Armoured Car

An awesome Armoured Car I made from scratch during the summer. What is even more awesome is the high value production video you can watch to see it in action!

1989 Tipper Truck

This is a vintage tipper truck from 1989. I pieced it together from parts that I had and others I ordered specifically.

The only thing I “upgraded” is a newer front grill (the part did not exist at Lego before the early 1990’s) and the safety beacon on top of the cab. I’m sure the original designers wouldn’t mind. Do you?

Despite its small size, the truck is capable of some pretty heavy duty work!

Pretending to keep the truck clean after having pretended to work.

Broncozorus

Hi folks! You may recognise this road from the previous post, but do you recognise the car? It is one of the first vehicles I have shown you on this blog, right here. I was writing at the time that it was an excellent car which I had therefore barely modified. It is still excellent, but I made a few changes to it. The car is slightly higher, slightly longer and the bonnet slightly lower and slightly longer. You have to know the vehicle well to notice all that! Most conspicuous is the rear white structure I had in mind for a long time. My model for all that is, of course, the Ford Bronco from the 1980s. 

From above, it is easier to sea the police and light bar on the roof and the air vent on the bonnet. I don't consider the work to be done once and for all! The car is more of a work in progress.

For a lower profile, the light bar on the roof can be easily removed. With the police lights on, no specific marking and its dark red colour, this 4x4 is a perfect patrol and transportation mode for my jobs as a Sheriff and a Fire Marshall, as well as a very convenient "civilian" car for every other occasion. 

The 4x4 in a slideshow presentation here :

Lego City set 4437 MODified.

The Last Defender

Hi folks! This is my new toy! I managed to convince those chaps in Solihul to make a last effort at transforming my newly acquired Lego 4x4 (set 60165) into a Land Rover Defender inspired car. While I was there, I went for the full length version. It is absolutely sturdy and reliable despite its size, and perfectly versatile. 

The rear hatch opens for easy access to the vast boot, which is very convenient for loading your grocery bags or for other purposes.

(Please also notice the clever system imagined by His Grace the Duke to prevent the antennae from breaking if the car is driven underneath some low obstacle.) 

But my favorite position when traveling in this car is definitely standing through the sun roof I had added in the middle. Once again, this aperture is pretty convenient for all sorts of reasons. Oh, and of course, I have to have a driver taking care of the driving bit while I stand through the roof! 

(Please, notice the red and blue police lights discretely fitted in the front and protected by a very straightforward and solid bull bar.)

This brand new car, with its distinctive 'Jam Sandwich' style pattern is already one of my favorite ones in my entire collection.

At last, those same photos as a YouTube slideshow:

Thank you for stopping by!

Lego City 4x4 Response Unit set 60165 MODified.

Eight Wheeler

Guest Vehicle !

You may remember a few articles ago, I offered you the opportunity to win on that blog an eight wheel military vehicle. The winner is back and presents his price perfected with some modifications of his own. What is most amazing about the whole story is the fact that the private owner managed not to cause havoc in the streets with his armoured cannon bearing troop transport 8x8, and not having it confiscated. This deserves to be recognized!

HDH C.V. Durobot in front of his armoured troop transport.

Holy Molly!

Guest Vehicle !

This monster is the exact opposite of the car you can see in the previous post. One of the most impressive and capable pickup trucks of His Grace's personal collection, it is based on an average SUV model, Lego set 60117 (as still shown by the front licence plate). The original car has been extended to accommodate both the double cab and the open bed. The wheel arches have been replaced by bigger ones, to allow room for bigger wheels. The huge ground clearance of the model makes it a very effective off road vehicle. Even if I suspect it is used more often on the nice asphalt of our city streets than on the dirt and muck of some countryside roads. In fact, in might even spend more time in the garage than on any type of roads!

The owner of the truck, Mr Durobot, and myself posing next to this breathtaking tuner car.

Modified pickup truck based on Lego City Set 60117.

Armoured Car

Guest Vehicle !

