Audi didn’t win last year’s Le Mans (the first time in years they weren’t on the top step), but only because sister company Porsche took the honours. They’ll be looking for a win this year though to distract the motoring press from that unfortunate fraudulent emissions business. This small-scale replica of Audi’s R18 e-Tron quattro comes from RGB900 of Flickr, and it’s a remarkable accurate recreation. See more via the link above.

In the 1980s the World Rally Championship was at its most spectacular. Space-framed, wildly unstable and sometimes downright dangerous all-wheel-drive monsters raced through the world’s forests and deserts as part of the lethal Group B experimental class. Not to be outdone World Endurance Racing mirrored the WRC’s turbo-charged excess with its own ludicrous Group C class, where cars like this incredible Nissan R92CP produced over 1,200bhp in qualifying specification.

Like WRC’s Group B, the Group C endurance class was axed after a few short years, but the cars it created have lived on much longer in racing legend. Previous bloggee Greg998 has an impressive catalogue of historic racing cars and his latest is one of the final Group C greats. His stunning 1992 Nissan R92CP is available to view on MOCpages, Eurobricks or Flickr.

It’s 50 years since Ford famously finished the Le Mans 24 Hour race with a 1-2-3, thanks to their stunning Lola-developed GT40. Half a decade later and Ford returned to Le Mans with their new GT, aiming to prove to America that big inefficient V8s really have had their day, and the future is smaller, more efficient, and turbo-charged.

This astonishing creation is the work of professional model-maker Pascal Lenhard, who was commissioned by Ford to build a replica of their 2016 GTE-competing racing car. Three weeks and 40,000 bricks later and this is the incredible result.

A full gallery of images is available to view at the Autoweek website (thanks to one of our readers for the tip!), where there are also images of an original 1960s Ford GT40 model that Pascal built to accompany his recreation of Ford’s latest Le Mans challenger.

And 50 years on, did Ford manage a Le Mans comeback worthy of their original result? They sure did, with the new Ford GT winning the GTE class and taking third place. In fact the team were only denied repeating their remarkable 1966 1-2-3 finish by some cheating Italians.

It’s good to have you back Ford!

Porsche have made it two wins in a row at the Le Mans 24 Hour race when this year Toyota’s TS050 suffered a heartbreaking mechanical failure with just one lap to go. All of the prototype class competitors are remarkable machines, with more diversity amongst the top three than in the whole Formula 1 grid, and it’s Porsche’s 919 Hybrid that is perhaps the most unusual. A tiny turbocharged V4 is mated to a suite of electric motors giving the car immense power, but also (and importantly for a 24 hour race) good fuel efficiency too.

This stunning replica of 2016’s Le Mans winning Porsche 919 comes from Charbel of Eurobricks, and it features a recreation of the 919’s turbo-four, plus a four-speed sequential gearbox, independent suspension, and working steering. It’s a true Technic Supercar and you can see all the images on Eurobricks at the link above.

This remarkable car is Mazda’s 1991 Group C Le Mans winning 787B, to this day the only Japanese car ever to win the famous 24 hour race and the only non-reciprocating engine powered car to do so too. This stunning replica of Mazda’s greatest triumph is the work of TLCB favourite Greg998, and he’s recreated the 900bhp carbon-composite monster in jaw-dropping detail.

Underneath the brilliantly recreated bodywork – complete with Mazda’s tricky ’91 livery and period-correct decals – Greg’s 787B features working steering, all-wheel suspension, working headlights, and a Lego version of Mazda’s unique (and mental) 4-rotor engine. There’s lots more to see on Flickr, Eurobricks and MOCpages – click the links to see full details and imagery.

This incredible-looking vehicle is a 1980s Porsche 962C, one of the most dominant racing cars in the history of Sports, GT and Endurance racing. Built by previous bloggee Tamás Juhász aka mbmc this remarkable 1:8 replica is very probably the finest Technic racing car that we’ve featured here this year.

Underneath the beautifully replicated bodywork is one of the most brilliantly engineered chassis that we’ve come across. Each wheel is fully independently suspended (although that sentence really doesn’t do justice to just how incredible the suspension set-up on this model is), there’s working steering with Ackerman geometry, a functioning four-speed gearbox complete with gear indicator in the cockpit and – most impressively of all – an automatic clutch.

There are also working pneumatic brakes operated via the brake pedal in the cockpit, plus possibly the finest Technic engine that we’ve ever seen. It’s a twin-turbo flat-six, as per the real 962C, and you really need to click the links above to see it!

Tamás has published an extensive gallery to both Eurobricks and Flickr, and as his Porsche 962C also features opening doors and a removable engine cover for better access, the engine and chassis shots are really worth your clicks. You can see all of the spectacular imagery via the links in the text above – it’s where most of TLCB Office have been all afternoon.

