When a Lego enthusiast combines his passion with a desire to own an iconic 1969 Corvette, the end result is nothing short of stunning. In much the same way as a life-sized restorer would toil over wiring, hoses and proper fit and finish, a Lego enthusiast named “Brickdater” spent many hours fitting and forming common Lego blocks into a replica of an iconic Corvette.
Brickdater reports that he always wanted a ’69 Corvette, so he built one—out of Legos. If you’ve ever spent some time placing block upon block, you know that there are a myriad of things that can be assembled using Legos. But, re-creating the flowing lines and curvaceous profile of a third-generation Corvette is a legendary feat and we were impressed with how Brickdater pulled it off.
Brickdater had a car in mind when he started the project. “This particular model is based on a specific car: the 1969 Baldwin Motion Phase III SS-427 Corvette. Baldwin Motion was a partnership between a Chevy dealer on Long Island and a performance shop in Brooklyn NY. Baldwin Motion later produced green and red Phase III Corvettes, but the Le Mans blue model was their first. The car was guaranteed to run the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds, which at the time was no small feat for a car that included air conditioning.
Beyond simply capturing the design, he went so far as to add detail to the under-hood area. While it may not pass muster with NCRS judging, we think he did great with what he had to work with. Remember, square block, round hole. All in all, it took 1,500 pieces exactly to replicate the car to this level. There are details such as the gauges, headlight buckets that raise and lower and operating doors and hood. He even designed the car to use either T-tops or as a convertible!
Over 10,000 folks joined in and voted Brickdater’s creation as a success on the Lego Ideas website. Lego corporate understands the talent that is walking amongst mere mortals and has created the Lego Ideas site to allow them to bring their creations into the boardroom, so long as they garner the necessary 10,000 responses. Brickdater’s Corvette did get enough votes to push it in front of the Lego Review board.
Of course, there are many obstacles the Review board must consider and sorry to say, they decided not to pursue Brickdater’s creation going into production. We didn’t locate a specific reason that the project wasn’t accepted into production, but it surely wasn’t a lack of passion or talent by its creator. At last report, the Corvette now resides next to another Lego creation by Brickdater, also an automobile—a Mini Cooper. We’re wondering if since this is the only one in existence, will it become just as collectible as many of those other famous, big-block Corvettes from 1969?