In 2016, Ford returned to Le Mans to celebrate 50 years since the GT40 won the 24-hour event for the first time by racing the second-generation GT. The race car won its class and became the second Ford to triumph at Circuit de la Sarthe. Now, Lego is paying homage to FoMoCo's success at Le Mans with a two-car set that includes both the old Ford GT40 and the new Ford GT.

Both miniatures feature the same livery as the cars that won their races. For instance, the 1966 GT40 is finished in black with white stripes, gold wheels, and wears the number 2, just like the car that Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon drove to victory half a century ago. As for the 2016 victor, the GT sports the red, white, and blue livery of Chip Ganassi. However, unlike the GT40, the GT is presented with number 66, which finished fourth in class at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. The winning car of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, and Sebastian Bourdais used number 68.

The new LEGO Speed Champions set will also include racing driver figures for each car, a checkered flag, and even a trophy to recreate Ford's history-making wins.

“Many people in my team grew up with the legend of Ford’s history-making 1966 victory – and experienced the excitement of building and design for the first time through LEGO bricks,” said Dave Pericak, global director at Ford Performance. “This kit is a powerful way to tell our Le Mans story, and will hopefully inspire the race drivers, engineers, and designers of the future.”

The new GT40 and GT set will be available to order on Lego's official website starting March 1, 2017. The bundle will cost €34.99 in Europe and £29.99 in the U.K. Pricing for the U.S. market is not yet available, but we expect it to cost around $30 based on stickers for other two-car sets from the Speed Champions series. With the GT40 and GT, Lego's Ford offerings will increase to six. A Ford Mustang set is on sale now, alongside a Ford F-150 Raptor with trailer, and Ford Model A hot rod.

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Why it matters

This Lego set is a great way to celebrate Ford's success at Le Mans if you're a big fan of the Blue Oval brand, as well as own miniature replicas of the company's most successful race cars. It's also one of the very few ways in which you can purchase and own both cars. Not only are the original GT40s are worth millions of dollars nowadays, but buying the 1966 Le Mans winner is actually impossible right now. My only complaitn with this set is that Lego should have made the Le Mans-winning No. 68 car instead of the No. 66 versions. On the other hand, the fact that racing number on the GT mirrors that of the original winning GT40 is nothing to sneeze at either.