JMBricklayer 50001 Vintage Car Model A Deluxe Coupe Review

In this review, We are back with another Lego alternative from JMBricklayer this time it’s their 50001 Vintage Car Model A Deluxe Coupe which is from the Civilisation- Industrial Times collection available on Amazon for £53.48

First Impressions

I am quite excited about this build. Most of the other “brick” cars I’ve got are either technically built, with fairly modern designs. This will be my first “vintage” model – and it’s in that classic green too. I believe, from some cheeky Google searches, that this is similar to a Cord L-29 from the 1930s. They don’t make cars like that anymore, unfortunately.

Design

This set measures 31cm x 14cm x 14cm and contains just under 1,300 pieces. Design-wise this set, as I mentioned, mimics a 1930s vintage car, and I think they’ve done a pretty good job mimicking those sorts of models. I’ve included an image I found of a vintage car below – lots of similar elements between it and the model.

The model features the classic flat-fronted radiator, two sets of headlights, spare tyres affixed to the front, a step-up platform to get into the vehicle, and curved front wheel arches. (I apologise to any car enthusiasts as I’ve no doubt butchered the names of all these parts of the car). Furthermore, this set features a removable roof to mimic a convertible, pictures I’ll show later in the review. JMBricklayer has also included their usual lighting kit.

Build

As with most builds, the pieces are split into numerous bags. These are clearly labelled, but unfortunately, the bags are grouped into sections 1, 2 & 3 with no further breakdown.

This means you’ve got anywhere from 8 – 12 bags your pieces could be in during any step. Whilst this is part of the fun of building models, it meant I ended up tipping most of the bricks out into a large pile – something I had to do with my previous JMBricklayer builds.

The manual is relatively clear and easy to follow. It’s clear to see which pieces are in the current steps and which have already been added to the model.

The only exception is the lighting elements. The cabling often needed to be fed under specific bricks, but it was very, very difficult to see this as this wasn’t highlighted. Often I had to re-assemble bits to put them where they were meant to be. In one case, I just left the trailing cables as I couldn’t be bothered to remove several elements to fix it.

The Build

Step 1: Building the base chassis- This was relatively smooth, although having the majority of the pieces in solid black did get a little repetitive and difficult to find the pieces in the pile of black bricks on my desk.

There’s a tricky step near the start to take care on, but the manual warns you of this. I should also add that the steering wheel added later connects to the front wheels so they can move – which is nice.

Step 2 is adding the main body of the car, which I enjoyed. The front bit of the car can be a little tricky because it tapers, and the side panels keep falling off until some more of the build has been completed. However, they become secure once you connect the different elements together.

Step 3 adds the cabin, wheels and completes the build. I’ve included an image below of the car without the cabin (i.e. with it being in “roof down” mode).

Lighting-wise, I think the cabin lights in my model are broken as I couldn’t get them to switch on, but the others all worked well. I’d also like to note a battery pack was included in this build which pleased me greatly. One of my previous criticisms was the lack of this, so its inclusion in this model was great. I can use it for the other JMBricklayer models too, which is nice.

Verdict

Overall, this was an enjoyable build. It’s reasonably priced too, especially as it includes a lighting set. As usual with JMBricklayer models, the labelling of the bags could use some improvement, but the build itself and the final model are excellent and I enjoyed constructing this model.