Ludo van der Veen - Hiemstra
This is a really big car. Huge i would say. This one should be a perfect hotrod :-) If you now what i mean. I love the shape of the car and the white is the right color for this type of car. I like the details you made with the doors and the steer. The drawings on the side of the car are unique. Nice tip to draw it on paper first before builing.... Very very nice job.
P.S. What is the lenght of the car in mm? :-)
Thanks a lot :)
Well, yours is bigger - mine tops out at 60cm long; but that's big enough - I really was running out of white parts on this ! |
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August 28, 2010 |
Quoting Jurgen Krooshoop
Nice, but not your biggest car yet I guess. A 1/3 scale Lamborghini would be a lot bigger ... and I thought you were making one.
Well, yes... I guess it's the 'technically speaking...' bit here: the lambo is a joint project; unfinished and on hold. So, the biggest car I've A) finished and B) not in a joint venture.
The lambo still lives, but to use a metaphor that describes it's status right now, it's in a coma. |
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August 28, 2010 |
Quoting David J.
That is realy biiiiig! Does it have wheels though? I didn't see them in the pics.
Sorry about that :)
It doesn't have wheel so much - as I said, Lego don't make big enough ones - so I've made the curve of the wheels with black plates. You can't see them in some photos due to the way I was fiddling with contrast to get the black background... so they are there but it's my uselessness with photoshop that makes them hard to see... |
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August 28, 2010 |
nice ride, but it looks bit like mb 500k:) |
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August 28, 2010 |
Some remarks...
1. What kind of wheels did you use?
2. Why not take the LEGO back to university or build during now until christmas?
3. What address should our lawyers use for claims of immaterial/mental damage if we really have to wait untill christmass for your posts? I'm hooked...
4. Eh.... wow! Great build.
5. Envying your massive amount of white lego pieces
6. And eh... again... wow. |
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Two words...rolling sculpture. |
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August 28, 2010 |
So beautiful! Easily one of the best-looking and BIGGEST cars ever to grace the 'pages! The sweeping lines alone are very stunning, but I'm always a fan of all the opening features. And don't even get me started on the engine. |
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August 28, 2010 |
One word: - LEGEN... wait for it.... wait for it.... DARY!!!!! |
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August 28, 2010 |
Awesome! I like the interior alot! not just the interior, the exterior also looks fabulous! Excellent job! |
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August 28, 2010 |
This is a really big car. Huge i would say. This one should be a perfect hotrod :-) If you now what i mean. I love the shape of the car and the white is the right color for this type of car. I like the details you made with the doors and the steer. The drawings on the side of the car are unique. Nice tip to draw it on paper first before builing.... Very very nice job.
P.S. What is the lenght of the car in mm? :-) |
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August 28, 2010 |
This car has it. Anyone that says this isn't good doesn't knows the difference between good and not good. This is excellent. I like the detail in the cockpit and on the engine very very much.
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August 28, 2010 |
Nice, but not your biggest car yet I guess. A 1/3 scale Lamborghini would be a lot bigger ... and I thought you were making one. |
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August 28, 2010 |
jesus how many wide is this and what ever happened to the lamborghini |
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August 28, 2010 |
That is realy biiiiig! Does it have wheels though? I didn't see them in the pics. |
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August 28, 2010 |
Great build, the curves are stunning, but even better that they use knackered 'standard' bricks (in various shades of white!) - I appreciate models that are built with regular Lego so much more than those 'made to order'. The detail on the wheel covers is really nice, as is the hood (or roof to our U.S friends). 10/10 with ease - but can it steer with those gorgeous wheel covers? |
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August 28, 2010 |
That..... the car its one word huge also it's got a huge amount of deatail wow umm . |
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August 28, 2010 |
Wow, amazing work Dan :D I don't think he would do that though, there are more themes like Toy Story, Atlantis, etc. that he STILL hasn't updated. So good luck with that ;) |
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