Nope, your Mom hasn’t started wearing that blonde wig for her nighttime rendezvous again, we’re referring to this; Andre Pinto’s pimped classic Moto Guzzi Le Mans 3, complete with a gloriously golden customised LEGO Technic frame.

It’s certainly a unique look, perhaps the motorcycle equivalent of this. Or this. Or even this. But probably this. Whatever, as this writer is a reserved Brit it’s not really his kind of bike, but it is an exquisite build. There’s more to see of Andre’s superbly detailed Moto Guzzi at his Flickr photostream, or via the Eurobricks discussion forum here.

…First you must finish. Unfortunately for Nissan their strikingly designed 1989 R89C Group C racer was uncharacteristically un-Japanese when it came to reliability, with all three Le Mans entries retiring before the race was over. Sadly the R89C fared little better in the World Sports Car and Japan Sports Prototype Championships, suffering from chassis and engine issues throughout the season.

The R89C is not exactly a legend of endurance racing then, but just look at it! Making almost 1,000bhp from its twin-turbo 3.5litre V8 engine the R89C packed quite a punch when it was working too.

This gorgeous Model Team replica of the classic Nissan racing car is the work of Alexander Paschoaletto and he’s recreated the R89C’s magical shape (and Nissan’s famous late ’80s – early ’90s livery) beautifully in brick form. You can see more of his build on both Flickr and MOCpages – click on the links to take the trip to ’89.

Due to the ongoing Dieselgate scandal the Volkswagen Group have a bit of reputation rebuilding to do. Cue motorsport; get your cars on the track, win some races, and everyone loves you.

Unfortunately for motorsport fans (and for Volkswagen), this method is very expensive, and criminal investigations, lawsuits, and fines do not come cheap. It also doesn’t look too good if you’re caught fiddling diesel emissions tests to then put said diesel engine on a racetrack to promote its sales…

Sadly the current situation has meant that Volkswagen have decided to pull the plug on both their WRC campaign and their Audi Diesel Le Mans team, both of which have won everything going in the last few years. We think they’ll probably enter Formula E at some point to show how they’ve turned over a new leaf and that they really do care about the environment after all, but until then it falls to Porsche to keep the Group active in motorsport.

Fortunately Porsche have picked up exactly where Audi left off, winning the Le Mans 24 Hour race back-to-back in 2015 and 2016 with this, their magnificent 919 hybrid LMP1 racer. This incredible replica of last year’s race-winning car is the work of Manuel Nascimento of Flickr, and it’s one of the finest Technic supercars of the year.

Manuel has built the 919’s LMP1 bodywork beautifully, including accurate recreations of the sponsorship and branding decals found on the real car. The beauty is more than skin deep too, as the model features Power Functions lights, remote control drive and steering, and electrically opening doors.

There’s a huge gallery of stunning images available to view; click the link above to see more at Manuel’s photostream.

Flickr’s Manuel Nascimento has appeared here at The Lego Car Blog before with his utterly spellbinding Lego Technic Porsche 919 Le Mans LMP1 racer. This is his latest iteration of the race winning hybrid endurance car, now updated to 2016 specification.

Pictured here alongside the 2015 edition, Manuel’s update retains the full Power Functions remote control drive and steering, LED lights and working functions of the earlier model, but updates the bodywork and livery to match the 2016 race-winner.

There’s more to see of Manuel’s incredible creation at his Flickr album, where you can also find a link to a video demonstrating the Porsche 919 LMP1’s features.

We receive loads of requests to blog digital creations here at TLCB, and our answer is almost always ‘no’. However this time we’ve bent our usual rule, because this, readers, is how to build a digital creation.

Designed by Alan Guerzoni it’s a Speed Champions scale Ferrari 512 Long-Tail as raced by Ecurie Francorchamps at the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Not only is Alan’s design brilliantly executed he’s also maximised his use of the digital medium, by adding Ecurie Francorchamps period-correct decals and a printed canopy (as LEGO do themselves) to recreate the 1970 512 as accurately as possible.

If you like Allan’s historic Ferrari as much as we do you can vote for it to become an official LEGO set via the LEGO Ideas platform – click this link to make the jump and add your vote.

The money theme continues today with this, newcomer Dugald Cameron’s incredible Aston Martin Vantage GT3 racer. Constructed from many of the parts in LEGO’s 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 set (and putting them to considerably better use), Dugald’s GT3 is a seriously beautiful build. Plus it’s orange, and we like orange.

Underneath that retina-searing bodywork is a full remote control drivetrain, with two XL Motors powering the wheels, a Servo controlling the steering (and linked the steering wheel), plus a Medium Motor driving the sequential transmission. A V12 piston engine sits up front, whilst a mechanically adjustable rear wing is mounted at the back, and the cockpit in-between features a fully adjustable driving position with a tilting steering wheel, pedals with feedback, and a sliding racing seat.

