LEGO

Man’s fascination with Lego stems from the insatiable need to build things. Whether it’s a small Lego kit or a 3,599-piece Bugatti Chiron, the act and subsequent gratification that comes from building Lego kits is a big reason the toy line remains as successful as it is today. Some people, like Instagram user Replica Motorsport, even make businesses out of the kits they build. Replica Motorsport’s Lego gig involves recreating some of the auto world’s most beloved engines in miniaturized sizes and then selling them to those interested enough in trying to recreate the build. It’s not something casual Lego builders would be interested in, but for the auto-obsessed lot out there, and there are many, these small engine kits are the perfect embodiment of your Lego fandom.

Do you dream of owning a genuine spy car, but can’t seem to find Q’s number laying around? Well, don’t worry, because Lego has you covered. Say hello to the classic Bond car, now in brick form - yep, it’s 007’s very own ’64 Aston Martin DB5, straight out of Goldfinger and complete with all the goodies you need to save the day, including an ejector seat, rotating license plates, wheel-mounted tire slashers, and of course, front-mounted machine guns.

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Lego’s fascination in the world of automobiles is manifesting itself once again in the form of James Bond’s very own Aston Martin DB5. One of the most iconic movie cars of all time is set to become the next car to get the full-on brick treatment, complete with a mini figure of no less than 007 himself. The kit is currently available for pre-order at the Lego store in Budapest, Hungary where it is expected to be released on August 1, a full week ahead of its global release on August 8.

The 1:1 scale LEGO McLaren 720S remains the most incredible automotive LEGO creation we’ve seen, and now, you get the chance to see it up close at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. We first saw the incredible creation at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed last June. Now, it’s made the trip to the U.S. where fans helped complete its build.

The new Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron set has arrived with extreme detail, a traditional bi-colored blue paint scheme, and a W-16 engine with moving pistons. Priced at $349.99 in the U.S., it doesn’t come cheap, but the detail is out of this world, including a life-like cabin with a Technic eight-speed transmission, movable paddle shifters, and a Bugatti emblem on the steering wheel. The exterior features all of the aerodynamic enhancements of the real thing, and to top things off, if you insert the top speed key, the wing will transition from the handling position to the top speed position. The engine even has moving pistons and extreme detail like we’ve never seen before on a scale model.

These days automakers and corporations have just as many leaky holes as the U.S. Government. And, we’re not even kidding. How many “leaks” have we seen of cars just days before the debut in the past 12 months? It’s honestly starting to become commonplace. And, that’s why we’re here as just hours after the Lego Technic Buggati Chiron kit was teased. It turns out that someone couldn’t wait to share the kit with us and has decided to leak out an image of the box.

We can’t see the full box, unfortunately, but what we can see gives us insight into the most essential information. First, we know what it looks like. It’ll carry the traditional dual shades of blue and will apparently feature that light tan interior. There are even tiny square Lego pieces to make up the LED headlights up front – now that’s attention to detail. Furthermore, it will carry the set No. 42083 and will come in a total of 3,599 pieces. That’s nearly 900 pieces more than included with the 911 GT3 RS and more than enough to keep you busy for a while.

That 911 GT3 RS Lego kit, by the way, retails for $299, so you can probably expect to shell out even more for the Chiron. We’re guessing it’ll carry a price tag somewhere in the $375 to $400 range, but this is Bugatti we’re talking about so it could even go for more and people would buy it up like it’s going out of style. Speaking of going out of style, Motor1 reports that the GT3 RS Lego kit will be pulled off shelves at the end of 2018 as it heads into its peaceful retirement. That means unopened kits will increase in value and they’ll be harder to get by the turn of the year.

You gotta love a highly detailed Lego kit, especially when the subject matter is one of the most insane, over-the-top four-wheeled machines on the planet. Now, it’s looking like that’s exactly what we’ll get in just a few weeks’ time, as Lego and Bugatti are gearing up to release the new Chiron Technic kit.

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We love a good Lego build as much as anyone, but this latest project from Toyota is pretty dang ambitious. It’s a life-size creation of the new Camry, and it’s got pretty much every detail of the curvaceous four-door perfectly recreated in brick form.

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They say that advertisements have the power to make or break a brand. If that’s the case, Porsche’s new advertisement highlighting LEGO’s new Speed Champions line just made me want to buy the brick versions of the Porsche 911 RSR and the Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0. They’re the latest Porsche models to be immortalized in LEGO and, to commemorate their release, an ad was shot at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart starring the cars and their respective drivers taking a tour of the museum from the confines of their own race cars.

