The Old Lady is ready

I have finally completed it! Not only I have managed to assemble my Christmas present completely, I also have taken photos so there is nothing that stops me blogging about it.

So what is it? The most aged member of the Big Car series, the "Auto Chassis" from 1977. It was missing some parts but the seller was so kind that he sent all of them to me. By the way I am very happy with it. It feels like new, I did not find any broken or yellowish parts. My old Technic playing sets from the 80s are in a much worse shape by now.

After putting it all together I found comparison against the other Big Cars natural. Some numbers to start with:

• this is the oldest of all, sold from 1979
• this has the fewest pieces, 610

This is also the one to contain the fewest special parts. For example the front suspension is made of bricks and rotating plates. There are no springs but there are nonetheless interesting details. For example the suspension has a hole in the middle to accommodate the power train from above. The gear rack moves only sideways, not back and forth with steering. Unlike most other Technic models from the age it has an intermediate arm that makes this possible. Another interesting property of the steering is that it is impossible to fit the gears together such a way that the steering wheel is completely horizontal when the wheels are parallel to the chassis.

The power train makes a very massive impression, the four big cylinders after each other would be enough to drive a boat. The gearbox has two gears, in first gear the pistons literally "fly" - I am not sure that this lasts long under heavy playing. In the rear there is no differential. Instead, there is an universal joint keeping the two sides together. I think this can be really easily broken by the torque of the large wheels.

Besides the relatively simple basics there are a couple of interesting details. The first seats can be adjusted forward or rearward with a rack mechanism. The middle part of the rear seat can act as an arm support or can be hidden.

Until I saw it from photos only I did not realize that the engine is shifted one stud right from the centerline - I believe this gave more room to the exhaust and the gearbox. The proportions of the car are also somewhat surprising, it is not wide but very long, probably longer than any of the sportier subsequent models.

One more thing: the assembly instructions come on both sides of a single foldable sheet in 10 main and 27 secondary steps. For comparison, the instructions for the 8448 have more than 150 steps (and pages).



Now if only I would get an 8860... More photos in the album as usual.

Always behind

There is so much happening that I never manage to catch up. First of all, 2010 is now here, Happy New Year to all our readers! I could summarize what happened in 2009 but I am a bit lazy, do not want to make anything appear bigger than it is and it is anyway too late for it. Perhaps in 2011.

Meanwhile some hints about what to expect in 2010 and the near future:

• First, I still owe you the review of the 853 Very Old Big Technic Car that I got for Christmas. Of course it is completely done by now, the only reason I have not blogged about it yet is because I did not have time to make photos showing the complete state (photos about the almost complete state are here if you are interested).

• The Lead Sled project has made some progress too, I have ordered the bricks on Bricklink today. I have spent an awful lot of time with loading the list into Bricklink, checking that I have everything and ordering it from shops actually having it. In short: 700 parts from 130 kinds from New Zealand, the UK, the Netherlands and France, for about 80 bucks.

• I also have some spare sets like this excellent old 8422 race bike and an 8435 4WD.

• Meanwhile we got a Tantive IV-es Corelian Corvette at work, that will take some too.

Until I manage to get along with all this I would like to recommend some reading. The first offer is Sariel's summary of his year 2009 creations with baggers, tanks and other vehicles, the pictures speak for themselves. Those interested in even more details should definitely read Sariels' scaling tutorial as well.

Finally for the fans of mini models this Unimog is a real gem. Like a real Unimog it has a lot of ground clearance and on the photo with the internals you can grab all the tricks used to make it happen.

Stay tuned for more.

Youngtimer from Santa

Car fans call a car "youngtimer" if it passes the check for veteran cars but it is not old enough to be a real oldtimer. I think "Car Chassis" no. 853 from the beginning of the Big Technic Car history fits this description since it was first sold in 1977.

As I have blogged before, I have set myself as a long term goal to get all the cars from the Big Car series. (Well, the first five at least.) It looks like Santa listens to my wishes well since the postman has brought me this set yesterday. At the first glance it is in an excellent shape as a real youngtimer should. Of course I will not build it until Christmas.

Now if only I could get a 8860 - well, I need some goals for the New Year too :)

Overwhelmed

These days I am overwhelmed with Lego sets. I have already covered the ones I got for my birthday and the 8865 Test Car is not forgotten about either. (However it is many kilometers away from me right now, it takes some time before I can take it in my hands - I promise it will come soon.)

But this is not the end of the story yet. Meanwhile I have managed to get a 8448 Sports Car too. I have already mentioned my ambitions to get all the pieces of the Big Car series and this is a new item in the row. This is where I stand now: 853 (1977), 8860 (1980), 8865 (1988)?, 8880 (1994), 8448 (1999).


I have started to put it together but documenting everything appropriately takes some time - I promise I will get there in days.

But even this is not the end of the whole story. Somehow I got a 8422 motorbike too, waiting to be re-assembled. I think was the biggest surprise of all my deals so far. I have bought second-hand sets with full warranty, missing bricks shipped after me. I have bought sets assembled and disassembled but I did not expect what has happened with this bike. It came in assembled in a bag. When I opened the bag I already got suspicious because some parts that should have been white according to my memories looked pretty yellowish. And besides that... it stinked! The previous owner must have been a chain smoker and the smell was so strong that I had to put it to the balcony to make sure the family sleeps well. I always learn something new :)

I hope I can make it enjoyable soon so that I can cover it.

History of the big Technic cars

Throughout the history of Technic there have been always one or more "big cars". These cars represent the top of the range with the most working parts including pistons, gears and others. They are the most wanted sets. Let's have a closer look!


The story started in 1977 with the set no. 956 (sometimes 853) named "Car Chassis". As the "Technic" brand did not exist yet it ran as part of the brand new "Expert Builder" series. The car introduced many of the Technic parts known today: bricks with holes, connectors, rods, gears. It also had a number of special elements like the pistons (the old 2x2 type). The size made it possible to have a 4-cylinder engine, working steering and gearbox with 2 gears. Four adjustable seats made the set complete. As the name suggests it did not have a chassis and no working suspension either.


This set was replaced by the 8860 in 1980. The car became much sportier and was "driven" by a rear-mounted flat-4 engine. Just like its predecessor, it did not have a chassis, but it got a rear differential, a rear suspension and the number of gears has increased to 3. More features took more space as well so it had 2 seats only, but this is perfectly in line with the sporty character. Some models the shock absorber was made of an axle, bushes and connectors. Later models had proper shock absorbers.


From 1984 the series is called "Technic" officially but the new set 8865 "Test Car" came only in 1988. Unlike the previous sets this one had a Technic-style chassis: edges of the bodywork, the roof and the doors are marked by red bricks. The four-cylinder engine came in a V configuration this time. The newly introduced suspension and steering parts allowed a proper front suspension as well. Apart from that the car was built from the usual studded bricks.


The next set in the line is the 8880 "Super Car" introduced in 1994 that represents the top of traditional Technic building. This is the last car made of mostly studded bricks. It contains new bricks like the V8 engine or the chain in the engine drive. Apart from that it continued the traditions of its ancestors and sports more working features than any of them (and any of its successors). It had a complete four wheel drive with three differentials, plus it included a four wheel steering that is not quite typical on road cars either even today. Of course it did not miss any of the usual ingredients like front and rear suspension and the gearbox with 4 gears.

This set is the last in the row that emphasises technical content, for its successors cool looks are more important. It is also the last big car to occupy the top alone, newer models have brothers. Let us talk about them in the next part.

Many thanks for the images to koyan@gmx.net, more images here.