Tag Archives: Aston Martin

The Heart of Racing

After years of limited entries, Le Mans’ ‘Hypercar’ class exploded to over twenty entrants in 2025. The newest team to join the top tier of endurance racing is Aston Martin, who – uniquely – entered with the ‘road’ car based Valkyrie.

Powered by a naturally-aspirated V12 Cosworth engine (actually detuned in the race car to meet maximum power regulations), the Valkyrie was run by the Anglo-Amercian ‘The Heart of Racing’ team, and performed… not brilliantly. But both cars did finish, and ahead of a couple of Hypercar entries including a Toyota, two BMWs, two Cadillacs, a Peugeot, and a disqualified Ferrari.

This excellent Speed Champions recreation of the Aston Martin AMR-LMH Valkyrie comes from prolific Le Mans builder SFH_Bricks, it features a brilliant replication of the real car’s racing livery, and you can get to the heart of racing via the link above.

LEGO Technic H2 2025 | Set Previews

The days are getting longer, skirts are getting shorter, and The Lego Car Blog Elves have returned from their ‘volunteering’ trip over the perimeter wall of LEGO’s HQ. Yes it’s time for us to reveal the brand new LEGO Technic sets for summer 2025, and there are twice as many as last year!

LEGO Technic 42208 Aston Martin Valkyrie

The first of the eight new sets for summer 2025 is this, the 42208 Aston Martin Valykrie. Constructed from 707 pieces, many of which are debuting in dark turquoise, 42208 features a working miniaturised V12 engine, opening doors, working steering, and a tie-up with the ‘Asphalt Legends Unite’ video game. For, um… reasons.

The usual stickerage is deployed for the headlights, lime green pin-striping, and badging, whilst a brand new three-hole-with-cross-axle lift-arm appears for the first time. Aimed at ages 9+ 42208 will cost around £55 / €60 / $65 when it reaches stores this summer.

LEGO Technic 42209 Volvo L120 Electric Loader

Also aimed at ages 9+, but with around 250 more pieces, is the brand new 42209 Volvo L120 Electric Loader. And it looks brilliant.

An all-mechanical set (hurrah!), 42209 features three linear actuators – turned by hand via cogs mounted at the rear – to raise and tip the new bucket piece. Articulated steering is also controlled via a cog, whilst the ‘engine’ cover lifts to reveal, um… some spinning cylinder thingies. It’s an electric loader after all.

Well-placed decals enhance the visual realism, whilst we expect 42209 might be the pick of the range when it comes to mechanical engineering. Expect it to cost around £90 / €100 / $120 when it arrives later this year.

LEGO Technic 42210 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) Car

Ten-year-olds rejoice! Because the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) from ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ is sliding into the LEGO Technic range! Yes, this is the brand new 42210 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 Car.

We’re not sure why LEGO felt the need to add ‘car’ to the title, but no matter; Nissan’s iconic R34-generation Skyline GT-R is finally available in bricks. Over 1,400 of them in fact, which means that the aforementioned ten-year-olds are eight years below the advised age on the box.

We wouldn’t worry about that though; LEGO’s black box and ’18+’ age stamp are purely to make it more acceptable for dads to buy one, and they’ll get a suite of functionality when they do.

A working inline-6 engine lives under the opening hood (which might be driven by all four newly-hub-capped wheels), there’s steering and all-wheel-suspension, opening doors, an adjustable wing, and, um… some balls drop from underneath.

We’d better explain that. Like the 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger set, 42210 includes a play feature that allows the model to replicate scenes from the movie in which it was featured. In this case a pair of balls can be lowed to raise the rear wheels off the ground, allowing the model to drift. Which whether you’re ten or a dad, is sure to make it more fun to drive on the kitchen floor.

Large stickers recreate the movie car’s livery (which is rather necessary here), but most of the other details are brick-built, and you’ll be able to get your hands on 42210 for around £130 / $140 when it drifts into stores this summer.