LEGO’s Speed Champions line of brick cars is getting a new member with the introduction of the LEGO version of Ford’s M-Sport Fiesta WRC rally car, the same racer that won the 2017 World Rally Championship behind the efforts of co-drivers, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Though not as big as the actual rally car, the LEGO version of the M-Sport Fiesta WRC is a great addition to LEGO’s Speed of Champions range. It joins a list of fellow championship race cars, including the Mercedes-AMG Formula One racer, the Ford GT racer, and the Ford GT40 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 1966.

Looking to get into a new Bugatti Chiron, but don’t quite have the bread to spring for the real thing? Well, you’re in luck, because Lego is gearing up to offer a new kit that’s about as close as you can get to the Molsheim Monster for just a few hundred bucks.

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Time-lapse videos of LEGOs being built is nothing new. Remember the miniature Ferrari F40 that was built in 60 seconds thanks to the magic of computer editing? Well, we’re bringing you another one of these videos because, quite frankly, they’re enjoyable to watch. The subject of this LEGO build is a Volkswagen Beetle, which, judging by the presence of the surfboard and the water cooler, comes to us by way of LEGO’s Creator line.

The video starts as expected. The build starts from the ground-up with the frame and wheels being put together first. From there, the interior is added piece by piece, including the transmission tunnel, the dashboard and windshield, and the four seats. The doors, roof, and hood follow suit. We even catch a glimpse of the car’s LEGO-version engine and exhaust at the back, as well as the spare tire that’s tucked under the cargo space of the front trunk. The build concludes with the aforementioned surfboard and picnic basket, both of which are stowed in the roof rack.

We’ve seen plenty of time-lapse LEGO builds before, and every one of them were must-watch videos because of how mesmerizing they look when the builds are sped up. It’s no different this time with the Volkswagen Beetle. Kind of makes me want to go out, buy one, and build it myself.

LEGO has come up with some pretty incredible ideas in the past, one of which is creating a space for fans and enthusiasts alike to propose projects. In the past, we’ve seen proposals like a BMW E30 M3, a Fiat 500 F, a Military M151 MUTT, a NASA Mars Rover, and a Caterham Super Seven. Now, another enterprising LEGO builder, shimon430, is proposing a LEGO build that will undoubtedly gain some traction. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on this 1:14 scale LEGO 1947 AC Cobra.

It’s not the first Shelby Cobra proposal to come out of LEGO Ideas - past offerings from builders Eugenio and Mathieub have failed to get any traction - but for what it’s worth, shimon430’s proposal may very well be the most detailed LEGO version of the iconic AC Cobra I’ve ever seen. The builder says that it’s the most complex LEGO project he’s ever done, and it’s hard not to disagree because the finished product looks exceptional, right down to the remarkable details on the car’s body and interior. Even better, shimon430’s AC Cobra has plenty of working features, a goal the builder accomplished by combing the best elements of LEGO’s Technic and System lines. The end result is something that’s certainly worth voting for. As it stands, it’s already garnered 422 supports, leaving it just a little more than halfway to its goal of garnering 1,000 supports. Even better the proposal will be live for another 421 days so there should be enough time for LEGO fans all over the world to help shimon430 bring his LEGO 1947 AC Cobra proposal to life.

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I’m running out of superlatives to describe Lego. Really, I thought I had reached my limit when the company unveiled the life-size Lego version of the Mclaren 720S at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. Turns out, I was dead wrong because Lego, in all its genius, has found a way to raise its own bar yet again. Feast your eyes on this beauty, a life-sized version of Ferrari’s 2017 Formula One Race car, or as it’s otherwise known in F1 circles, the SF70H.

If the mere sight of the completed work isn’t enough to make your eyes pop out, the facts about this creation are certainly going to do it. According to Lego, every crevice of the model is made out of the studded plastic bricks, right down to the wheels, tires, and even the control knobs and gear switches on the car’s steering wheel. All in all, the model features a staggering 349,911 specific pieces. To put that in perspective, the aforementioned life-sized McLaren 720S that was presented at the Goodwood Festival of Speed “only” had 267,300 specific pieces. Adding to the ridiculousness of Lego version of the Ferrari SF70H is the fact that the whole model weighs 1,250 pounds, which is close to the actual weight of the SF70H.

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By now, most of you probably know that Lego has been at the forefront of building brick kits for some of the most desirable and iconic cars in history. It has sets for the Volkswagen Beetle, Mini Cooper, Ferrari Enzo, and Porsche 918 Spyder, all of which are part of its popular Speed Champions line. What it doesn’t have at this point is a set for Godzilla. I’m not talking about the fire-breathing beast of Japanese lore; I’m talking about the fire-breathing beast of Nissan lore: the incomparable GT-R.

