This is my first ever completed Technic MOC, originally inspired by Piterx' Lancia Fulvia but much simpler. It's not quite done, but I anticipate being able to spend very little time on Lego in the next year or two, so it's as finished as it's probably going to get. There is no gearbox or interior, and there are a number of things I'd change if I had the time - but overall I'm pretty pleased with it.

The 037 was the last rear wheel drive rally car to win the WRC, in 1983. It raced in the infamous Group B category, which had few restrictions on vehicle design and engine power; as a result, the overpowered cars were in a number of fatal accidents, and ultimately Group B was abolished. While it lasted, though, Group B saw some spectacular driving and some extremely fast and loud cars.

The Martini Racing stripes are done with washi tape (fancy Japanese colored masking tape), which works OK except where the tape crosses pin holes. It actually looks better in person than in photos.

As in the original vehicle, the hood and rear lift up, and the doors open and more or less lock in place:

Also like the original, the model is mid-engined. I used 1 RC motor geared 12:20 from the fast output. Until I put the bodywork on, the car could do handbrake turns and drift on wood floors, but now that the vehicle weighs 1030g, it can't drift and can only rarely do handbrake turns.

I'm especially happy with the front axle, which includes a decent wheel lock, caster, unequal length wishbones, near-Ackerman steering, and a scrub radius of nearly zero. My thanks to all of those here who offered advice on suspension - I learned an enormous amount from you all. Steering is by servo, which offers return to center, reasonable speed, and high torque. I use a basic remote because the train remote is too slow for me to keep the car from crashing; the downside to that is that proportional steering is impossible.

Wheel lock, steering, and scrub radius:

Caster:

The hub is held together by the 4L axle with stop (and the half bush on it), which turns out to be a more robust solution than I'd expected:

The rear suspension is a modification of Thirdwigg's floating differential. It works well, with one caveat. Every once in a while, the 3L axle driving the 20t gear slips towards the differential a bit, and once when this happened a 3L u-joint got destroyed by torsion. The rear suspension is hard and has limited travel, and the suspension arms are tilted up even at rest; I would fix that if I had time.

And of course the obligatory under-chassis shot:

This is freaky sweet! Great job man! :thumbup:

I really like the design and functions, and your steering setup is fantastic.

an awesome car, from indeed the best by gone era!

Any chance of a vid? Piterx is going to love this!

I like the way you constructed the frontspoiler. This clearly shows how Lego Technic has evolved, because those panels really add much realism. Like your Martini Print too!

Love the B-group MOCs, those cars looks so good. This one is not exception as well. Like how simple and light it is - trying to build a modern version rally car, but it gets too heavy and you cannot build the body with just 5x11 plates

Stunning car!! I was eager to see what you decided to build with that awesome front suspension set up.

Video coming soon?... ;)

i absolutely love this car (i was planning to build one indeed...at the moment im building the stratos so this will probably come next :P)

i absolutely love the way you made it and im happy that fulvia inspired you :D

the front suspension is just great...the only thing is that you might have needed two rc motors for such a heavy weight :)

i like the colour scheme just like the real one!

great job man :)

If it's wrong to be in love with a plastic car I don't want to be right!

Group B spirit captured in lego 99%

for the extra 1% put the battery box in the middle under the seats and make it catch fire when it crashes....

Great job!! :thumbup: I've actually modelled this car before with the same wheels, but in a different scale. (was not posted here though)

A video of this beauty would be awesome!

Thank you all for the kind words!

  On 4/22/2014 at 8:11 AM, piterx said:

i absolutely love this car (i was planning to build one indeed...at the moment im building the stratos so this will probably come next :P)

the front suspension is just great...the only thing is that you might have needed two rc motors for such a heavy weight :)

I'm looking forward to seeing your Stratos! I considered doing that instead, but the body shape is so complicated - the 037's bodywork was a lot easier to do.

I have a second RC motor, but even with one motor the LiPo bttery is always just on the edge of having its current overload protection kick in, so I'd need a second battery in order to add a second motor.

  On 4/22/2014 at 7:36 AM, PhyBuilder said:

I like the way you constructed the frontspoiler. This clearly shows how Lego Technic has evolved, because those panels really add much realism. Like your Martini Print too!

Thanks! For most things I like the new panels, but those two old small ones really fit the bill for the section under the headlights.

I do hope to put up a video, but can't promise anything. I managed to drop my camera lens-down at the end of shooting these photos, and I'm not sure how long it will keep working

Just wow...

Very nicely done my friend! As a dedicated rallyfan this Moc really tick all the boxes. The 037 is a iconic Group b beast and you´ve captured its essence perfectly!

Aint she a beauty! Cant w8 4 vid

Nice!!! Really Beauty with the usage of those panels!

It's nice to see more and more models that try to break out of the completely flat roof design. It's pretty hard to make and I don't think your solution is the best I have seen but the overall looks and the colorscheme of the model is awesome. And it's also good to see advanced front suspensions to get widespread, I feel lame that I never considered going deeper into that, and my upcoming, much bigger car MOC has the twenty-something year old Lego suspension design.

Edited April 22, 201410 yr by Lipko

  On 4/22/2014 at 5:48 PM, Lipko said:

I feel lame that I never considered going deeper into that, and my upcoming, much bigger car MOC has the twenty-something year old Lego suspension design.

No shame in that at all. Got to go with what works for you and works best. I've seen many new types of new suspensions that people have come up with, but most look fairly flimsy.

Nice model by the way!

Edited April 22, 201410 yr by Meatman

  On 4/22/2014 at 5:48 PM, Lipko said:

It's nice to see more and more models that try to break out of the completely flat roof design. It's pretty hard to make and I don't think your solution is the best I have seen but the overall looks and the colorscheme of the model is awesome. And it's also good to see advanced front suspensions to get widespread, I feel lame that I never considered going deeper into that, and my upcoming, much bigger car MOC has the twenty-something year old Lego suspension design.

Thanks! I would never have developed that suspension without the help of many Eurobricks members (including seeing Piterx' inspired use of the black 3L-with-ball part). The roof turned out OK considering my limited time and the fact that I ran out of basically every size white liftarm except for 3L. I was trying to suggest the strange "double bubble" roofline the real car has:

I'd love to see if someone can make a more robust version of my suspension. Right now the wheels eventually work themselves a little bit loose, and the top and bottom halves of the kingpin wobble somewhat relative to one another.

Great MOC! the tape looks nice too

Great build. Love the white and i'm intrigued by your steering and front suspension set up. I'm working on a steering set up at the moment.

H

Awesome looking moc! Instantly recognizable as it's real life parent! Great work

I made a very, very basic video so you can get an idea of the car's speed and turning radius. I'm not sure how to embed a video from Flickr, so hopefully this link will work.

Edited April 24, 201410 yr by Hrafn

Superb....

Bravo sir.

:-)