The suspension on all four corners is fully independent, with torsion and sway bars, plus a trick air-jack system powered by an on-board compressors is fitted to allow for quick pit stops.

The complete model is one of the most impressive we’ve seen this year, and the entire build process has been catalogued on both Eurobricks and Flickr, showing both the steps taken to create the Vantage GT3 and the brilliant engineering within it.

You can see the full gallery of images at the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Flickr album, and you can read about the build process by flicking through the Eurobricks discussion that charted it by clicking here.

LegoGallifrey‘s ‘blower’ Bentley is not a new build, but it is superb, and it’s been recently updated to include even more period realism, plus – and most importantly – it allows us to post a smutty title.

Built between 1927 and 1931, the Bentley 4½ litre was designed to take on the European performance cars of the time, and with a supercharger fitted (or ‘blower’ as it was known), power jumped by over 100bhp to 240, allowing Bentley to set several speed records, including a recorded 138mph at Brooklands.

Only 55 of the 720 Bentley 4½ litres built received a supercharger and they command truly astronomical prices today, so if you want one LegoGallifrey’s version is probably as close as you’ll get. Head over to Flickr via the link above to take a closer look.

Hybrid is fast becoming the normal way to power a car. Despite Top Gear et al’s protestations and derision when the technology debuted, alternatively fuelled vehicles are the fastest growing segment of the automotive market.

This is largely thanks to Toyota, who alongside Honda launched Hybrid to the masses in the late ’90s. Honda seem to have lost their mojo since then, but Toyota continue to carry the flame, and have raced their Hybrid technology at Le Mans since 2013. Porsche joined the Hybrid racing party a year later, and their awesome 919 Hybrids have won the last two events, with Toyota coming in second.

This year with Audi having retired from the sport it’s set to be a straight fight between Porsche and Toyota once more. These superb fully-livereied Lego replicas of the 2017 LMP1 combatants come from Flickr’s Lasse Deleuran and you can pick your winner at his photostream via the link above.

This instantly recognisable Chevrolet Corvette C7R race car was discovered by one of our Elven workforce on Brickshelf today. It’s been built by gtahelper and it’s a superbly accurate 1:20 scale recreation of the GT3 contender. See more at the Brickshelf album via the link above.

One of the most common comments we receive here at The Lego Car Blog, along with ‘Can I have instructions?’ and ‘Send nudes’, is ‘why don’t you feature more digital creations?’.

Well in answer, we’re a blog about Lego models, and a digital creation is not a Lego model. It’s a picture of one. However, every so often a digital creation comes along that is worth flexing our rules for… this is one such time.

This wonderful Speed Champions style 1970 Ferrari 512S Longtail was discovered on Flickr and it comes from TLCB newcomer Alan Guerzoni. Alan has faithfully replicated Ferrari’s glorious Le Mans racer beautifully in digital bricks, and he’s gone a step further by designing and adding period-correct decals to the render – something he’d have been unable to do if the model was build from real pieces.

We’d still rather Alan’s Ferrari 512S was constructed using actual LEGO though, and fortunately it can be – awesome decals included – thanks to the LEGO Ideas platform, where the Ferrari is currently available to support in Alan’s quest to see it become an official LEGO set.

With LEGO already partnered with Ferrari and the 512S Longtail slotting neatly in the Speed Champions line-up we think it stands a very good chance of making the cut. There are more images to see at Alan’s Flickr photostream via the link above, and you like what you see you can cast your vote on LEGO Ideas by clicking here.

The 1970s. Back when people wore flares, pubic hair was very much a thing, and your Mom weighed less than a bull elephant. It was also a time of greatness for many small independent race car manufacturers, mostly from France and the UK, who built a variety of weird machinery for teams to compete in the world’s endurance races. Inspired by many of these, but based on none in particular, newcomer GiantAmbushBeetle’s ‘Vintage Endurance Racer’ takes us back to the glory days of long-distance racing. See more of his Model Team style creation at Eurobricks via the link above.

Six minutes and eleven seconds. The fastest ever lap of the fearsome Nurburgring Nordschleife, recorded not by a Formula 1 car or a Bugatti Veyron, but way back in 1982 by this; Porsche’s amazing Group C 956.

Powered by a development of the successful 936’s turbocharged flat-6, the 956 took power to over 600bhp and used the world’s first double clutch gearbox to send it to the rear wheels.

Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell debuted the car at the 6 Hours of Silverstone before taking pole, ahead of Porsche’s two other 956s in second and third, at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The race finished as it started, with Porsche taking a 1-2-3 and with Ickx and Bell claiming their third win together for the Porsche team.