I know what you’re thinking: if Lego hasn’t built a kit for the Nissan GT-R, what exactly is that picture above because that looks suspiciously like a Nissan GT-R. Well, it is a Lego version of the Nissan GT-R, except that it didn’t come from Lego itself. It came from the imagination of famous Lego brick builder Firas Abu-Jaber, who used Lego bricks from other sets to create his own GT-R. According to Abu-Jaber, creating the Lego-ized version of the Japanese supercar took a lot of work and involved scouring through pieces that he thought could fit into building the car from the ground-up. Certain pieces, specifically the red Technic gear pieces, were taken from other kits under the Speed Champions line, whereas others weren’t so you can imagine how long the process was to simply find all the pieces that would fit into turning the whole thing into something that looks like the GT-R.

Lo and behold, Abu-Jaber actually did it. Not only that, his work is so incredibly detailed that you’d think that Lego actually is offering a kit for the GT-R when in fact it doesn’t. Kind of makes you wonder then what other Lego cars he can come up with if he had a treasure-trove of Lego bricks at his disposal. Is it too early to start throwing in requests? Maybe a Lego version of the Mercedes-SLS AMG, complete with its gullwing doors spread open?

The Goodwood Festival of Speed attracts automakers from all corners of the world, each showing up with something unique on the table. This year, McLaren has made good use of its preparations for the event by partnering up with Lego to create a 1:1 scale model of the McLaren 720S. That’s right – 1:1. The Lego version of the 720 has the same size as the real thing.

As cool as that sounds, it’s nothing when you feast your eyes on the actual build. Thing is though, the life-sized, Lego version of the 720S is far from being a finished project. Sure, it took six people roughly 2,000 hours to put together most of the 267,300 plastic bricks together, but a little under 13,000 bricks have yet to be put in their proper places for the whole Lego 720S to fully come together. This is where attendees at the Goodwood Festival of Speed come in. Those who show up at the weekend-long automotive spectacle in the U.K. will have the opportunity to add the final pieces to the plastic supercar before it’s scheduled completion this Sunday, right at the end of the Festival of Speed. If you’re not up to it, you can turn your attention towards a nice alternative in the newly released Lego version of the new McLaren supercar that’s been added to Lego’s Speed Champions line. It only comes with 161 pieces and is available for under $20, a price that’s a far cry from the £208,600 ($267,300) price tag McLaren’s asking for the actual 720S.

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Father’s Day is Sunday, June 18th, and you’re drawing a blank on what to get him. But don’t stress – we’ve got you covered with nine gift ideas for the motor-minded dad in your life. We’ve got a little bit of everything in here, from the useful, to the fun, to the entertaining, with all sorts of price ranges and budgets covered. We’ve even got a few suggestions for anyone looking to go above and beyond for their dad this year. So ditch the tie and “#1 Dad” coffee mug, and go with one of these suggestions instead.

And don’t worry – you don’t have to know the engine code for your Pop’s ride or how a carburetor works to make the right selection here. Even auto novices will be able to pick the right choice from this list. So, without further ado, here we go… and oh yeah – Happy Father’s Day!

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There’s nothing more heartbreaking than to see a car like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS get turned into a crumpled heap. Fortunately, this video isn’t as jarring to the senses, at least if you take it in stride. See, it’s not an actual 911 GT3 RS that was used in this extraordinary video, but a Lego Technic 911 GT3 RS. There’s something mesmerizing about the Lego 911 GT3 RS barreling toward a wall in a scaled-down crash test simulated to the same standard as the Euro NCAP 40-percent offset test.

As you might expect, the results weren’t pretty. The crash is loud and scary in real time, but the real treat in this video is the slow-motion footage of the crash, which was captured by several high-speed cameras at a speed of 1,000 frames per second. The slow-motion build-up to the moment of contact is nerve-wracking and once the car meets the wall, all hell breaks loose as Lego pieces fly all over the place, including three of the car’s four wheels. The car’s rear-end even elevates off the ground from the sheer force of impact as other Lego pieces scatter around it. The result is both spectacular and devastating, kind of like the feeling of seeing $300 go to waste in a blink of an eye. Then again, it’s not my Lego Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS that got completely annihilated here. Mine’s sitting pretty on my shelf, so this video didn’t break my heart as much as I thought it would. It’s still awesome to watch, although prepare yourselves to cringe while watching it.

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We’ve covered a lot of Lego kits in the past – kits like the 1968 Fiat 500, the Ford GT duo, the Caterham Super Seven, and my personal favorite, the Batmobile from the Dark Night trilogy. But, Lego just took things to an all-new level with the introduction of the kit you see here – a 1,969-piece, Apollo Saturn V rocket that stands a staggering three feet tall and comes complete with horizontal stand, three new astronaut figures, a lunar lander, and a command service module. The rocket itself separates into three different stages. You’ll also get a book that includes information about the manned Apollo missions and the fan designers that proposed the original idea through the Lego Ideas website.

