Hello there and welcome back to Bricks and Figs, my blog about Lego and Lego compatible sets. Today, I'm going to look at this cool little smart car made by the Decool brand of bricks. Then I'm going to show you how I made it even better. Let's get on with the show!
Building the Decool Smart car
I got this set from Aliexpress right around the 11.11 sale. It took about 2 months to get shipped to me. The model is 2221 and it has neat pullback feature. Unfortunately I forgot to do a piece count before I started to build it, but I would hazard to guess it's around 50 parts, more or less.
Above is the front page of the instruction sheet.
Back page of the instruction sheet. There's 22 steps in total to construct the smart car.
Here's the finished product. Looks pretty nice. It's got headlights, front grill, bumper and side mirrors. Opening doors on both sides too. The pullback feature works well and the car scoots forward after you pull it back. The rubber tires give it good grip. I had three extra pieces after the build.
The front end has a nice aerodynamic shape.
The car's rear end is completely void of details except the hinged rear window. It is canted inwards to match the slope of the back.
Another look from behind.
It's no fun of course if you can't put a minifig inside the car. This Sluban brand minifigure should fit because he's smaller than a regular Lego style minifigure.
To make him fit, I had to jettison a couple of interior pieces.
It's snug, but we got him inside.
Decool smart car Vs. Lego Emmet's car
In my brick collection, I've got a Lego Emmet's car which was a free Make and Take from ToysRUs. I also cobbled together my own version of a smart car from spare bricks.
A view from the front shows that the Decool model has a lower stance and the wheels protrude out a lot more than the Lego Emmet car.
The Decool car also has a slightly longer wheelbase than the Emmet car. Other than that the designs of both vehicles are quite similar.
Modifying the Decool Smart Car, V1
While the Sluban figure could fit into the Decool car, the same could not be said for the Lego style minifigs. Due to the pullback motor built into the chassis block, the base of the Decool car sits 1 plate block higher than the Emmet car. To rectify this problem, I had to make the car sit higher.
Here's the new driver for our car. He's also got his briefcase which we also want to store in the car.
While I was adjusting the car height, I also decided to add some detail to the back of the car. In this version, I installed a licence plate and taillights.
I made room behind the driver's seat to accommodate the briefcase. In this version I toyed with a fold down trunk to access the interior.
The original rear wheel arch brick was black but I happened to have a blue one in my parts stash, so now the car is mostly blue except for the black roof and the mirror housings.
The new version of the Decool smart car looks great but I decided put one more upgrade on it.
Decool smart car mod, V2
The smart car just didn't feel right without a rear bumper, so I pulled apart the backend and re-worked it. Now the smart car has a bumper and a new licence plate. I replaced the hatch with a glass window.
With the new mod, I had to sacrifice the opening hatch. So sad. I added a silver running board along the bottom of the car so it wouldn't look so blocky.
Here's the Lego style minifigure and his briefcase tucked into the car.
Oops, completely forgot about that fire hydrant!
Hope you enjoyed the pics! Thanks for checking out my modded Decool Smart car.
Brand: Decool
Model: Racing car
Model #: 2221
Number of pieces: approx 55
Number of minifigs: 0