This superb recreation of Porsche’s dominant early ’80s Group C Champion comes from Flickr’s Manuel Cara, which despite its small size is  wonderfully accurate, made more so by the authentic-looking period Canon decals. There’s more to see of Manuel’s 956 at his photostream by clicking here, and if you’d like to see the real car in action, take a look here!

Lasse Deleuran (aka gtahelper)’s stunning Chevrolet Corvette C7.R has appeared here at The Lego Car Blog before, and now he’s made another. OK, that doesn’t warrant a re-post, but the arrival of free instructions does! You can build your own incredible Lego replica of the Corvette C7.R in 2017 Le Mans GTEPro spec at either Eurobricks or Flickr – click the links for the details.

Over the past few weeks a group of crack The Lego Car Blog Elves have been undertaking a secret mission. Infiltrating The LEGO Company’s headquarters, dodging the guards (and guard dogs – who have a taste for Elf meat), and resisting the baited mousetraps to bring back LEGO’s brand-new-for-2018 Speed Champions line-up. And what a line-up it is!

2018 continues LEGO’s hugely successful officially licensed partnership with some of the world’s top automotive brands, with six new sets all of which replicate real-world cars both current and – much to our delight – classic too. With two new sets each from Porsche, Ford and Ferrari, there’s plenty to like. Let’s take a look!

We’ll start with Porsche, one of the newer partnerships LEGO have forged, who add two new sets to their inventory. First up (top) is the 75888 Porsche 911 RSR & 911 Turbo 3.0 set, a glorious double featuring both the latest 911 RSR endurance racer and a superb lime green classic 911 Turbo 3.0. Each features a mini-figure, some neat decals, and the set includes a pit wall, mechanic mini-figure, and a rather useful looking timing gantry complete with reversible timing bricks.

75888 features just under 400 pieces, including those three mini-figures, and we expect it to cost just over £30 when it reaches stores. We like it a lot.

LEGO’s second new officially licensed Porsche set (above) is the 75887 Porsche 919 Hybrid, featuring Porsche’s 2017 Le Mans winning prototype. The 919 model is constructed from a wealth of curves and plates ensuring it is all but studless, with some colourful decals used to recreate an authentic livery. A light pole, mini-figure and laptop are all included and we expect 75887 to be wonderfully pocket-money attainable at around £12 when it reaches stores.

On to Ford, who like Porsche also have two new-for-2018 sets in the Speed Champions range, and who also have both a current and classic models recaptured in brick through their partnership with LEGO.

The 75885 Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC is the first of the new additions, featuring Ford’s brand new World Rally Championship contender; the mental Fiesta M-Sport WRC. Like 75887 above, 75885 will be priced in the pocket-money bracket at around £12 and contains just over 200 pieces, including a racing driver mini-figure and a wealth stickers to help create authenticity. New white wheels and wedge tiles also make appearances, and the car looks wonderful in (we think) Monte Carlo Rally specification with a front-mounted light bar.

Our only gripe is that 75885’s livery is not the same as that found on the 2018 rally car, but perhaps the real livery hadn’t been decided upon by the time LEGO needed to finalise the set, or a partnership with title-sponsor Red Bull in addition to both Ford and M-Sport was one to many. Nevertheless 75885 is a lovely looking thing and looks to be a great entry level set for racing fans.

Ford’s second set within the 2018 Speed Champions line-up is perhaps the most famous model in their history. Yup, LEGO have gone and built a classic 1960s Mustang! We think 75884 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback is one of the nicest Speed Champions sets to date, and whilst it is perhaps a little over-stickered for a historic racing car, it looks fantastic in its Bullitt-green and gold stripe livery. As usual a mini-figure driver is included plus a timing board, and we expect 75884 to join the range alongside the Porsche 919 Hybrid and Fiesta M-Sport WRC in the c£12 bracket. It’s our favourite.

Finally we come to LEGO’s longest standing partnership and the brand that started LEGO’s collaboration with the auto industry; the mighty Ferrari.

Like Porsche and Ford, Ferrari have two new sets in the 2018 Speed Champions line up. First (above) is 75886 Ferrari 488 GT3 ‘Ferrari Corsa’, another rather nice entry into the pocket money bracket complete with a mini-figure racing driver (female this time), plentiful decals and a nifty looking trophy.

Ferrari’s second officially licensed Speed Champions set for 2018 is rather more flamboyant. Priced at over £80 and containing three Ferrari cars (a modern 488 GTE, a gorgeous classic 250 GTO and a historic 312 Formula 1 car), the 75889 Ferrari Ultimate Garage also includes seven mini-figures, spare parts, a vintage petrol pump, trophies, and a race start/finish line.

All in all 2018 looks to be an excellent continuation of LEGO’s partnership with real-world car manufacturers, with a wealth of choice at different price points, a couple of new parts, and – best of all – some wonderful classic cars to accompany the very latest machinery. More like these please LEGO!