LEGO Technic 42211 Lunar Outpost Moon Rover Space Vehicle

We think this set might be based in space. The new 42211 Lunar Outpost Moon Rover Space Vehicle is so spacey LEGO gave it three different space references in the name alone.

Following on from the Technic Space range that surprised all of us last year, 42211 looks… incoherent. A strange robotic crane of sorts, 42211 nevertheless includes some interesting Technic engineering, including oscillating suspension, all-wheel-steering, a rotating and extending crane, and two smaller lunar rovers, one of which appears to munch up rocks and – joy of joys – crystals. LEGO just can’t let them go.

The crane and two smaller rovers all fold neatly into the main rover, and 42211 does feature some unconventional parts, including rubberised tracks not seen for a few years and new wheel covers.

Aimed at ages 10+, the new 1,082-piece set will cost around £90 / €100 / $100 when it lands in stores this summer. Let’s get back to cars…

LEGO Technic 42212 Ferrari FXX K

…and one that looks really rather good. This is the new 42212 Ferrari FXX K, a 900-piece recreation of Ferrari’s track-only V12 hypercar. Featuring working steering, an opening engine cover and butterfly doors, a V12 piston engine with differential, and another tie-up with the ‘Asphalt Legends Unite’ video game, 42212 is rather formulaic, but it’s a good formula.

Several pieces make their debut in red, and we’re getting used the heavy reliance on stickers. Aimed at ages 10+, expect 42112 to cost £55 / $65 when it reaches stores later this year.

LEGO Technic 42213 Ford Bronco SUV

With a few more pieces, but a slightly lower target age, the new 42213 Ford Bronco SUV brings Ford’s iconic off-roader to the Technic range for the first time.

We think it looks great too, with opening doors, working steering (via the spare wheel), front and live-axle rear suspension, a V6 engine under the raising hood, plus new fender parts and tyres.

Expected to cost £55 / $65, 42213 looks to be quite good value (these things are relative), and is perhaps our pick of the cars for H2 2025.

LEGO Technic 42214 Lamborghini Revuelto

The seventh new set for H2 2025 continues another longstanding brand partnership, as Lamborghini’s new supercar joins the Technic line-up in the form of the 42214 Lamborghini Revuelto.

Lamborghini claim the Revuelto is “The first HPEV (High Performance Electrified Vehicle) hybrid super sports car”, which conveniently ignores all the other high performance hybrid supercars that have proceeded it.

Still, let’s not get bogged down in marketing, because LEGO’s Lamborghini Revuelto is electrified too, with motorised steering, drive, head and tail lights, all controlled remotely via the Control+ app.

Aimed at ages 10+, 42214 will charge into stores later this year, with 1,135 pieces, ‘Asphalt Legend Unite’ness, and an £160/ $180 price-tag.

LEGO Technic 42215 Volvo EC500 Hybrid Excavator

And finally, the eighth model to join the H2 2025 Technic line-up is the new flagship; this is the 42215 Volvo EC500 Hybrid Excavator.

Weighing in at over 2,300 pieces, 42215 is a fully motorised – but not remote control – recreation of Volvo’s fifty ton excavator, deploying a mechanically operated gearbox to switch between various functions.

These include the boom, arm and bucket/drill attachments, whilst the superstructure and tracks can rotate manually. That enormous boom is raised and lowered by LEGO’s XL linear actuators, which appear in black for the first time, with a single motor providing the power.

Motorised functions via a mechanical gearbox is a combination we like, as evidenced here, here, and here, so we’re rather excited about the big Volvo. We’re less excited about the price however, as despite that single motor 42115 is expected to cost £350 / $430, meaning it’ll excavate your wallet before it excavates anything else.

Aimed at 18+ (perhaps legitimately this time), 42215 will be available to buy later this year, if you’re diggin’ it.

There you have it, eight new Technic sets, seven officially-licensed real world vehicles across six different manufacturers, one vehicle from space, and one that’s got balls. Here at The Lego Car Blog at least, we think it’s a rather good line up.

