If you haven't heard, the final LUGNuts Challenge is underway. Yes, after 10 years the monthly challenges are going on vacation, so it seems fitting that Mad physicist has built the ultimate vacation vehicle, the Griswold's station wagon. About the only thing more insane than a voluntary cross-country family vacation is the notion of putting fake wood on the side of cars.
Yes, you read that right, Blacktron Gremlin. This month's LUGNuts challenge was all about cars with an official LEGO theme, so builder Lino M took one of the most beloved themes of all time... and paired it with an AMC Gremlin. Despite this questionable decision, the results are pretty stellar.
It takes one flip through a Sears Wishbook or a rerun of the Gong Show to remind yourself just how unattractive the 70's were. Things like avocado appliances and bellbottoms not only existed, they were popular. It is in this environment that things like wood paneling, orange on brown paint paint schemes and the shag dashboard were allowed to happen. So for LUGNuts' latest challenge "cult following", builder Lino M had to audacity to built an El Camino, with an orange on brown paint job...and it's friggin' awesome. It defies all logic, but he pulled it off.
For this month's LUGNuts challenge "pickups and vans" builder Lino M went with an early 70's fad known as a "zinger", where a toy car was fitted with oversized tires and a comparatively massive engine. They sort of went from a car show spectacle, to a range of model kits, to more car show spectacles, in a short lived but eye-bulging self-perpetuating cycle. More proof that around that time the world went sorta collectively bonkers.
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Have you ever wondered what the LEGO community was like in the 2000s? Today's guest writer and veteran builder, Nannan Zhang, shares his thoughts on building and sharing MOCs online for the past 20 years.
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