- Lego celebrates the Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear with life-size model
- It is made from 327,906 Lego elements
- A slightly less challenging 4,104-brick version is available to buy
Lego’s Technic sets might push the boundaries of what’s possible with a bunch of plastic bricks, but the company isn’t content with simply offering lifelike models of high performance cars for adults to painstakingly build on a damp weekend.
This week, the Danish toymaker decided to unleash a life-size version of its own 4,104- piece, 1:8 scale Technic Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear model — itself based on the real Koenigsegg that set a record at Goodwood’s famous hillclimb during last year’s Festival of Speed event.
It’s all very meta, but the 1:1 version managed to drive down arguably one of the world’s most famous residential driveways at a speed of 69mph with, you guessed it, the very same Koenigsegg test driver who set the record last year at the wheel.
While it is impossible to build a fully drivable car entirely from Lego (if only), the teams behind the huge model said that the project took 9,400 hours to develop and construct, with some 327,906 Lego elements required to fashion the bodywork. This alone weighs in at 880 pounds (400kg).
The overall build tips the scales at a hefty 3,900 pounds (1,800kg) but features genuine Koenigsegg wheels, an FIA-spec roll cage and a small electric motor that drives the rear wheels. The 1,603bhp 5.0-liter twin turbo V8 from the Sadair's Spear likely didn’t fit.
Speaking to Top Gear, Lego’s design lead Lubor Zelinka said the brief called for a Lego Technic vehicle that could "go very fast" and, as a result, it was the "most complex build in the least amount of time of all the Lego Technic cars".
Zelinka also revealed that there are a number of excellent easter eggs dotted around the build, including the fact that part of the headlamp canopies are from Lego Star Wars ships, while sections of the Koenigsegg’s famously intricate Triplex suspension system are taken from a Ninjago set.
Where can you buy one?
Lego says that the Technic Koenigsegg Sadair’s Spear Megacar set (model number 42232, for brick fans) will be available in July priced at $449.99 / £399.99 / €449.99, but the 1:1 replica is, unfortunately, for internal use only.
Clocking up 69mph along Goodwood’s famous hillclimb route makes it the fastest Lego Technic Big Build car ever, knocking the McLaren P1, piloted by F1 driver Lando Norris, off the top spot. That managed a measly 40mph.
While not confirmed, it’s highly likely ticket holders to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed event in the UK will be able to get up close and personal with the audacious build that, when Ghost Mode is activated, will see the doors, bonnet and engine cover slide open so you can have a good look at the suspension system. Nice touch.