The Name’s McMissile…

Disney Pixar’s ‘Cars 2’ featured a rather familiar looking character. Merging James Bond, Q-branch’s Aston Martin DB5, and a Michael Caine voice-over, Finn McMissile was as British a spy car as it was possible to conceive.

Cue newcomer Danny_Boy4, who has taken LEGO’s officially-licensed 10262 Aston Martin DB5 ‘Goldfinger’ set and redeployed its pieces to create the ‘Cars 2’ character inspired by the real Aston Martin the set replicated.

A thorough redesign moves the bodywork away from the DB5 source to match Pixar’s interpretation of it, and adds ‘Cars’ trademark windshield-eyes and (ingeniously) the hidden side-mounted guns that for this TLCB Writer ruined the whole ‘Cars’ premise. Boo Pixar.

There’s more to see of Danny’s top-tier 10262 B-Model recreation of Finn McMissile at the Eurobricks forum, and you can click the link above join the mission.

LEGO Formula 1 2025 | Set Previews

LEGO have long dabbled in officially-licensed Formula 1 sets. Tie ups with Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and others in recent years have strengthened the collaboration, but today we have an announcement on a whole different scale. Partnering with Formula 1 itself, as well as all ten individual teams within it, we can reveal no fewer than thirty-one new Formula 1 licensed sets, spanning Duplo, City, Speed Champions, Technic, Icons, and even pocket-money Collectables (as per the Minifigure Series). This is the brand new LEGO Formula 1 2025 line-up, and it’s massive!

LEGO Technic 42207 | Ferrari SF-24 F1 Racing Car

We kick off the new 2025 Formula 1 line-up with the largest set in the range, the Technic 42207 Ferrari SF-24 F1 Racing Car.

Constructed from over 1,300 pieces and aimed at ages 18+ (thereby making it acceptable for dads to buy one), 42207 recreates Ferrari’s occasionally-winning 2024 racing car with authentic livery decals, replica printed (but inaccurately equal-width) Pirelli tyres, working steering, all-wheel suspension, a V6 engine with a spinning MGU-H unit, functional rear-wing DRS, and a two-speed gearbox.

Despite being a six gears short of the real deal, the rest of the specs look pretty good, and you can get your hands on 42207 for the not inconsiderable sum of €229.99 / $229.99 / £199.99 when it races into stores in March 2025.

LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell

From a car near-ish to the front of today’s Formula 1 grid to the one absolutely at the front of it some 32 years ago, this is the brand new LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell set.

Also aimed at ages 18+ because, you know, the whole dad thing, the new 10353 set brings one of the greatest moustaches in racing history to the LEGO Formula 1 line-up. Oh, and the utterly dominant Williams Racing FW14B.

Recreated from almost 800 pieces, 10353 brings the legendary Williams-Renault FW14B to life with working steering, a detailed (although static) replica of the V10 engine that powered it, authentic (and – hurrah! – staggered width) Goodyear slicks, plus some wonderfully accurate period decals. Except the tobacco ones of course.

It also includes a definitely-not-to-scale approximation of the man who drove it to the 1992 World Championship, which frankly feels like a missed opportunity. Imagine how good the brick-built moustache could be if Mansell was scaled appropriately.

Missed moustache maximisation aside, the LEGO Icons 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell set looks to be a decent addition, joining the Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna set already on sale, and correcting that set’s equal-width tyre flaw. Expect 10353 to cost €79.99 / $79.99 / £69.99 when it arrives in March 2025, which seems like rather a lot. But then Mansell’s moustache probably needs license all of its own.

LEGO Speed Champions 77242 Ferrari SF-24 F1 Race Car / 77243 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 Race Car / 77244 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS W15 F1 Race Car / 77245 Aston Martin Aramco F1 AMR24 Race Car / 77246 Cash App VCARB 01 F1 Race Car77247 KICK Sauber F1 Team C44 Race Car / 77248 BWT Alpine F1 Team A524 Race Car / 77249 Williams Racing FW46 F1 Race Car / 77250 MoneyGram Haas F1 Team VF-24 Race Car / 77251 McLaren MCL38 F1 Team Race Car

Lego Speed Champions Formula 1 2025

Yes, every single team on the 2025 Formula 1 grid will be available in LEGO Speed Champions form!

