Lego Carbon Racers: Golden Rod

Here's one of my favorite models from the Lego Carbon Racers series: the Golden Rod! Whether you have the parts in chrome gold (as seen in this rendering) or in the more common buttery gold (like I do), this car is a eye-catching addition to anyone's Lego vehicle collection.

One of my favorite details about this model is those ingot pieces being used as...as...(Googles "car engine diagram")...cylinder head covers on the exposed, metallic engine. Hey, don't judge me on that Google search. I wanted to make sure there wasn't some other more complicated terminology at play here.

The back of this car might've looked different if I had more wheel arch bricks to spare. I didn't, though, and I still thinks it looks darn good. That's what we're all about here at Not Enough Bricks: Somehow, fewer options means more possibilities.

That's a shiny gif right there. Back on the subject of the lack of rear wheel arches, I'm OK with them being gone because their absence solidifies the whole hot rod look.

Like many of my Carbon Racers, this one started life with a pretty standard Lego Tiny Turbo construction.

I think I had those 1x1 slope pieces angled differently at first to give the car's nose a more rounded shape. If you want to try that, go ahead. I like this way better.

The plot thickens. So does the car. (How have I not made that joke until this point?)

I don't think those pieces in Step 7 exist in chrome-gold form. Heck, I only have mine in butter-gold because of a lucky visit to a Lego Store's pick-a-brick wall. My runner-up recommended color for those pieces is black; in a pinch, the pieces themselves can be easily substituted with...(descriptive language sector fails)...two of those parts, you know; they look like 2x1 plates with a bar along the long edge?

Have I already mentioned how much I love the ingot-engine look? Because I love that ingot-engine look.

What you're seeing here is how I make up for not having more wheel arch pieces. Also, there's the exposed rear suspension, another nice touch.

I chose that non-bracket piece in Step 13 because I liked the mini-spoiler effect it had. The back of the car looked rather incomplete without it.

That "windshield" piece used to face the other way. It looked OK, but then I turned it around on a whim, and it blew my mind.

Part of me wonders how this model would look with the wider slick tires. Hmm...nah. However, the Bricklink Studio program seems to believe the wheel wells can come with gold detailing instead of silver; if you have wheels like that, USE THEM.

That's it for the Golden Rod, a simple yet striking Carbon Racers model. Next week, though, we're going to get a little more complicated; the upcoming model is technically a two-parter. See you then!