By Random Appointment Roundup

This has been an interesting month...our active LUGNuts members asked for assignments and our admins randomly appointed them in return. Admins asked for random assignments from the members at large and they randomly appointed them to us. This is the first time in LUGNuts history that we all had to be made accountable for what we said we were going to do. The end result...we've learned some folks are chock full of moxie, others are accountable most of the time and others...um...not at all. We've waited around an extra week or two for any late promised entries but the LUGNuts Blog is a harsh mistress so we must move on. There has been more than a few blowouts but lets see how the ones that actually participated pulled it off, shall we?

First on the random appointment slab Gambort rushes in with his assigned Russian Zaz Zaporozhets 966. See what I did there? Rush in...Russian. Anyway, I figured since he's totally into Soviet vehicles he'd go completely bolshevik over the little 966. The end result...a little...um...966, just as expected. it comes complete with a little Russian fur hat guy. Well done, comrade!



We go from something Russian to something more like what my grandma would drive, a 1979 Oldsmobile Toronado built by Peteris Sprogis. Ralph had a truly random way of delegating assignments...a numbered list and a random number generator. The result paired up Peteris with the rather cool retro Olds.



Later in the challenge, Peteris was assigned the 1965 Sunbeam Alpine Tiger by our admin Tim and the result...this slick little render of the classic retro ride. The design team led by famed Cobra racer Ken Miles crammed a beefy V8 into a space meant for a little four banger. Neat!



Sangi13 proves he likes his drinks shaken, not stirred...and slightly blurred with this Aston Martin DB7 Zagato. It has a great rack of headlights and a nice curvy rear end. I'm talking about the car, not... ...Never mind.



Legowink chimes in with a wink and a nod with this Honda Insight. He wasn't told specifically what year to do so he went with the sleek new 2011. Good choice. (wink wink)



My affinity for wagons has mercilessly assigned jmoakoen with the Dodge Magnum and for the love of God, it had better be custom! The result...a fiery red Magnum dragster rocket car. As they don't factory equip those beasts with drag tires and rocket engines, I'd say this entry is pretty custom indeed.



The Lord summoned improbcat and said unto he... build an ark of 300 cubits in length and 50 cubits in width and thou shall rescue two of every animal and thee shall be saved. Or build us a totally pimped out Chevy Astro Van convertible with TVs in the headrests and humungous bitchin' sub-woofers in the rear doors. That would also be freakin' rad!



Later in the challenge, improbcat answered the Car Gods ramblings once again with a Ford Model T. A standard traditional build you'd think, but true to improbcat's style, there is nothing standard or traditional about this hot rodded out Model T roadster pickup. The American legend gets a totally un-American Jaguar inline-six engine three carbs on one side and five exhaust pipes out the other.



Then finally the three time Random Appointment champ blows the roof off this dump with his assigned 1987 Buick GNX in sleek gangsta black...except for the dark grey fender flares, which were not available in black in inprob's Lego collection. I like the slanty grille and the yellow headlights/ fog lamps.



When Ralph randomly assigned Legogil the tricky Renault Avantime, I did not envy our resident Brazilian builder...at first. I was wondering how he would tackle its complex shape and tricky curves and angles. It turns out Gil has masterfully replicated this difficult ride and the lego world is that much better for it. Gil tells us he loved this challenge and it really shows in this stunning labor of love.



Ralph once again fired up his random number generator and Jonathan Derksen answered the call of duty with this 1962 Ford Galaxie Sunliner. It wouldn't be a Jonathan build unless it was as bright as the sun and this Sunliner is no exception. I'm digging the huge woofers where the back seat should be.



After weeks of hemming and hawing and shuffling his feet, Jason H. finally pulls through with this little Dodge Charger Police Interceptor Tiny Turbo. There was a lot of big discussion for such a tiny car but in the end it went down rich and smooth, like a finely poured Guinness. I guess now the driver of this little car should give me a breathalyzer test for such bad writing.



Later Jason H. pulls through with his assigned 1964 Ford Econoline...this one converted into a pickup. Jason tells us photos for this little red number was delayed due to an unexpected snow storm that blew through his area. Yeah, just like the real Econoline, I'd imagine this one would be rather useless in the snow.



When Raphy asked for an assignment, I had a special plan for him...to build any car from 1977 but give it a Star Wars theme. I imagined a lot of things but had no idea he'd convert a '77 Audi 80 into an Imperial Lambda Class Shuttle. I literally laughed out loud when I saw this one...the oversized wings and fins makes the Audi completely impractical...just like the Imperial Shuttle.



What do shallow, fake douchebags drive? Turns out its the 2008 Scion xA custom hatchback. No seriously, check out Raphy's photostream, he says it all. This little number comes with a trillion intakes, half working neon panels, fake-fancy paintjob and blacked-out spray-painted rims. Judging by the Scion xA drivers I've seen and the smell of Drakkar Noir, I'd have to suspect Raphy is right about that whole douchebag thing.



Right after the Scion xA, Raphy adds some much needed class to this joint with his assigned 1937 Bugatti Tipo Cinquantesette Atalante. I had the little HotWheels car of this thing when I was a kid. I liked to drive it around on my carpet and pretend the occupants inside were in a Gray Poupon commercial. Now THATS classy!