Averaging around 260 pieces, each 2025 Speed Champions Formula 1 Race Car set does a pretty good job of replicating its real world counterpart, with unique mini-figure drivers, accurate sponsorship liveries (recreated via a lot of stickers), and decent effort made to reflect the subtle nuances in design between the teams.

Each will cost around $27 / €27 / £21, with all aimed at ages 10+ and perfectly placed for the pocket-money demographic. Except – weirdly – the cars wearing Red Bull branding, which quietly state an age of 18+. If ever there was proof needed that energy drinks are bad for you…

All ten of the new Speed Champions Formula 1 sets look like they’ll be an enormous hit (we might even buy ourselves the 77245 Aston Martin Aramco F1 AMR24 Race Car, if just to recreate various acts of Lance Stroll stupidity in the office), and you’ll be able to get your hands on each of them from March of next year.

And that’s not all! For LEGO fans under ten, a further twelve 29-piece Formula 1 collectible sets and six Formula 1 City sets, encompassing all ten teams, will launch in January 2025, plus for really young builders there’s even a Formula 1 Duplo set joining the line-up too.

It’s perhaps the post comprehensive licensing partnership LEGO have delivered yet, and with Formula 1 teams and the stupid sponsorship branding that accompanies them (Cash App VCARB being the current most egregious example) changing so regularly, there’ll be no shortage of new liveries and teams to keep the LEGO Formula 1 line-up perpetually fresh.

Speed Champions H2 2024 | Set Previews

It’s that time of year again, when a crack team of Elven ‘volunteers’ are implanted into the LEGO Company’s HQ to uncover their latest sets. The return of the survivors heralds the arrival of three brand new Speed Champions sets for H2 2024, bringing even more real world cars to bedroom floors this summer! Read on to find out which cars are set to join to the 2024 Speed Champions line-up!

76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT

Well, ‘Real world’ cars… except for this one.

Playstation’s ‘Gran Turismo’ series has deployed concepts alongside production cars for some years. Despite having the freedom to design literally anything, these ‘Vision GT’ cars all look rather similar, and the Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT (clearly taking inspiration from a certain moronically-named Ferrari) follows the same route, being both wildly conceptual, and also insipidly paint-by-numbers.

It’s not exactly our first choice for a new Lamborghini Speed Champions set then, and the resultant 230-piece 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT does little to change that. A funky colour and a new mini-figure torso aren’t enough to swing the balance; our £21/$27 will be spent on a rather better Speed Champions LamborghiniLego 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT

76924 Mercedes-AMG G63 & SL63

Are you a wealthy Londoner with no imagination? Now you can build your vanity-plated black Mercedes-AMG G 63 in LEGO form! The new-for-2024 76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63 set recreates London’s default 4×4 choice brilliantly, and throws in a neat SL 63 too.

Two appropriately douchebaggy mini-figures, limited well-deployed decals, and some wonderfully accurate detailing on the G 63 in particular ensure 76924 is an excellent addition to the Speed Champions line. Expect to pay around £45/$50 for the dual-model 808-piece set when it arrives in stores in June, and half of Chelsea to own a copy immediately. 

76925 Aston Martin F1 Safety Car & AMR23

The final addition to the 2024 Speed Champions line-up brings two more Aston Martins to the range, each of which played a starring role in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The new 76925 Aston Martin F1 Safety Car & AMR23 set recreates F1-legend Fernando Alonso’s podium-placing AMR23 racing car (and that of his decidedly unlegendary, non-podium placing team mate), complete with authentic decals, replica Pirelli tyres, and a rather inexact colour.

