We were very excited when we first broke the news of LEGO’s brilliant-looking 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 set, especially when TLCB anoraks deciphered that it would feature a working paddle-shift gearbox. Unfortunately the reality of 42056 – especially that much hyped gearbox – hasn’t lived up to the sky-high expectations that preceded it, a fact made all to clear here at TLCB. So what if you’d like a Technic Porsche that doesn’t cost the earth and that works? Well handily we have two answers for you today…

First up (above) is paave’s fantastic 964 series 911 cabriolet. With working steering, a flat-6 engine, and opening doors, hood and engine cover, paave’s creation has everything you’d expect to find in a small Technic set, and to these eyes it looks better than the official 42056 product too. You can see more of this excellent build on both MOCpages and Eurobricks via these links.

Second (below) is Horcik Designs‘ effort, and it too looks a fine home-brewed attempt at bettering LEGO’s official 911 GT3 set. With working steering, a flat-6 engine, a functioning gearbox, all-wheel independent suspension, a working clutch, and a pneumatically adjustable rear spoiler Horcik’s creation is what LEGO’s could have been if they hadn’t spent so much money on a fancy booklet for collectors (who won’t open the box anyway so it’s wasted on them). There’s more to see of Horcik’s Porcshe 911 on Flickr at the link above, and you can check out a very disgruntled review rant of the official LEGO Technic 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 set by clicking here.