American 1950s car - 60408 MOD - real world MOC

[Murdoch17]

Recently I reverse engineered what I could of the 1950's-styled 'lead sled' in upcoming summer 2024 set 60408 - Car Transporter. I didn't have pictures of the rear (and obviously instructions were also a no-go at this time), so improvised as best I could using what I thought looked reasonable for a fifties car. I managed to get 99% of the car built from one picture.

The front of the car with the vehicle's owner. I can build the car in other colors, (yellow and red are among the possibilities currently) but I'm keeping my lips sealed on what the future holds...

The rear of the car. Admittedly, I stole the taillights design from this old @hachiroku MOC.

The inside seats one figure at the wheel.

Here is the original car from set 60408, which releases this August in the USA. This is the one picture I used to build the car MOC, which was cut from a much larger picture and greatly expanded in size.

...That's all I got. Thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions, and complaints welcome!

[The Island Chronicles]

DUDE!!!! I wonder how they did that with the back wheels. I guess I'll have to get the set to find out. 

[Murdoch17]

1 hour ago, The Island Chronicles said:

DUDE!!!! I wonder how they did that with the back wheels. I guess I'll have to get the set to find out. 

@The Island Chronicles I struggled with the original set design for some time and couldn't figure out anything past the rear window. That is why my MOD is like it is - the set truly stumped me, so I made do with a design I knew!

[Stereo]

I hadn't even considered how the back wheels would fit before now, since it's probably using the same type of wheel+tire as the front ones.  Maybe using the half offset wheel holder so the tires fit inside 6 wide.  Though the photo looks like the wheel covers are at least half a plate inward from 6 wide (I'd guess - mounted on 4-wide snot bricks with 2 plates under the 2x2 curved tile), so maybe it's using a plain 4 wide wheel holder.

Looking closer though, there's a plate above the rear tires that just does not work if they're the same as the front ones. Unless there's some part I can't think of that looks like a normal 4x6 plate, but has none of the antistud tubes.  Maybe it has tiny rear tires?  That'd be kinda weird.  And not at all the style of car to have a 1 plate rake towards the front.

 

Lego.com images reveal that this set uses the modular front/rear sections so that kinda accounts for the (imo) too long nose on this.  Normal 50s style probably puts the front axle a stud forward of where this has it.  Though I'm not sure you can actually do that with the headlight+fender piece combo.

Edited May 26, 2024 by Stereo

[Murdoch17]

17 minutes ago, Stereo said:

I hadn't even considered how the back wheels would fit before now, since it's probably using the same type of wheel+tire as the front ones.  Maybe using the half offset wheel holder so the tires fit inside 6 wide.  Though the photo looks like the wheel covers are at least half a plate inward from 6 wide (I'd guess - mounted on 4-wide snot bricks with 2 plates under the 2x2 curved tile), so maybe it's using a plain 4 wide wheel holder.

Looking closer though, there's a plate above the rear tires that just does not work if they're the same as the front ones. Unless there's some part I can't think of that looks like a normal 4x6 plate, but has none of the antistud tubes.  Maybe it has tiny rear tires?  That'd be kinda weird.  And not at all the style of car to have a 1 plate rake towards the front.

 

Lego.com images reveal that this set uses the modular front/rear sections so that kinda accounts for the (imo) too long nose on this.  Normal 50s style probably puts the front axle a stud forward of where this has it.  Though I'm not sure you can actually do that with the headlight+fender piece combo.

@Stereo I put my car's rear wheels a full stud closer together width-wise to get the look I wanted. I can't imagine LEGO doing it any other way, honestly. And yes, having the wheels any closer to the front is impossible.

[Stereo]

Not sturdy enough to be official, and 3386 doesn't exist in yellow (so I made one side light grey to see how I feel about that) but this is my try at shortening it up a bit.  I like the 3386+2540 combo for inverting studs.

Sadly no place for the 1x1 plate with tooth on this design, I like the feature it imitates.  Now where's the rounded 1x6 tile...

[Murdoch17]

18 hours ago, Stereo said:

Not sturdy enough to be official, and 3386 doesn't exist in yellow (so I made one side light grey to see how I feel about that) but this is my try at shortening it up a bit.  I like the 3386+2540 combo for inverting studs.

SNIP

Sadly no place for the 1x1 plate with tooth on this design, I like the feature it imitates.  Now where's the rounded 1x6 tile...

It's nice, but not my cup of tea as I prefer the original more, but thanks for posting it @Stereo!

[Barry_Smith]

On 5/26/2024 at 4:53 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Recently I reverse engineered what I could of the 1950's-styled 'lead sled' in upcoming summer 2024 set 60408 - Car Transporter. I didn't have pictures of the rear (and obviously instructions were also a no-go at this time), so improvised as best I could using what I thought looked reasonable for a fifties car. I managed to get 99% of the car built from one picture.

The front of the car with the vehicle's owner. I can build the car in other colors, (yellow and red are among the possibilities currently) but I'm keeping my lips sealed on what the future holds...

The rear of the car. Admittedly, I stole the taillights design from this old @hachiroku MOC.

The inside seats one figure at the wheel.

Here is the original car from set 60408, which releases this August in the USA. This is the one picture I used to build the car MOC, which was cut from a much larger picture and greatly expanded in size. If you're ever curious about the history of classic vehicles or even modern ones, it might be worth checking out services like this https://www.faxvin.com/license-plate-lookup/washington that offer license plate lookups to get a full vehicle history report. This could be particularly useful for verifying details on any future projects or purchases.

...That's all I got. Thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions, and complaints welcome!

Your reverse engineering of the '50s-styled lead sled from the upcoming set is impressive, especially considering you only had one picture to work from. The details you managed to recreate, like the front and tail lights, really capture the vintage vibe of the original. The fact that you were able to make it 99% accurate without full instructions is a testament to your skills.

Edited August 21, 2024 by Barry_Smith

[Murdoch17]

2 hours ago, Barry_Smith said:

Your reverse engineering of the '50s-styled lead sled from the upcoming set is impressive, especially considering you only had one picture to work from. The details you managed to recreate, like the front and tail lights, really capture the vintage vibe of the original. The fact that you were able to make it 99% accurate without full instructions is a testament to your skills.

Thank you @Barry_Smith!