The Aston Martin F1 Safety Car – often necessitated by Alonso’s aforementioned incompetent team mate – joins it, with a light bar, accurate be-sticked interior control panel, and the same loose approximation of the real car’s hue.

Aimed at ages 9+, expect 564 pieces, two mini-figures, and a £45/$50 price-tag when 76925 arrives in stores next month.

Three new sets, five new cars, and even more choice in LEGO’s fantastic Speed Champions range. All three sets will be available from June 1st 2024, and you can check out the sets that were added to the Speed Champions range at the start of the year by clicking here.

Pair of Martins

The Lego Car Blog Elves, fed only when they find a blog-worthy creation, could be called ‘competitive’. By which we mean they’re willing to use Max Verstappen levels of ruthlessness to win.

This inevitably leads to regular Elf fights at TLCB Towers, which we wouldn’t particularly mind, if it weren’t for the tidying up and occasional trips to ‘Elf Hospital‘.

Fortunately today we could keep the peace, as two Elves returned each with a blog-worthy creation by the same builder.

This gorgeous pair of classic Aston Martins comes from barneius of Flickr, the first (above) being a stunning V8 Volante, and the second (below) a DBS.

Both were effectively the same car, hence the accurate similarities between them, and there’s more to see of each classic Aston via the link above. Take a look whilst we distribute two meal tokens to a pair of lucky Elves.

The Living Daylights

Controversial opinion of the week; The Timothy Dalton era Bond films were the best Bond films.

OK, ‘best’ is definitely subjective, but they were perhaps the most accurate to the books. They were dark, rather violent, and a magnitude less absurd than the Roger Moore era movies that preceded them.

1987’s ‘The Living Daylights’ also benefited from a fantastic Bond Car; the awesome Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Fitted with a set of skis, laser hubcaps, rockets, and a rocket motor (Less absurd!? Ed.), 007’s Vantage was rather more highly specified than the police Lada 1500s in pursuit, culminating a snowy car chase that involved a fishing shed and a cello.

OK, perhaps they were just as absurd (our editor has likely interjected already somewhere above to this end…) (Sure has! Ed.), but the Vantage was still awesome.

Cue (or ‘Q’, hah!) this marvellous Speed Champions recreation of Bond’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage from ‘The Living Daylights’, as built by previous bloggee barneius of Flickr. Complete with skis and a rocket motor, barneius’ build is ready to take on a whole fleet of police Ladas, and you can join the chase on a frozen lake somewhere in Czechoslovakia via the link above.

100 Ans du Mans

The world’s greatest motor race celebrates its century this weekend. Founded in 1923 on a public road loop around the village of Le Mans, a route that would later become today’s ‘Circuit de la Sarthe’, the 24 Heures du Mans remains the pinnacle of endurance racing.

Of course due to some German expansionist policies in the late 1930s, the 2023 event is not the one hundredth running of the race, rather the 91st, but nevertheless it’s going to be a special year, with both a notable increase in Hypercar competition and the final year of the GTE class before it’s replaced by the more widely adopted GT3 regulations.

Flickr’s SpaceMan Nathan is celebrating Le Mans’ centenary, and the final year of GTE, with this lovely recreation of the Circuit de la Sarthe pitlane, complete with five Speed Champions GTE AM cars. Accurate liveries and trackside sponsorship add to the ambience, and you can enter the pitlane at Le Mans’ centenary year via the link above to watch the GTE finale.

Advantage

We’re rounding out 2022 with exactly the sort of car that this crumbling ruin in the corner of the internet was created for; the mighty Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

Built by previous bloggee Levihathan, this eye-catching Technic recreation of Aston Martin’s 2010s-2020s endurance racer captures the real deal brilliantly, with the aesthetics further enhanced by bespoke decals that add to the race-ready realism.

Inside, Levihathan’s V12 Vantage is just as impressive, with a working V12 piston engine underneath the opening hood, functioning steering and suspension, a detailed race interior, and a paddle-shift gearbox.

