Random set of the day: Small Car
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 3177 Small Car, released during 2010. It's one of 37 City sets produced that year. It contains 43 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$4.99/£3.99.
It's owned by 14,967 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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57 comments on this article
car
vroom?
Guess what, this set actually DOES have lore!
A (slightly modified I believe) version of this set appeared in The LEGO Movie as Emmett's car. It was even rereleased (sans minifig) as an in-store promotional build around the time the movie came out.
it looks a bit like yesterday's set, only better.
This, sans license:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Fortwo
After the last year and a half, it's easier to see that torso as a facemask hanging down than as anything else.
I love this set. An actual small car compared to the bloated vehicles we see now. I also like that it's a knock off of the Smart car. Always makes an appearance in my City layouts.
I give the set an 'A' grade.
@Purpledave's pet peeve.
The first set I ever got! I remember naming the minifigure included in this set Jason. I still have this set but the arms and legs of the minifigure has become very loose over the years.
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Guess what, this set actually DOES have lore!
A (slightly modified I believe) version of this set appeared in The LEGO Movie as Emmett's car. It was even rereleased (sans minifig) as an in-store promotional build around the time the movie came out."
Yes, it came in the Double-Decker Couch set from 2015, which I have.
@MCLegoboy said:
"vroom?"
Yes
@1265 said:
"Looks like the minifig has a COVID mask dangling in front."
Hey, always gotta be prepared.
This was a remarkably good rendition of the prototype material for a 4-wide minifig-scale car. It's instantly recognizable.
This is Emmet's car, right? From 70818 ?
This was my second CITY purchase after Traveller in 2010. I found several of these Small Cars on clearance at Target in 2011, and I was charmed at how it was a nice 4-stud-wide construction unlike the other gargantuan vehicles made for the LEGO CITY. I bought it, totally unaware it would be the model for which Emmett's car would be based on in 2014's The LEGO Movie. But it is a good fit. Glad I have it in my collection!
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Guess what, this set actually DOES have lore!
A (slightly modified I believe) version of this set appeared in The LEGO Movie as Emmett's car. It was even rereleased (sans minifig) as an in-store promotional build around the time the movie came out."
It comes with the 70818: Double-Decker Couch. Yes it's slightly modified. They changed the bumper and added mirrors.
A car so good, it was remade multiple times
YES! This was such a fantastic little set. It reminded me so much of the tiny cars from 80s Town that I bought two.
Yep. I remember getting this original set, and then I think getting the nearly identical (but minifigure-less) build-in-store promo when the movie came out, and then finally getting the Double Decker Couch that also had one (I still have yet to build that last set, incidentally).
Going back to the original pre-movie version here, I remember how charmed a number of the City fans over at Eurobricks were by this set. I wish I’d bought more of them myself. A lot of folks fell in love with this simple, perfect design, and I recall people setting out to recreate it with as many different color variations substituted for the white parts as possible.
Great play value in this for a tiny price point. I think they could reissue this set unchanged today and please a whole new generation of kids (and more than a few AFOLs). The styling is contemporary enough to fit in and not look out of place with even sets released a decade or so later (i.e., today), yet it also fits in with all those four-wide vehicles from the now-ancient Town days. Sometimes, good things really do come in small packages. Small Car is a stone-cold classic.
@Quasar said:
"The first set I ever got! I remember naming the minifigure included in this set Jason. I still have this set but the arms and legs of the minifigure has become very loose over the years."
This is also the first set I ever got!
There is another version in this set as well
60258-1
So this car came out twice, or THRICE if you'll bear with me a second.
First, it was an in-store Toys R' Us Promo as Emmett's rebuildable car (it could be reconfigured into a jet). It was mostly accurate to the film, but didn't have a proper radio tile.
Then, it was rereleased in Double-Decker Couch, accurate to the film.
THEN, it came out a third time as a TRU in-store build, Emmet's Bat-Car, for the Lego Batman Movie. Same car, but now in a black-and-yellow Batman scheme, and it had added flexible wings on 1x2 tiles with a ball joint.
Back when the cars had opening doors...
NEW from Lego..."Small Car"!
Named by the same Master Set Namer that brought you classics like 3054 "Motorcycle", 1710 "Snowmobile", 642 "Tow Truck and Car", 1854 "House with Roof-Windows", 3013 "Space Jet", 3225 "Classic Train", and 3220 "My Dad"!
One of those sets you can make with the contents of your spare parts bin, unlike Big Car which is a monstrosity. That is the way I came about having it after buying the manual, but I hope to get a new one someday. In that sense I don’t consider it owned so I hesitated to add it to my owned sets.
7939 had an all-white and a blue one too.
@Rogue10 said:
"7939 had an all-white and a blue one too. "
There it is- knew it was included in a train set but couldn’t figure it out on my own
I made a minifig-scale version of this, and hung the actual set off the back bumper. Like a tiny bike.
@GSR_MataNui:
Yes, I have all three versions, and they are all slightly different. I can’t remember how, offhand, but I think Emmet’s version has a decorated 1x2 tile to represent the car stereo. That version, I used to have Wyldstyle carrying (with Emmet inside) as she fled from Bad Cop’s robot goons.
@Norikins:
It’s more like the wobbly-legged, newborn puppy version of my pet peeve. Maybe if it was a little bigger...
@TheEpicLuke:
Even combined, all three don’t really equal one full car.