For once, I'm proud to present a vehicle which I don't own. Nonetheless, I've borrowed this very fine Armoured Car for a few days in order for me to test it after its restoration and tell its owner -- His Grace the Duke of Couteau -- if all is alright with it. So far, so good!

This Couteautish designed and produced Armoured Car was made a few years after the Second World War, in 1949. In fact, the design process started in December of 1948 when His Grace the Duke ordered his military designers to imagine and produce a vehicle fit for both reconnaissance missions at the border and urban fighting against the communist opponents to the regime. If the not ideal off-road performances of the Armoured Car somewhat restricted its capabilities as a scout car (it is a 4 wheel drive, but it has somewhat too narrow wheels for its weight and therefore has a bad tendency to get too easily stuck on boggy terrain), its efficiency in street fighting proved invaluable for the Duke's soldier. The armour is indeed very thick, even by today's standards, and the car was practically invincible when deployed in urban areas and properly supported by the infantry. The Ducal Police in Couteau even obtained 6 of these vehicles, of which this particular car is today the sole survivor (the gray livery of our model is the one adopted by the Ducal Police at the time). Yet, the model has been used successfully, both by the police and the military, up to the early 1980's. One model, used by the police in charge of the protection of Couteau airport, even retired as late as 1991. Quite a long road for such a small little car!

The crew of two access the driver's seat or turret by the rear hatch. Its position comes in handy if the vehicle is struck and damaged by enemy fire coming from the front and the crew must abandon the car. In urban settings though, the fire could come from virtually any direction, including from higher buildings, which rendered the sealed cupola on top of the machine gunner indispensable.

The machine gun itself, mounted on the cupola pivoting 360° by hand, is a 14.5 mm KPV soviet design heavy machine gun. It has an effective range of almost 2000 meters and can penetrate up to 30 mm of armour at 500 meters. The fact that a soviet produced gun was used to fight, among others, communists is quite ironic! At last, note that the police had generally no camouflage or fake or real branches on top of their cars, unlike our model, but some police units patrolling the countryside around Couteau sometimes used this type of cover, as shown on some photographs of the time.

We wish to thank His Grace the Duke of Couteau for allowing us to present this Armoured Car on this blog.

Expedition Camper Van

There is only two vehicles left for me to show you after this one; and then, you'll have to wait until I add to my collection or that I present you a guest vehicle for you to read another post... But for now, this is the vehicle I worked on the most in my whole collection : my expedition ready extreme camper van. The base of the truck is Lego City Set Snow Plow 60083, with an added cab section and slightly extended. For the rear section, I used the caravan from Lego City Set 60117, which I modified to make it eight studs wide instead of six. Oh, and the spare wheel comes from Lego City Set 60126!

Lego Mod Expedition Camper Van

That Rocks!

Lego Technic set 42001

This is the ultimate all terrains vehicle in my collection, and, dare I say? Maybe in all Couteau. Crazy suspension, you can climb anything and those huge tires certainly help. Once again, I was for a time the only lucky folk to own such tires in Couteau, (on several vehicles), but once again, I'm not any more! And once again, it is my only fault as I offered a 4 x 4 equipped of those tires to a VIP of my acquaintances. But anyway, the most important is not the size of you tires but what you do with them. For me, I hardly ever use this car, but still, I'm glad to have it, for sure!

4 x 4

This 4 x 4, the second car of this collection I bought, has barely been modified either. I certainly didn't alter the design of it, and the additions I made to it are minor. And more importantly, I never took it apart for scrap! The reason why I still have it in pristine condition is simple : this off-roader is awesome! I drive it regularly (though not quite as much recently) for private errands as well as on official law enforcement duty. A con I could mention is the narrowness of the cab : it is a bit of a tight squeeze for two, and even sometimes for one, depending on your size and your head-wear!

Lego City set 4437

I have to say, anecdotally, I was the first one to have such big wheels on an everyday car in Couteau, but now this type of wheels have become fairly common, of course (and partly because of me!). But next time, I'll show you a car (still road legal!) with even bigger wheels!