There’s much more of the build to see at Levihathan’s ‘Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3’ album, and you can make the jump to all the imagery via the link in the text above.

Bond’s Other Aston

James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 is probably the most famous movie car of all time. But it’s far from 007’s only Aston Martin. There was the ‘Casino Royal’ Aston Martin DBS (good), ‘Spectre’s DB10, (which didn’t even exist, so bad), and the stupid Vanquish ‘Vanish’ in ‘Die Another Day’ (worst).

But there was one other good one; the wonderful Aston Martin V8 used in the Timothy Dalton era. The car recently reappeared in the mostly-very-good ‘No Time to Die’ that wrapped up Daniel Craig’s time in the role, and Jonathan Elliott has recreated that car superbly in Speed Champions scale.

Beautiful attention to detail, building techniques and presentation are in abundance, and there’s more to see of 007’s ‘other’ Aston Martin at Jonathan’s photostream. Click the link above to cue that famous music

Speed Champions 76911 007 Aston Martin DB5 and 76912 Fast & Furious Dodge Charger R/T | Set Previews

Dun dunu dun dun, dun dun – dun dunu dun dun, dun dun… and, er… whatever the music is from the Fast & Furious franchise. An explosion with Vin Diesel breathing the word ‘Family’ over it probably. Anyway, it’s new set time, and LEGO have introduced two iconic movie cars to the Speed Champions line-up!

76911 007 Aston Martin DB5

Think the Creator 10262 Aston Martin DB5 ‘Goldfinger’ set is a bit pricey? Well LEGO have revealed its smaller brother, the new 76911 Speed Champions 007 Aston Martin DB5, complete with a Daniel Craig-esque mini-figure!

Ultimately the same car as the one used in ‘Goldfinger’, Craig redeploys the DB5 in 2012’s excellent ‘Skyfall’, which raises all sorts of questions about Bond’s chronology. Anyway, let’s not dwell on Bond’s unfathomable age, but rather rejoice in the new Speed Champions arrival, which looks rather good.

A considerable portion of 76911’s realism is due to a myriad of stickers, which – placed as they are on curved pieces – will probably peel off immediately, but nevertheless it looks nice on the box. It’s disappointing to see the trademark Aston Martin grille is a sticker though – surely a brick-built version would’ve been possible?

We’re also a little disappointed that there are no gadgets, making 76911 more of a standard Aston Martin DB5 than 007’s Q-Branch version, but that’s still cool enough, and the decent printed rear canopy piece will be sure to crop up on all sorts of MOCs in time.

The new Speed Champions 76911 007 Aston Martin DB5 will reach stores later this year, and is a welcome addition to the line-up, even if it has got more stickers than Bond has killed henchmen.


 

76912 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger R/T

From one infamous movie franchise to another, and also another movie car that has already appeared in LEGO form in a larger scale. We quite like the Technic 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger set, but it is admittedly a bit out of reach for many ‘Fast & Furious’ fans, who are likely a bit young for its 10+ target age and price point.

A ‘Fast & Furious’ Speed Champions set is probably a far better match, and 76912 looks a fine way to bring the franchise to LEGO fans. LEGO have captured the modified 1970 Dodge Charger R/T rather well (and without relying on stickers), plus never has a hairless-mini-figure looked more appropriate than it does here.

The new 76912 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger R/T looks like a good effort to us, and with LEGO also now having a partnership with Toyota, perhaps – if all wish for it hard enough – that Supra could be next…

Ride of the Valkyries*

The economic outlook, driven largely by worldwide energy price inflation, is looking increasingly bleak. A global recession is not unlikely, but – if you’re rich enough – such events can have no effect whatsoever. They might even make you richer.

Thus whilst normal cars for us plebs are certain to become more expensive (and sales will slow accordingly), we expect the production of ultra-limited hypercars to continue unabated. Which is fine by us, because dream cars, within reach of only a few, provide inspiration for the many.