So, to put things into perspective, this is a 1:100 scale model, and is the tallest Lego Ideas set ever approved for production. It goes on sale on June 1, 2017, and will set you back just $109.99 – that’s actually a good deal, considering it contains a total of 1,969 pieces. And, in case you didn’t catch it, 1969 is also the year that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong took their historic trip to the moon, making them the first people to ever travel to and land on another celestial body. And now, almost 50 years later, we can honor their historic trip and the rocket that got them there, with a massive Lego kit. Now, that’s pretty damn cool.

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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Caterham is one of the very few automakers that offer its vehicles as kits that you can assemble yourself. You can do this with basically every Seven currently on offer, except the new, limited-edition Sprint and the track-ready 620R. Actually, as of October 2016 you’ll be able to build your own 620R too, but you’ll have to settle for a LEGO set in order to do that.

Caterham has just announced that the 620R has become its first-ever vehicle to be immortalized in LEGO form. The extreme sports car was recently submitted to the LEGO Ideas platform, a process that all models have to go through in order to be selected for production, and gained the required 10,000 votes from LEGO fans around the world.

The set consists of 771 pieces, including a replica 620R engine and gear stick, while the assembled model car stands 10 cm (3.9 inches) tall and 28 cm (11 inches) long. Features include a removable nose, removable engine hood, opening trunk, and a working steering wheel. Pricing is set at £69 in the United Kingdom and at $79.99 in the United States. Quite affordable compared to the real thing, which retails from £44,995.

Caterham is pretty enthusiastic about the 620R being picked as the next LEGO set and jokes about how its technicians downed their tools to pickup up the plastic and created the model together with LEGO. It even describes the tiny 620R as capable of reaching "a heart-racing top speed of 6mph."

“Caterham has always prided itself on producing bespoke, hand-built cars for its customers. Our army of fans who build their own Caterham Sevens are equally discerning when it comes to the detail and craftsmanship which is central to Caterham, and we worked closely with the LEGO team to ensure the LEGO model replicated that," said Caterham chief commercial officer, David Ridley.

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Lego’s lineup of auto themed creations has grown exponentially in recent years. It’s got a Ferrari F40, a Volkswagen T1 Camper, and a Mini Cooper. And those are a few of the “hard to find” types. Now, Lego is putting the onus on the people to decide if this Fiat 500 project is worth actually bringing into production.

The project is part of the Lego’s Ideas website where followers of the brick can support their favorite projects. Since the Fiat 500 is included here, it’s not going to be produced unless it gets a specific number of votes. As of today, there are only 333 supporters of the project, but the good news is that voting doesn’t end for another 358 days so yes, there’s still plenty of time to get the Fiat 500 put into Lego production.

That said, there are on assurances that the Fiat 500 will be put into production even if it garners enough support. That’s only one piece of the puzzle that Lego has to navigate through. There’s also that issue of licensing, which is always a tricky proposition in it of itself. Fortunately, Fiat and Lego have had collaborations before, most notably with all the Ferraris that have been immortalized in brick form in the past. So why should you vote for this Fiat 500? Notwithstanding the fact that it’s a great piece, it’s a tremendous addition to Lego’s growing collection of automotive products. At the very least, it’s going to look especially spiffy next to the aforementioned Cooper and the recently released Volkswagen Beetle.

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If any of you think that getting paid to build LEGOs is a fun job, I’m here to let you know that, well, yes, it’s an awesome gig. But it can also be tedious, especially when you’re tasked to build a LEGO version of the Ford GT race car that approximately has 30,000 to 40,000 LEGO bricks in it. Such is the job of Pascal, who was tasked to build a scaled version of the Ford GT race car that will spend the coming weekend on display at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race.

It’s not a coincidence that the LEGO version of the Ford GT race car will be on hand at Le Mans right around the same time that the American automaker celebrates the 50th anniversary of its unforgettable 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans back in 1966. The Blue Oval has made a concerted effort to remind everyone of that historic feat and now, it’s also brought in LEGO to take part in the festivities.

The final product isn’t shown until the end of the video but we do get a lot of Pascal explaining the process behind the creation of the LEGO Ford GT racer and as it turns out, it’s not as easy as it looks. For one, building something of this scale involves tedious amounts of planning just to make sure that the scale is done right. A 3D model was also created in the size of the LEGO version – one-third the size of the actual race car – to ensure that the builders like Pascal will have the scale down pat when the build starts.

It gets even more chaotic when the actual build starts. I’d like to be as descriptive as I can to do Pascal’s words justice, but I think it’ll be much better if we just heard it from the man himself.

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