Kickin' It Oldschool Roundup

What happens when a bunch of LUGNuts get all nostalgic over pre-1950 cars? Well turn up your hearing aids, grandpa, cuz you're about to find out! And we'll try not to use too much hip young slang that will only confuse you and enrage you more...like "Kickin' It Oldschool" or "Fo' Shizzle". Well, there goes that promise. Lets just see how we did, shall we?

Usually you got to wait until the last minute to see Lego911's 30 or so entries. This time he jumps in right away with this Irving Napier Golden Arrow. It broke the land speed record in 1929 doing over 231 mph or 372 km/h to the rest of the world. Then the driver died the very next year trying to set the land speed record...over water. Wouldn't that be a water speed record then?



Moving from the land speed record to something much slower, 911 whips up a Renault 6CV Taxi de la Marne. He tells us it was so named due to the strategic use of ferrying French troops from Paris to Marne in September 1918 during the Great War. You oldsters remember the Great War, right?



Designed prior to the Second World War, and hidden away from the invading Germans, this little Citroen 2CV had a remarkably long production career. 1948 - 1990. Thats about how long the Simpsons have been on the air. Maybe. Probably. What do I know?



Next on the Lego911 slab is this Auburn 851 Boat-tailed Speedster from 1935. There were a couple of Auburn Boat-tails in this month's Rod and Custom magazine in the Dream Car of the Month section. Yep, so this is totally relevant then...unlike all the other times where I try to make some joke about me being pulled over in Wyoming relevant.



Far from done, in fact just warming up, 911 then conjures up this little Ford Model A Coupe from 1928. See kids, this is what they look like before they get all hot rodded out with giant Hemis, racing tires and lime green and orange flame jobs. See, this is like being in a museum except without the creepy old guard staring you down and we don't close at 4pm.



Also from 1928 is the Ford Model A roadster...its like the other one except without the roof. I bet it was a real chick magnet back then!



Speaking of chick magnet, looks like this little miniland fig nabbed himself a pretty bride with this more formal Ford Model A Town Sedan used as their wedding car. It's so much classier than driving off in wedded almost bliss in a 1970 Ford Pinto like my parents did.



Also from 1928, 911 renders this neat Duesenberg Model J Murphy bodied Convertible Coupe. I get the impression Peter just opened his 1928 CAD file already stored on his hard drive and just went completely nuts. I got to learn first hand just how extensive Peter's Lego rendered car files are. I'll give you more on that later.



But first, here is a 1932 Ford V8 Street Rod. Now this is how they look after they've been hot rodded out...fenders removed, stance lowered, racing tires, chopped off, roof exposed oversized V-8 engine and a flashy fast paint job, in this case dark blue with a bright orange racing stripe.



Next Lego911 stirs up a Duesenberg Model SJ Weyman Speedster, this time from the 1933 file. Peter tells us no cars of this magnificence survived production after WWII. Lucky for his extensive CAD files then. Wanna know just how extensive they are? You'll never believe it. I had a chance to talk to Peter face to face. Yep, he flew all the way to the Pacific Northwest from Australia to visit family, but he also took some time to visit me.



Next on the 911 slab is this Ford Model A Deluxe Coupe...with rumble seat, also from his 1928 file. By this point Peter stated he was feeling a little lonely in this challenge. Granted, this was still fairly early and still a long ways before the usual challenge end rush. But you'd feel lonely too if you were the world's most prolific Lego car builder.



Lonely or not, 911 soldiers on to build two more cars, this one a Duesenberg SJ Torpedo Sedanette by Bohman & Schwartz. Using my own lego collection, Peter schooled me on a neat little suspension system for cars. Never has anything so ingeniously engineered has ever been built with my Lego, not by my own hands anyway. It was a meeting of the minds for sure, the artist and the engineer, two vastly different builders learning a thing or three about car building.



Lastly, 911 whip up this Ford Model A Leatherback Sedan. That's all he had time for as he was then whisked off in a plane heading to the US. Ok, I've kept you in suspense long enough, wanna know how many Lego cars Peter has built in his lifetime? 18,000! I didn't stutter, I didn't mistype...18,000! Never mind car builder, that has got to make him the most prolific Lego builder on the planet. I don't think even Nathan Sawaya, as famous as he is, has anything near that kind of model building clout in his repertoire. Wow...just wow! And to think, he got to visit little ol' me!



Speaking of little ol' me, Lino Martins works double duty to submit a double entry...a 1919 Ford T-Bucket modeled after the design and color scheme of a Fokker DR1 Triplane. Heh, yeah, I still giggle every time I say it. Fokker. "I expected better things from you, Fokker!" Robert De Niro said that in some movie. If you want to see the worst people on the internet, build a plane. It wasn't so much people plural but more like one guy with some crap comments. Anyway, the black and white triplane is just like the more famous Red Baron, except this one is at the Seattle Museum of Flight. I always wanted to build it.



Stirring up much less controversy and critical distain was my second entry, a '31 Ford roadster hot rod with a green on black flaming paint job. I like to think of it as having just as much bad attitude as my other MOCs but with just a fraction of the size.



Gambort, the other Australian LUGNut...the one that didn't bother to fly out to visit me ;) has concocted a Scammell Mech Horse with an old timey speed boat. He demonstrates how you can break the rules intelligently. His boat, like my triplane, is not allowed in a automotive group such as ours...but pose them next to a car or towed by one...and its all good. You kids can learn something from that.



Much later in the challenge, Gambort gives us an old-timey 40's era racing car in bright yellow. This is how they looked before they were Formula One racers...like sleek banana shaped cars. Tasty!