Cue Jeroen Ottens, who has recreated Aston Martin’s sold-out 2023 $3m Valkyrie hybrid hypercar, rising to $3.5m if you’re one of the lucky 25 who’ve placed a deposit for the track version.

Designed in conjunction with Red Bull Advanced Technologies (back when Red Bull and Aston Martin weren’t fighting) and powered by a Cosworth V12 with a Rimac hybrid system, the Valkyrie will be the highest revving and most powerful naturally-aspirated road car ever built.

It also features some wild aerodynamics, which Jeroen has replicated brilliantly in brick from. Accurate venturi channels necessitate pushrod in-board suspension, whilst the mid-mounted V12 connected to an eight-speed gearbox sits within one of the tightest engine bays we’ve ever seen.

Working steering via a brick-built yoke plus an opening engine cover and butterfly doors complete the technical features, and you can recreate Jeroen’s expertly-engineered creation for yourself as building instructions are available. Click these links to Flickr and Eurobricks to ride out the coming recession like the super rich with your very own Aston Martin Valkyrie.

*Today’s title song. We’re feeling very cultured. (Normal service of Your Mom jokes and poo references will resume shortly).

Speed Champions 2022 | Set Previews

The first month of 2022 is almost done, and our Elves have been sneaking! Sent on a mission to infiltrate The LEGO Company’s HQ, they have to sneak for fear of being eaten by a guard dog, but those that do manage to avoid the teeth of the German Shepherds return as heroes, held aloft by their peers to Elven chanting, and awarded a meal token by us TLCB staff.

You’d think they’d have figured out this is a wildly insufficient reward, but the office catapult ensures a regular flow of ‘volunteers’. Anyway, on to their finds – the brand new for 2022 LEGO Speed Champions sets. And they’re corkers!

76906 – 1970 Ferarri 512 M

The first new set of 2022’s Speed Champions line-up is already one of our favourites ever, and we’ve only been looking at the box. The new 76906 1970 Ferrari 512 M is a glorious homage to the car that was… er, soundly beaten by Porsche at Le Mans. It did win the 12 Hours of Sebring though, and was regarded as equally fast as the conquering Porsche, just not as reliable.

LEGO’s Speed Champions version of the Ferrari 512 M looks magnificent, utilising a Star Wars canopy piece amongst some very cleverly printed parts to accurately capture the real car.

The historic livery means there’s no need for a smorgasbord of stickers, and LEGO have resisted the urge to include a pointless gantry or other trackside paraphernalia too, keeping the piece number, and – more importantly – price down to pocket money levels.

Expect 76906 to cost around $20 when it reaches stores later this year, and we absolutely love it.

76907 – Lotus Evija

The second new set for 2022 jumps forward from 50 years ago to, well… the future actually, as the Evija isn’t even out yet. 76907 brings another legendary car maker to the Speed Champions line up, and – we hope – opens the door for some of the greatest classic racing cars ever made.

But before we start fantasising about classic Team Lotus F1 cars (although their tobacco sponsorship liveries might prove a bit tricky these days…), the first Speed Champions Lotus is their newest model, and is interestingly pictured on the box navigating the driveway of Goodwood House.

247 pieces, relatively light stickerage, and a good approximation of the new supercar make 76907 a solid if not especially memorable effort, but a welcome addition nonetheless. We’re exited for more Lotus sets to come.

76908 – Lamborghini Countach

Yup, finally! The definitive 1970s-1980s supercar has made it into the LEGO Speed Champions range, and it’s every bit as good as the previous 76899 Lamborghini Urus isn’t…

LEGO have chosen a ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ spec Countach for 76908, which means a big wing, white bodywork, and a stronger ’80s vibe than parachute pants.

There are 262 pieces, including a mini-figure armed with a spanner (this is a classic Lamborghini after all), and some well chosen decals to enhance the model’s accuracy, without it being reliant upon them. A great effort, and well worth the expected $20 price when it arrives in March 2022.

