This Pontiac Trans Sport Is Our New Favorite Lego Set

Unless you were at least a few years old in 1990, it’s hard to describe the “dustbuster” craze. At a time when American vehicles still largely had sharp edges, the Chevrolet Lumina APV, Oldsmobile Silhouette, and the Pontiac Trans Sport landed from the future. These aerovans and their raked windshields looked like nothing else on the road (but did resemble a dustbuster, hence the nickname). And now, they’re immortalized in Lego.

You can thank Chuck McKnight for that. He designed the bricktastic Pontiac Trans Sport you see here, consisting of 749 bricks and detailed right down to the 3100 V-6 engine under the hood. He recently posted his project over at Rebrickable and shared some photos with Motor1, showing all kinds of neat details.

Photo by: Chuck McKnight

Photo by: Chuck McKnight

Photo by: Chuck McKnight

The set has three-row seating inside and period-correct two-tone color scheme on the outside. McKnight even managed to get the proportions right for the insanely large dash. Owning the real thing certainly helps—that’s his red Trans Sport in the background of the photos.

This isn’t an official Lego project, so sadly, you can’t buy one from the local store. But, McKnight does have step-by-step instructions available on his Rebrickable page. He also lists every single brick required for the project. And if you prefer the Oldsmobile or Chevrolet version, he has alternate instructions on how to make them, too.

“My family had two of these growing up,” said McKnight in a message to Motor1. “I thought they were just the most futuristic spaceship-looking things ever. Still do!”

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Chuck McKnight

Launched in 1990 at the height of the minivan movement, the Trans Sport was regarded as the sporty model. The Oldsmobile Silhouette was seen as the more luxurious choice, while the Lumina APV served as the mainstay Chevy for families. As per typical GM badge engineering at the time, all were identical save for very minor aesthetic variations. The first-generation models were built through the mid-1990s and offered a range of four-cylinder and V-6 engines.

The polarizing design certainly had its share of detractors over the years, but there’s no denying these vans are distinctive and forever tied to the high-minivan era.