Proving he has a wicked imagination, ChargerHornet chimes in with this 1909 Cadillac Hot Rod. Nathan wanted a hodge-podge Caddy to go with the great Johnny Cash's song "One Piece At A Time", but even Nathan...or Johnny Cash for that matter could not have seen this hot rod Caddy coming!

GeekyTom takes a break from being a geek to build this decidedly hip and cool 1947 Ford COE custom surf truck. I can just imagine the convo going on between the two surfer figs. "Dude, my muscles are like totally gnarly, babe." And she's like..."pffft whatever!" Totally denied, little surfer dude! Bummer, man. Bummer.

Someone else with surfing on the brain is lego911. As he has built nearly 20,000 cars in his time, he was handled like a caged tiger and asked to build something we know he has never done...Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's Surfite. With all that experience backing him up, I'd say he did the wild 60's era custom ride lots of justice. Totally radical, dude!

Later, 911 pulls up to the crime scene in this unique 1998 Ford Crown Victoria Police Cruiser made into a donut shop. The original ride was customized by Jesse James and his Monster Garage crew. Like the real thing, this one has passenger side presentation doors that showcase sweet donuts and a coffee maker while the driver's side sports a checkered racing seat.

Lastly, the Master Engineer for Ford was assigned to build...get this... a signature 1955 Chevy Cameo Pickup in factory color scheme only. Peter does this classic Ford rival justice with its iconic white and red colors and "luxury truck" design. This Chevy is bound to make even the most avid Ford fan gasp...even just a little.

NK DeSign-er asked for an easy car and got the Mazda RX-8. Easy to some maybe, but a bear for NK. Still he pulled it off pretty well with this LCAD render all done up in electric blue with white striping. he managed to pull off its subtle shape that is distinctly Mazda.

The biggest benefit to this random appointment challenge is to pull off a car you'd never otherwise think about and to learn something new while doing it. LegOscar demonstrates this best with the Dutch designed Spyker C8. Be sure not to miss the Youtube vid showcasing this sporty little number from every angle.

Taken from my own "to do" list, I assigned the Green Hornet movie car to Jason Son, knowing full well he could pull it off probably better than I can. He did not disappoint with this customized 1966 Chrysler Imperial chock full of hidden weapons and other badass features no superhero should be without. With the movie coming out this month, this build ought to prove to be a timely success.

Speaking of timely success, how does our usual resident big rig builder handle a random appointment thats not a big rig? Quite nicely, it turns out. He takes his assigned 90's era GMC Sierra and turns it into one of the most tricked out sports trucks imaginable. With airtanks in the dumping bed, lambo doors and flip open hood, this custom ride also features Bricksonwheel's signature chrome bits. Tasty!

Shunik chimes in on a LUGNuts challenge for the first time ever with this Jeep Grand Cherokee. He doesn't have anything to say about this ride leaving this writer...a little short on words myself. Ah, its ok, Shunik, we were all a little nervous our first time too. It only gets better from here. And yes, I was talking about posting to the LUGNuts challenges so keep your minds out of the gutter!

A seasoned pro at posting to the LUGNuts group (and I imagine a few other things as well) is Firas Abu-Jaber. Our resident Middle Eastern builder has made quite a name for himself conjuring up Italian supercars...but how does he handle the quaint little Morris Minor? With all the same sleek styling as his usual stuff...and totally hot rodded out. This assignment brought Firas out of a little bit of a dark age and we're all exceptionally happy to see him back.

For nearly forty challenges now, Lino Martins has pretty much told all y'all what to do. But in this uncanny random appointment challenge, LegoJunkie stepped up to the plate and told the big boss man he wanted him to build a 1960 Flatbed truck...make and model up to me. I took his suggestion and went with the '60 Ford F-250 flatbed in striking yellow and black. The little 60's era bubble top rod was just bonus Lino goodness!

Another big boss man, Ralph Savelsberg also puts his short term fate in the hands of the LUGNuts members at large and the end result...is this nifty little Citroen DS assigned to him by Duq. This classic French car has tricky curves and distinctly European design but Ralph pulls it off in typical Mad Physicist style.

Silcantar reminds us all of 90's era Technic sets with this Audi Quattro. The technic beams merely suggest the shape of the car. Ah those were the days of the Lego 8880 Supercar! It was a much more innocent time back then. Look it up, kids! Also did you know Lego is coming out with a new Technic supercar in 2011? Look that up too.

Nolnet received two Air Blast racers for Christmas and they are apparently more fun than they should be. The first resulted in this Ferrari 250 GTO. It looks totally fun to blast across the floor! What was the result of his second Air Blast set, you may ask? Well, you're going to have to wait for next month to learn of that little doozie. Or just check out his photostream.

And speaking of next month, we are there already with our new build challenge called Octan Racing. We have been hired as designers and engineers for the Octan Marketing Division so build whatever you want, but do it in Octan colors with logos and graphics. Unusual entries are highly encouraged. As Octan is a fictional fuel company thought up by The Lego Group, your pay is also fictional. But feel free to come up with lofty job titles for yourself to feel uppity and important. For example, I am Octan's new Executive Director In Charge Of Total Awesomeness. It has a nice ring to it, I think. Until next time...happy building, everyone!