What's the news?
If you recall, Bugatti and Lego recently teamed up to create an absolutely fantastic Technic kit that recreated the mighty hypercar in 1:8th glory, using 3,599 of the Danish company's most advanced building blocks. Well, the tie-up has gone one stage further, with a 1:1 scale, fully-functioning Chiron model now created entirely out of Lego Technic materials.
Using more than one million elements, the full-sized Lego Technic Chiron has 2,304 electric motors from the Lego Power Function range, 4,032 Lego Technic gear wheels, 2,016 Lego Technic cross axles, weighs 1.5 tonnes and generates 5.3hp with an estimated 92Nm to back it up. The top speed is a mere 20km/h - some 400km/h shy of what the 1,500hp, W16-powered real thing can do - but, nonetheless, this is about the most impressive thing we think we've ever seen.
Even more so than the 1:8th kit, which is a fabulous recreation of the Chiron in Lego form, the big Technic model (capable of seating two adults within) is even more of a doppelganger for the Bug, what with its perfectly formed exterior and an interior that recreates the real car's cabin wonderfully, considering all it is using is a load of plastic building blocks.
All of the Lego Chiron's rear spoiler, speedometer, front and rear lights, detachable steering wheel and brake pedal are formed from Technic elements, and all of them work - the only things on the model that aren't Lego are the wheels/tyres and badges, all of which are genuine Bugatti items lifted straight from the Chiron itself. In total, more than 339 different types of Lego Technic elements were used in the build process, which took 13,438 man hours to create.
The Lego Technic life-sized Bugatti Chiron got its first test drive at the same proving ground in Germany as the real thing had its shakedown, namely Ehra-Lessien, and the lucky driver for this incredible feat was none other than Andy Wallace, official Bugatti test driver and a man who has won multiple times at the Le Mans and Daytona 24-hour events. He said: "When I first saw the Lego Chiron, I was immediately impressed by the accuracy of the model and the minute attention to detail. In fact, from about 20 metres away it's not obvious that you are looking at a Lego car. I can only imagine how much time and effort went into making this model.
"Driving the Lego Chiron was a great experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed. All those years ago, I could never have imagined that one day I would actually drive a Lego car!"
It's worth pointing out that the Technic Chiron sets a number of firsts for Lego, such as: the first fully functional self-propelled life-size Technic car; the first non-glued Technic model of such complexity; the first large model powered using Technic Power Function motors; the first large-scale moving model using Technic bricks and elements; the first time Lego has created new transparent Technic bricks; and the first time load-bearing parts have been created purely out of Lego Technic bricks and elements. It's really quite remarkable.
Following on from its first test, the Lego Technic life-size Bugatti Chiron will be unveiled for the first time at the Italian Formula 1 GP at Monza, Italy, at the end of August.
Anything else?
Lena Dixen, senior vice-president of Product and Marketing at the Lego Group, said: "This life-size model is a first of its kind in so many ways and with it, we wanted to push the boundaries of our own imagination. For over 40 years, Lego Technic has allowed fans of all ages to test their creativity with a building system that challenges them to go beyond just creating new designs, to also engineering new functions. Our Technic designers and the engineers from the Kladno factory in the Czech Republic, the place which also builds the impressive models for Lego Stores and Legoland parks, have done an amazing job both at recreating the Chiron's iconic shapes and making it possible to drive this model. It's a fascinating example of the Lego Technic building system in action and its potential for creative reinvention."