MOC: Can-Am Racer

[Illerejug]

After modifying the Street Speeder to fit minifigs and studying some of TLG's 8-wide action vehicles (mostly Speed Racer and World Racers cars), I was inspired to create my own 8-wide vehicles at the same scale.

To start, I wanted to do a type of vehicle that TLG hadn't really done before at that scale, so after a bit of googling, I settled on a Can-Am style race car. My goals were for the vehicle to be as piece-efficient as TLG's similar models, and also for it to be strong enough to withstand the aggressive play of my 5-year old and 2-year old boys. No pieces could pop off when zooming it around with a heavy hand in the center, and it needed good rigidity from nose-to-tail and well as laterally.

The 112-piece (including the minifig) result is quite zoomable and very structurally-sound despite its light weight. I didn't originally want to use green as an accent color, but my design options for the cockpit were somewhat limited, so I embraced the green and used it in several places on the finished model.

Anyway, here's a link to the LDD file, as well as a bunch of pictures. The pictures are all clickable and most lead to larger versions.

I originally planned on taking advantage of the technic bricks as a means of attaching various optional weapon systems as a way for this vehicle to fit in with the World Racers, but I didn't ever follow through with that plan. My inspiration instead pushed me to design 7 more vehicles after this one. I still liked the look of the holes in the side of the vehicle as added visual interest, so I kept them.

In the background of the above photo is the Street Speeder MOD, as well as the 7 other similarly-scaled racers/vehicles that came out of the bout of inspiration. I plan to post details for the other vehicles in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately, I used a very low angle when I took the photos, so the top details got kind of lost. Here's a screenshot from LDD that gives a better overall view:

Here are more pictures from various angles:

Finally, I was designing this around the time of the Lego Design Challenge for the 2010 holiday catalog, so I squeezed the concept into 100 pieces by removing a few embellishments and redesigning the axle system. This is what I submitted to the design challenge:

Enjoy!

Edited November 30, 2010 by Illerejug

[XimenaPaulina]

That's one cool racer you got there Illerejug! I simply love the overall sleekness brought about by all those sloping curves. Great job!

[Peppermint_M]

Ah, 8-wide is my favourite scale for racing cars. That is a great MOC, so the World Racer cars were exactly like the Speed Racer cars? Good to know, I have all the Speed Racer sets but wasn't sure what of World Racers to get.

[lightningtiger]

Excellent racer there 'Illerejug' - the trans-green cockpit is cool as to the red front end.

Great work and keep on racing !

[Illerejug]

Thanks for the feedback!

so the World Racer cars were exactly like the Speed Racer cars?

Yes, some of them are.

The red/black car in 8898 Wreckage Road uses the same bracket-over-the-axle-assembly design as the Speed Racer cars in sets 8158 (Speed Racer & Snake Oiler), 8519 (Racer X & Taejo Togokhan) and 8160 (Cruncher Block & Racer X). It's a very solid design, so I used it in most of my custom vehicles.

The white/lime F1-style car from Wreckage Road uses a different sort of design, but is still at the same scale. The white/lime car's design isn't as good, IMO; it can come apart during heavy play because the central floor area of the car doesn't rest on any other lego pieces, and so direct downward pressure on a few areas of the model (including the minifigs) can pop that bottom plate out. Nevertheless, I think Wreckage Road is a great set overall, even if the weapon systems aren't the same as they're advertised to be on the box or on lego.com.

The other World Racers cars are built differently from the Speed Racer cars. But again, they appear to be roughly the same scale. (I don't own any of the other World Racer sets with cars, so I can't say for sure.)

Here's a picture of two of my custom cars next to Speed Racer cars, World Racer cars, and one Agents vehicle to give you an idea how well the scales match: