Seeing is truly believing when it comes to seeing a McLaren car on display that is manufactured out of LEGO.
The Canadian International AutoShow at the Toronto Metropolitan Convention Centre has a McLaren P1 Hypercar on display, alongside a LEGO Technic replica, which is beside a model of the car.
To see all three together is stunning.
The model car is encased right beside the actual full-size car made out of LEGO and capable of moving under its own power. McLaren team driver Lando Norris tested the car at Silverstone Circuit last September and said afterward it felt like driving a car.
There is a video that shows how the LEGO replica of the McLaren was made. Basically it is comprised of more than 342,000 elements, weights 2,690 pounds (or 1,220 kilograms). It was designed by 23 specialists from LEGO and McLaren and took more than 8,300 hours.
While I was not there for the official reveal, I was at the AutoShow in 2023 when it showcased a replica Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 out of LEGO.
Lubor Zelinka, who works as a Design Managing Specialist at LEGO Group, headed the team that designed the McLaren and the Lamborghini. The Lamborghini took 10 months to develop, while the McLaren took seven months.
When I interviewed Lubor two years ago, he gave me an understanding about what goes on in terms of creating a life-size version of an actual performance Hypercar.
“It always starts with a set you can buy and build it yourself, and for some of these sets LEGO decides to create unique promotions like this and that’s where we come in,” Zelinka said. “We can choose what car we do. We can choose the particular styling or the method that we use.”
He oversaw the design of a replica Bugatti Chiron that was on display at the 2019 AutoShow.
“In contrast with (the Lamborghini), Bugatti was all about driving and building as much as possible out of LEGO Technic,” Zelinka said. “This one we chose to go with a more artistic route, hence the styling of the body. It is built out of small hexagons, which is the shape that Lamborghini is using a lot in their designs. It’s their signature pattern, that’s why it has this sort of dragon skin approach. We also work with them on the paint job and the colour scheme. They were amazing to work with.”
He said the process began when Lamborghini provided him and his team with a full 3D data of the car as well as the wheels and the badges.
“We would design small sections on a computer, then measure against the 3D model of their car to see if we are accurate and if the dimensions are right,” he said. “But there were a lot of red lines in the final assembly where we had to tweak this and that to actually put it together. It was great, but then we had to engineer the rest ourselves. There’s a steel frame our engineers did.
“We have a lot very skilled colleagues. Technic requires a very special skillset and it’s more on a voluntary basis. We have about 300 people working on model production, all different models, and when something like this is coming up, we say, ‘this is going to be tough, and if you want to try it out, come forward and try building this one with us.’ It’s so different from all the other models. There are no blueprints for it, for the set assembly, stuff like that. We ask them to do a lot more than they would do normally.”
The Canadian International AutoShow ends Sunday.
Perry Lefko is the Content Manager of The Car Magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]. Feel free to forward any story suggestions or comments.