@Blondie_Wan:
A former member of my LUG got a bunch of these to fill out her home layout. One day when I was visiting, I put them all in weird poses, like one guy surfing on the roof, one carrying it on his back, another carrying it in front of himself, and so on. I think it was about a month later I got a call asking if I had anything to do with it, because it took her that long to notice.
I have this one! Such a fun set with great value. I miss $5 sets.
An early MOC of mine was building a modified recolor of this set in yellow and black...not because BATMAN, just the parts I had laying around
Good little set. I'm just wondering what happened to the random part of the day? (Yes, I have ticked it in my news preferences)
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Guess what, this set actually DOES have lore!
A (slightly modified I believe) version of this set appeared in The LEGO Movie as Emmett's car. It was even rereleased (sans minifig) as an in-store promotional build around the time the movie came out."
It was also redesigned slightly as a Toys R Us promotional build in North America stores for The Lego Batman Movie.
https://brickset.com/sets/TRUBATMOBILE-1/Flying-Batmobile
Aw this was my son’s first ever lego set, got it for his third birthday.
Is there anyone who does *not* own a version of this set?
Those nice times when you could build a car (with doors) using less than 50 parts...
This is still on my wanted list. Time to change that.
This car took me back to the Lego I grew up with in the early 90s. To me, those were the perfect size for toy cars. The 6/8 (!) wide cars just look too bloated in comparison. It's amazing how much charm you can put into such a limited amount of parts.
I had this! A really cool nice little set, it's perfect for small city/creator dioramas.
This was a great little set, the car design, based on a real world equivalent, was both realistic and cute at the same time, and a lovely nod back to the older 4-wide times.
Small, but it has doors, fenders, and a roof packed into 4 wide.
I remember seeing Emmet's car in The Lego Movie and thinking, "Hey, I know that car. I have that car!"
I looked up the instructions over on the Lego website, there it's called "City Car"!
I remember a time, way way back, when 4-wide vehicles (mainly trucks) had opening doors, and nice flip-up roofs.
This is a lovely small car. I built a similar car as a convertible. I still think there is hope for 4 stud cars with modern parts.
@TransNeonOrangeSpaceman said:
"Good little set. I'm just wondering what happened to the random part of the day? (Yes, I have ticked it in my news preferences)"
Huw said that Random Part was being put on hold until after the Christmas season, as it's a busy time for articles anyway - what with the daily advent calendar reviews x5, as well as new set reveals - so as not to make the homepage even busier. He also said it could use some of its shortcomings addressing before he decided whether it would come back in the new year.
I used to own it, but eventually sold it alongside some of my other City sets for making display space (at the time I was able to display everything I owned). I want to get it back some day, but this year many other sets ended up being a priority for repurchasing them first.
Maybe next year...
Silly though it sounds, this set is an all-time classic for me. 3177 Small Car was available absolutely everywhere and seemed to linger on shelves for a long time, so it was nearly impossible not to own one!
Lovable small set, I built a garage for the 4996 to lodge it.
Clearly I bought the Emmet's version too. :)
To think back then a CMF was only half the price of this tiny vehicle. Now it's almost the same!
@ChazTheMinifig:
In the US, it already is the same, and CMFs are still, by far, the better value.
@CapnRex101 said:
"Silly though it sounds, this set is an all-time classic for me. 3177 Small Car was available absolutely everywhere and seemed to linger on shelves for a long time, so it was nearly impossible not to own one!"
Except for when you lived in the dark ages.
So there's at least seven (!) official versions of this modern classic:
> This original 3177: Small Car (2010)
> One white and one black and blue - 7939: Cargo Train (2010)
> Lego Movie version, with sideview mirrors - https://brickset.com/sets/EMMETSCAR-1/Emmet-s-Car-Fly-Car (2014) - promo, in-store build.
> Lego Movie version, with sideview mirrors and "RADIO" tile - 70818: Double-Decker Couch (2015)
> Lego Batman Movie version, black and yellow with wings - https://brickset.com/sets/TRUBATMOBILE-1/Flying-Batmobile (2017) - promo, in-store build. Was that really featured in the movie?
> Black and blue version, with sideview mirrors and trailer connector - 60258: Tuning Workshop (2020)
@TeriXeri said:
"Small, but it has doors, fenders, and a roof packed into 4 wide."
And room for the suitcase!
As for the doors, it could actually have used double high ones. May look odd though.
Couple of these appeared in the yellow cargo train. These compact cars were popular around 2010, if I remember correctly.
@Jack_Sassy said:
"Couple of these appeared in the yellow cargo train. These compact cars were popular around 2010, if I remember correctly."
Yep, 7939 has a blue/black one and an all white one.
Love the fact this little beauty has the classic opening doors - a feature that doesn’t seem to appear in the City 2022 sets (feel free to correct me here).
Cool! Literally the first time I've seen a set that I actually have in the "random set of the day" (at least the first time I've seen it in the correct day)
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Guess what, this set actually DOES have lore!
A (slightly modified I believe) version of this set appeared in The LEGO Movie as Emmett's car. It was even rereleased (sans minifig) as an in-store promotional build around the time the movie came out."
I think that there's a difference though- because the movie had Emmett following the rules of the road, his car has added mirrors on the side!
I loved this car, that's actually where I got the hair for the minifig in my profile pic!
edit: I should have read the above comments because seems most everyone knows about the mirrors