Right around this time in the challenge, it seemed that if you weren't Peter, you were building black and white T-Buckets, like this 1923 black and white T-Bucket built by J0n4th4n D3rk53n. Its got a neat aggressive stance and I'm digging the pipes.



Next on the Jonathan slab is a nice restored 1929 Ford Model AA also in black and white. They didn't invent color until like the 60's right? Right? At any rate, I'm digging the custom Jonathan license plate curtsey of heather LEGOgirl. Neat!



NK Designer proves once and for all that color was invented way before the 60's with this bright yellow generic roadster from the 30's or 40's. Its sort of like an Oldsmobile, sort of like a Morgan and all alternate model for Creator Cool Cars set number 4939. I'm digging the unusual technique for the fenders.



Dohoon Kim adds a slpash of Spiderman colors to his 1922 Ford T-Bucket. Its single side pipes and its tilted windshield make it an unusual T-Bucket indeed. I'm digging the engine and aggressive stance.



You can't have a pre-1950's oldschool challenge without a woody of some kind. This is why I'm glad Tim Inman pulled it off with this stunning '48 Chevy Fleetmaster Station Wagon. War efforts made it so most steel was used towards tanks and planes so many cars of that era utilized wood for almost everything aft of the firewall. Back in my brickshelf days I built a blue woody similar to this one but mine didn't come out nearly as sweet. Awesome job, even for a heavy hitter like Tim!



Another heavy hitter on the scene, Nathan Proudlove tries something new with his 1940 Ford custom truck. Usually, he drops a final product on us like a bomb, but this time he eases us in with a slew of work in progress pics. The end result, I think, is just as amazing as if he surprised us with it. Just look at that angled lip along the edge of the bed, the swooping fenders, and be sure not to miss the gravity games skate ramp the truck can pull on his photostream. All of it signature Proudlove!



Dover sneaks in this entry from another challenge. He tells us it has more of a 50's vibe...actually, the box art tells us it has precisely a '57 Del Rojo vibe...which technically doesn't quite belong in a pre-1950's challenge. But Dover is a nice dude who works at the Lego store so you can't fault him all that much, plus he made it look almost like an official set, which is neat. If there were prizes involved we'd probably have to nix this one, but...no prizes, no harm, no foul.



Azaghal Gabilzaramul builds us a 1936 Avions Voisin straight out of the 2005 film Sahara. I didn't see the movie but I wonder if its anything like Death Proof where Stuntman Mike drove it and it was 100% Death Proof, except you had to be on the driver's side to benefit from the effects... What? No? It wasn't like that? Oh. Well...hmmmm.



"Phew, I made something!", says Ralph Savelsberg, our resident Mad Physicist. That something happens to be a pretty neat little yellow five window coupe with a red flame job. Its nice to see Ralph shed his...um...conservative roots for this wild and crazy custom ride. I think we can turn Ralph to the wild side. Maybe when he finally gets around to owning a car it might be Ed Roth's Mysterion. No? Too wild? Ok, maybe a five window coupe like this one...tan with off-white flames. ;)



Almost matching that description is Zenn's rod called Lucky Strike. Zenn tells us this little hot rod is inspired by 'Cry-Baby', 'American Graffiti', 'Deuces Wild' and our rather silent, yet highly pivotal LUGNut, Misterzumbi. Now that's hot!



Sprogis Peteris tells us that some dozens of crazy mustachioed mechanics shed some blood, sweat and tears in order to produce this "Mustache Speedster". Oh boy, the mustache jokes are just piling up here but I'll let you insert your own. This MOC produces more questions than answers. Sometimes you guys just make it too easy! Hey, at least its original.



Perterz gives us his first ever entry into a LUGNuts challenge, a hot rodded out flatbed truck. Normally I'd say the fiery yellow photography can use some brightening, but in this case it gives it a nice old fashioned sepia feel...as if this was an old photo found in the back room of some garage somewhere. I'm digging the environment, too.



The usually talkative Raphy tells us only two words, both in a foreign language. Deja vu is fitting in the sense that we've seen some nice large scale builds from him before and it looks like he ain't ready to quit yet. He reaches for his trusty tiny turbos rims and uses them for exactly what they're intended for...engine parts for larger scale models. This '49 Chevy 3100 Thriftmaster called "White Rat" has all the makings of an advanced young builder...in the making. The demure white is a decidedly grown up color while the chrome rims, courtesy of Bricksonwheel's shop adds a nice touch to this classy ride.



John conjures up this Austin 7 Pearl in striking red and black. He tells us its just meh, but I'm seeing some rather difficult build techniques here. The windshield is only 3-wide but subtly fades into a 4-wide rear and the fenders are a valiant effort. Not bad for someone's first attempt at an old fashioned car.



Dylan Denton finishes off the challenge (and this pre-1950's idea) with a fitting 1949 Kurtis kraft Sport. Only 36 of these cars were ever manufactured, each in a different color so its nice to see this black and red one. Dylan tells us he wasn't sure he liked the windshield but unanimously we all say...the windshield is most ingenious! Great job, Dylan!



So, we all got nostalgic in this very special Kickin' It Oldschool challenge. I hope you all learned something from this, and remember...you can't have a 2011 Bugatti Veyron with all its modern conveniences if the Model T wasn't manufactured first. Be sure to join in on all the jolly good fun with our new challenge called God Save The Queen...all about British autos, old chap! It would be smashing if we all build the steering wheels on the "wrong" side for once and called a hood a bonnet and a trunk a boot. Oh, and that new challenge ties in with my Battle Bugs group challenge also called God Save The Queen. Clever, ain't it?