Vintage set of the week: Car and caravan
Posted by Huwbot,
This week's vintage set is 623 Car and caravan, released during 1970. It's one of 12 LEGOLAND sets produced that year. It contains 38 pieces.
It's owned by 334 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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31 comments on this article
So simple yet so awesome
VROOOM!!!
That is pretty cute.
Trully, a simpler time.
It's like a toy car, but Lego. Perfect, 5 stars, I have no notes.
That caravan should have been 1 brick higher. That's how I made them.
Had to go without sweets the week I got this... My pocket money was 10 shillings, but this was 10 shillings and sixpence. Well worth the sacrifice for such a great set!
The first Lego sets I got were 1973 sets, and they were still using the identical car design then. I can see why - given the available parts at the time, it’s a classic design.
And still the same square wheel arches 53 years later!
30657
How curious, I was trying to assemble this set with parts I own just a few hours ago. I'm missing the transparent parts only.
Nice set but ugly camel.
I've almost finished replicating the police car from this era. I'm waiting on vintage wheels, then I'm done.
The ultimate race car!
Though I'm afraid this caravan might prove a bit too sturdy for racing.
The amount of windows in that caravan makes it seem like some sort of portable greenhouse. What have they actually got in the back of that thing?
@Bart_66 said:
"That caravan should have been 1 brick higher. That's how I made them."
It could be of the pop-up variety, to make it more streamlined for road travel. Then again, the car looks like it might be built the same way. Looks big enough to fit one minifig, if you lay him down like a corpse.
I think I had that.
When I got married 24 years ago, my wife and I asked for bricks because we were building a house.
I wanted to show how many bricks we received to visualize our house. So I went back to my parents to pick up my old Lego, but I couldn't find them.
I thought my parents gave them to my nieces.
But during the dinner after the wedding ceremony, we opened all the gifts we had received and a huge package with a beautiful decoration was on the table.
It was heavy and sounded a bit strange.
It was the wooden box with all my Lego.
My dad had this brilliant idea.
I never sorted the box.
It is our treasure.
Too bad it's probably super yellowed now.
It's quite fascinating to read how many of you think this is a nice lego set. And then to compare the comments under every review about detailed current lego car...
Whenever I sort random lego bins bought of auction sites the old transparnet bricks are the ugliest.
@thor96 said:
"It's quite fascinating to read how many of you think this is a nice lego set. And then to compare the comments under every review about detailed current lego car...
Whenever I sort random lego bins bought of auction sites the old transparnet bricks are the ugliest."
There's some charm to old LEGO, looking back at 70s and 80s LEGO commercials , I still think it was much more interesting compared to the dreaded Town Jr, or Jack Stone eras.
The Classic theme still has regular mini car builds using transparent bricks and slopes.
Also LEGO still makes cars as their own sets , that won't fit minifigs even now , so there's likely a fair market for them .
30644 : Vintage Car
30594 : Rock Monster Truck
30577 : Super Muscle Car
40468 : Yellow Taxi
or even 3-in-1 like 31113 : Race Car Transporter or 31101: Monster Truck
@sjr60 said:
"And still the same square wheel arches 53 years later!
30657"
And 30594
@Binnekamp said:
"Too bad it's probably super yellowed now."
Well, just like the average real caravan....not to mention real cars from 1970 will now mostly be rust brown ;-)
Why is what I'm assuming a price sticker sloppily censored?
@WizardOfOss said:
"The ultimate race car!
Though I'm afraid this caravan might prove a bit too sturdy for racing."
I used to love the car and caravan banger racing demolition derby at the end of a stock car meeting!
@TeriXeri:
I think what @thor96 is getting at is these old transparent bricks age so terribly bad, but throw on a pair of nostalgia-glasses and it's all good. On the other hand, some of the same people endlessly complain about the switch from polycarbonate to the new transparent plastic because it's "hazy" and scratches easily. It's still far more durable than the transparent parts I remember from my childhood, which would crack very easily, scratch with a harsh glance, and often arrived discolored and got worse from there.
I don't think ANYONE here is saying those old parts from decades ago were of higher quality than what we get today. Literally no one. Lego just isn't made for eternity. Not back then, not now. In the end it's just a toy made from cheap plastic. And nowadays probably a bit cheaper than, say, 5 or 10 years ago.
What many people (including myself) do appreciate about these old sets is how with just a limited variety of parts they managed to do so much. I don't compare a set like this to, say, the Icons VW T2 Camper. I'm happy Lego evolved and makes things unimaginable 40 years ago. But I would compare this to a nowadays City set, especially a small 4+ or 5+ set, and then prefer one made from basic pieces over one made from highly specialized parts. Nostalgia? Probably a bit. But I still think the old way makes for better toys.
@sjr60 said:
"I used to love the car and caravan banger racing demolition derby at the end of a stock car meeting!"
It used to be popular on Dutch TV too, with reverse racing (with DAF's with CVT, which were as quick in reverse as going forward) and caravan racing. And obviously it was all about maximum destruction, even though you wanted your competitors to drive around with as much of a caravan for as long as possible, as that would slow them down the most. But more often than not cars would finish with just a bare frame on wheels behind them....
Fun times...
@WizardOfOss said:
" @sjr60 said:
"I used to love the car and caravan banger racing demolition derby at the end of a stock car meeting!"
It used to be popular on Dutch TV too
...
Fun times..."
Indeed! There used to be a Stock Car / Speedway / Greyhound stadium fairly local to me. Nothing to beat the smell of the mixture of engine oil and hot dogs (the edible type)! Sadly now demolished and replaced with a shiny new football stadium. Apparently cars doing figure of eight racing on the pitch aren't welcome!
Yeah, there was a speedway near where my grandma lived too, been there several times. No caravan racing there, but still lots of fun. Noise, dirt, unhealthy food. What's not to love?
@WizardOfOss said:
"What many people (including myself) do appreciate about these old sets is how with just a limited variety of parts they managed to do so much. I don't compare a set like this to, say, the Icons VW T2 Camper. I'm happy Lego evolved and makes things unimaginable 40 years ago. But I would compare this to a nowadays City set, especially a small 4+ or 5+ set, and then prefer one made from basic pieces over one made from highly specialized parts. Nostalgia? Probably a bit. But I still think the old way makes for better toys."
Agreed, especially 70s and 80s LEGO commercials are interesting, as they show kids building large towers and castles of just a few colors (usually red/blue/yellow and white/black, with perhaps some greys from Space/Castle themes) , some even show combining Duplo bricks with regular 2x2 and 2x4 bricks.
But I think currently the Classic theme is moving in a good direction again, especially with sets like 11030, while it does have new colors , it's still nice to see a box with just bricks , and I do hope there will be a little bit more sets like that, with different color pallete or maybe Slopes / Plates focused.
I hadn't heard of this set before, but was amused to find that I had nearly all the parts needed to throw one together.
@sjr60 said:
"Had to go without sweets the week I got this... My pocket money was 10 shillings, but this was 10 shillings and sixpence. Well worth the sacrifice for such a great set!"
Lego was a lot more expensive back then!
It's nice to hear the price quote in £sd too! It must have been interesting to work with.