Is there anything that can’t be convincingly reproduced to scale with LEGOs? Enthusiasts of these plastic toy bricks are constantly taking their creations to the next level, and full-scale (and often functional) vehicles continue to rank among the most impressive competitive LEGO projects in the land. Just a few months after a unique LEGO trailer made its debut at the British National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, LEGO certified master model maker Rene Hoffmeister and Pascal Lenhardbuilt present an incredible LEGO Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi camper van.

Unveiled at the F.re.e Travel and Leisure Fair in Germany, the model was built around a steel tube frame and features a pop-up camper top, charming retro interiors full of fun period details, a sink, dishes, a coffee serving set, toothbrushes, a gas stove, working lights and – most impressively – a functional sliding door. Weighing 1,543 pounds and measuring over 16.4 feet long, the camper can accommodate the weight of two adults. It took 400,000 LEGO bricks to complete. Maybe it doesn’t start and roll down the road – but there are other LEGO cars that do.

Previously, a LEGO building specialist called Bright Bricks broke the Guinness World Record for the “largest caravan built with interlocking plastic bricks” using 215,158 LEGOs. The teardrop trailer boasted electric power, a fold-up beda vase of LEGO flowers and more, and weighed 2,645 pounds measuring 11.8 feet long. While the new camper appears to best this one by quite a lot, it remains to be seen whether it’ll be officially recognized as a new winner.

The Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle, one of the 20th century’s most iconic vehicles, also served as a rolling car canvas for artists just itching to bug society.

Over 21 million Type 1 Beetles were manufactured between 1938 through 2003, leaving an indelible mark on pop culture’s psyche. VW sought to monetize the classic Bug’s nostalgic appeal through the evocative New Beetle that debuted in 1997, and the subsequent A5 Beetle introduced in 2011.

Now that VW has declared the current generation of Beetles to be the last, we can fondly look back to those “true” Bugs immortalized as art cars and transformed into artworks.

The classic Bug made its last hurrah on July 30th of 2003, when the 21,529,464th and final original Type 1 VW Beetle rolled off the production line in Puebla, Mexico. The exquisite Beetle art car above, snapped by Flickr member Angélica Portales (A30_Tsitika) in December 2010, hails from Mexico City. Artists Francisco and Xena Bautista decorated the late-model Bug with tiny seed beads in the traditional Huichol style – a painstaking process that took around 7 months to complete.

Water Bug

Remember those old DDB magazine ads that featured a floating VW Bug? Well, those don’t apply to this replica Beetle since it’s made of concrete and weighs about 8 tons. You’ll find it – bring your wetsuit – among the many undersea artworks at the Underwater Museum, off the coast of Cancun, Mexico.

Artist Jason deCaires-Taylor designed the sunken Bug to be sea-life-friendly with pierced windows providing smaller fish with shelter and crustacean habitats accessible via slots under the faux doors. The roughened surfaces are designed to help new coral growths get a grip.

For Ladybirds Only

While GM’s late and lamented luxo-barges epitomized the American Dream back in the day, the lowly VW Bug was a dream-come-true for countless car-buyers on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. It’s fitting, therefore, that Texas hosts not only the Cadillac Ranch but also a “herd” of five VW Beetles given a ladybug-like makeover.

You’ll find this Buggalo-like herd of beetle-y Beetles at the Running N Art Ranch in Saint Jo, Texas, a town of about 1,000 souls in Montague County just south of the Oklahoma border. The quintet of decommissioned Bugs sport jointed legs made from old oil field pipes and are painted red with black polka-dots.

Unlike the once-stately Caddys sticking out of the ground near Amarillo, these art cars are off-limits to amateur artists. Flickr member Nicholas Henderson (TexasExplorer98) visited the ranch in March of 2017.

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An enduring classic, the VW van might just be one of the most converted and renovated vehicles of all time, transforming into solar campers, bars, food trucks, shops, tanks, snowmobiles and even a Back to the Future-inspired mini movie theater with gull wings and a ‘working’ flux capacitor. Though most of these re-imaginations have been carried out by fans and enthusiasts, Volkswagen itself has some ideas for carrying the iconic van into the 21st century and beyond.

Back to the Future Volkswagen Van

Custom-built by Brian Wallin and currently available for sale in Nashville through VelocityMC, the ‘Back to the Future’-styled 1967 Volkswagen Bus looks like new inside and out after a fun renovation that added gull-wing doors to the front and a mini movie theater to the back. You’ll even find a time machine from the film mounted to the dashboard, and a ‘working’ flux capacitor. Tempted? It’s yours for $89,995.

1966 VW Bus Bulli T1 Turned Musical Snowmobile

Not only does this 1966 VW Bus Bulli T1 have rubber tracks instead of wheels, it’s a mobile DJ booth, designed to roam around during outdoor parties in snowy environments. That may seem highly specific, but hey, people who live in places that get trapped by literal walls of snow every winter want to party, too. It was created by Austrian promotions company BB Support by combining the VW with a 1960s Bombardier B01 Spurgerät snow machine.

World’s First Sideways VW Camper Van

At first glance, it seems like somebody just pushed a VW bus over onto its side. But no. It’s actually drivable like that. Mechanic Jeff Bloch is known for wacky race car builds, including an upside-down Chevrolet Camaro, so for him, this ‘Trippy Tippy Hippy Van’ is par for the course.

The Long & Short of It

In the long history of VW Minibus transformations, many a Short (VW) Bus has been born (though it’s not entirely clear why, other than ‘because we could.’) But have you ever seen a Volkswagen Bus limousine?

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