Sunny With A Chance Of Sharks

Surfing is already pretty rad, but combined with hot rods you end up with something totally tubular! Andrea Lattanzio has made a gnarly scene that makes me want to go hit the waves with a bunch of bros. Then I remember that I don't speak like a surfer dude and don't have a hotrod. At least I know I won't become shark food, right?

Gotta Go Fast!

For as long as we've been building machines to go reasonably fast, there's been a select few who make them go unreasonably fast. And with the invention of the internal combustion engine, the speed (and the stakes) got even higher, and we've been fascinated since. Like this scene marvelously recreated by builder Pixeljunkie of 1929 Monoco Grand Prix featuring his beautiful Bugatti, the crowd loves it.

Welcome To Radiator Springs

When traveling along classic Route 66 be sure to stop by Radiator Springs! I was fortunate enough to see this awesome recreation of the town from Pixar's classic Cars in person at BrickCon last year. Builder Keith Reed has faithfully recreated the entire town, from Mater's junk yard to the town hall, all the buildings are there. Need some tires? Stop in at Luigi's. Hungry? Head over to Flo's. You can spend an entire day here, you just need to get off the interstate.

Zombie Car

Ranking quite high on the "sentences I didn't expect to compose today" list is this: Here is a remote controlled LEGO car shaped like a zombie taking a bath with some rubber duckies. I'll let that sink in, then invite you to click through to see more pics of this crazy car by builder Olive_Leaf as well as a video of it in action.

Purple Rod

There's a moment in every hot rod builder's project where the decision has to be made, what color? In the real world this can be put off and agonized over for most of the project, and consequently make or break it. Imagine having spent years building a car, only to screw it up at the last minute with a terrible paint job. In the LEGO world, that decision has to happen quite early, and can also have dire consequences. Depending on color, finding the parts you need can be quite challenging. So I'm always impressed with a rare color choice, and this purple beast by builder redfern1950s2, is a real eye catcher. Of course purple isn't as rare as it used to be, but it's still very limited in part choice, which makes this hot rod all the more impressive.

Red Skull's Ratrod

I have no idea what the genesis of this is. From a comic, from builder 2nd Life Bricks' imagination? I don't know, or care really, because it's awesome. And I could totally see Red Skull barreling down the highway in this beast, I like to imagine with classical music playing on the stereo (very loudly to be heard over that massive engine). Hail Hydra!

Go Anywhere, Do Anything

One of my favorite family cars growing up was my dad's Jeep. It was obnoxious orange, bouncy, and uncomfortable, and we all loved it. So I have a natural soft spot for the venerable Jeep, and when I saw this beast by builder Horcik Designs I knew instantly I was going to blog it. And while I absolutely love my Toyota Tacoma, I could see myself towing my new Airstream with this without using much imagination.

Captain Nemo's Car

From The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, red2 brings you Captain Nemo's six-wheeled pimped-out ride, The Nautilus!  He's captured every gilded detail, from the decorative scrolling on the boot, to the massive V12 engine.  It sure would be a thrill chasing down villains in this beast!  As long as I didn't have to parallel park...

Classic Wheels

I think it's possible I was born in the wrong century when it comes to car appreciation. I'm either fascinated with an old time classic, or looking to the future. It's quite possible that it's because most contemporary cars, starting about the 70's to now, lack design or craftsmanship. But check out the lines of this classic Lambda by builder looooookl. Sure you may look at it and think "Chicago gangster", but I look at it and think "golden age of hollywood".

Tatra T2-603

It's a Tatra, one of the oldest car companies you've maybe never heard of. One of, if not the, first car companies to consider aerodynamics in design, influencing countless cars and manufacturers to come. This beautiful streamlined beauty is from Horcik Designs, and features opening doors, hood and trunk (bonnet and boot) and a detailed engine compartment.

Daredevil

While not entirely compatible with the rain we're experiencing in California at the moment, I'd still love to go cruising in this sweet red hot rod by ianying616. Just look at that beefy styling, that aggressive stance and all that shiny, shiny chrome. Can you just imagine what this baby sounds like?

Apocalyptic Roadster

Dystopia is everywhere you look these days, online, in movies, on TV and unfortunately in real life. And while everything seems a bit grim these days, at least if things go really south we can all look forward to outfitting our vehicles Mad Max style. Yes, the world will be a free-for-all wasteland, but we'll be screaming around in cool cars like this one from Mark of Falworth, at least until someone shows up with a bigger one.

SL20 Streamliner

Of course the first thing I thought when I saw this stunning vehicle by builder Vince_Toulouse was "cool, art deco Batmobile!" But as we all know Batman only builds in black...and sometimes very dark gray. This slick beauty features a bubble canopy, chrome exhaust, quad headlights and Duplo tires (yes, Duplo tires).

Black & White

Contrast is important in all art mediums. It's an indicator of depth, a delineation between objects, the demarkation of negative and positive space, a guidance of the eye. It's also important in the bricks, and as you can see from these excellent hotrods from builder ianying616 it can make a striking impact with separate but combined MOCs as well.

Stair Truck

While perusing Flickr this morning I recognized this stair truck from Arrested Development instantly. This isn't because I watch the show, I've actually never seen it, but for some reason Netflix is absolutely convinced I should watch it, and has been enthusiastically recommending it for years. Builder Mad Physicist not only nailed the look of this classic airport utility vehicle, he made it functional with extending stairs!

Rovers

You know, I didn't see Cars 3, and I haven't seen Planes, so I'm guessing I'm sorta over the Pixar anthropomorphic vehicle thing. Or at least I thought I was, then I saw this charming duo from builder TFDesigns and I think this need to be a thing. C'mon Disney, we want some interstellar rover action and comedy on a distant planet, or even the moon.

50's Tow Truck

For as long as there's been cars on the roads, there's been cars breaking down on the roads. And through those many, many years the means to rescue said broken cars has remained essentially the same, a tow truck. While there's been many types of tow trucks, of course the ones in the 50's had the most character, like this beautiful beast by redfern1950s2. It would almost be worth the repair costs just to see this baby in person doing what it was designed to do.

Lexus LFA

I'll do my best Jeremy Clarkson impersonation for this...

Lexus, you might say it's just an amped up Toyota. And I might say that Beyonce is just a dished up lounge singer. We'd both be wrong. For decades Lexus has been pushing the boundaries of both sex appeal and power, and redefining what we can expect from a super car. Gone are the days of sacrificing comfort and convenience for raw power and good looks, now you can have both.

You totally read that in his voice didn't you? Anyway, check out this sweet rendition of the LFA by builder Noah_L. While he laments the amount of studs on the hood (I agree, we need wedge tiles LEGO) I think it makes it look more like an official set. 

Silver And Gold

I might be skewing this a bit more to the holidays than intended, I'm in a christmasy mood. But really, with that much pearl gold, silver and chrome, I could see Santa screaming around the north pole in this beast by redfern1950s2. Well, that is if he could squeeze into it. With a chop that aggressive he might have to roll Big Daddy Roth style, if you know what I mean.

1931 Ford Rat Rod

I'm sure as the first cars rolled off the assembly line, Henry Ford could little imagine what an impact they would have on the world. Not only from a transportation and infrastructure standpoint, but from an integral cultural one. And as soon as they ended up in the hands of the "creative types" people started making them their own. The birth of the hotrod was decades away, but the seeds of that phenomenon were sown in those assembly plants in Michigan. Speaking of creative types and hot rods, check out this stunning rat rod from redfern1950s2! The color combination of sand green and black says old and new at the same time. And the souped up engine says "I'll see you in my rear view mirror".