76909 – Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance & Mercedes-AMG Project One

The longest title of the 2022 line-up goes to 76909, thanks to it being the first double-vehicle set within the new Speed Champions range, and because modern F1 cars have every sub-brand possible squeezed into their names for depressing marketing purposes.

Silly name aside though, it does look rather good. The Mercedes-AMG-F1-ReallyLongName does a great job capturing the real deal, with even the tyres matching those used on the actual racing car. There are of course lots of stickers, but they’re more appropriate here as real-world sponsorship liveries are effectively giant stickers anyway.

LEGO’s 8-wide replica of the much-delayed Mercedes-AMG Project One looks fine, if nothing more, and would probably be the weakest set within the 2022 line-up if sold on its own.

564 pieces, two mini-figures, and an ‘interactive digital building guide’ are included, for an expected price of around $30/£35.


76910 – Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro & Aston Martin Vantage

The final new Speed Champions set of 2022 is this, the 76910 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro & Aston Martin Vantage.

With double the cars and double the pieces, but not double the price ($30 is expected), 76910 looks to be a good value addition to the line-up from a price-per-piece perspective.

Which is handy, as despite the slightly older starting age indicating more complicated building techniques, we’re less than sold on the visuals of either the Valkyrie or Vantage, which seem heavily reliant on stickers to replicate their real-world counterparts. Which is cheating, obviously.

Still, we expect 76910 will race off the shelves. A pair of lime-green Aston Martins can’t not appeal to a nine-year-old!

That’s the 2022 Speed Champions line-up, and it is – we think – mostly really good. The new sets will be on sale from March of this year, and should continue the roaring success of the franchise. More real-world classics please LEGO, they work beautifully! We’ll take that Ferrari 512 M…

Spock? Hey, do the Thing!

Did we feature this model just so we could link to an amusing Futurama-based anecdote? Yes, yes we did, but ignore our stupidity, because this is a great build.

Suggested by a reader, previous bloggee mihao (aka lego_bee) has recreated Aston Martin’s wild track-only Vulcan in Technic form, outfitting his model with the complete array of ‘Technic Supercar’ functions, including a V8 engine, 3-speed gearbox, all-wheel suspension, working steering, and opening doors and hood.

There’s more of mihao’s Vulcan to see at Bricksafe and Eurobricks, where a video of the model’s features and link to building instructions can also be found. Live long and prosper.

AMG AdVantage

Aston Martin have always been on the brink of financial ruin. However the late ’00s proved something of a renaissance for the firm. Out from Ford control they created some beautiful and rather good supercars, which – in an unusual turn of events – actually made them some money.

The cars have got even better since then, but sadly the financial woes have returned. Hopes are pinned on the new DBX SUV, which is sad state of affairs but we suppose the Cayenne saved Porsche, and – horrible though it is – selling SUVs allowed the brand to survive and keep making 911s.

Aston Martin have also received some new investment, firstly from Mercedes-Benz AMG, who now supply their engines and electrics, and secondly from Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

If that name’s familiar to you it’s because he’s F1 driver Lance Stroll’s father, who ‘coincidentally’   now owns the team his son drives for, Racing Point, previously Force India.

Racing Point will become ‘Aston Martin Racing’ for the 2021 season, which fills us with dread (remember Ford shoving Jaguar into Formula 1 back in the early ’00s?…), but we guess it makes marginally more sense than their pointless current sponsorship of Red Bull Racing, who use Honda engines and have absolutely nothing to do with Aston Martin whatsoever, besides banking a cheque that could be better spent on literally anything else.

Anyway, we hope it works out, because Aston Martin can still build some wonderful cars, such as this; the AMG-powered V8 Vantage.

This excellent Model Team recreation of the 2018 V8 Vantage comes from previous bloggee Alexander Paschoaletto, and he’s captured the real car brilliantly. Opening doors and hood reveal a detailed interior and engine bay respectively, and there’s more of the build to see at Alexander’s ‘Aston Martin V8 Vantage’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to take a look, and cross your fingers for Aston Martin in 2021…