Pheobe and Monica. Add Rachel for twice the awesome
LEGO’s new ‘Friends’ line has caused quite a bit of controversy online (apparently girls aren’t allowed to like pink anymore). Hoping to redress the balance is EROL, who’s given the girls a Corvette to take to the mall the racetrack. Show your appreciation on Flickr.
Looking Good On The Street
Welcome to the fifth instalment of our Lego car sets reviews. It’s now 1999 and Lego decided they couldn’t top the technical wonderment of 8880, so didn’t try…
What we have here then, is a significant aesthetic evolution if not a technical one. This managed to do all that was expected of it and look good doing it.
Engine: Hurrah! Finally, for the first time since 1977, a Lego car’s engine is in the right place! It’s a V8 too, and we all like those… Like the other sub-systems on this car, the engine slots into place as a unit, a very well thought out and educative system. Pity it doesn’t make much noise, even in the lowest gear, but it does run more smoothly than 8880’s and for that we should be thankful.
Steering: Works well but it lacks the secondary control of its predecessor which does prove a little awkward with some of the bodystyles. Build it as the convertible for maximum playability. One very good feature of this steering system is it’s centre-point geometry, whereby the road wheel’s pivot point passes vertically through the tyres. This makes for a much more realistic movement than any previous car – and most of those that followed, for that matter…
Suspension: Wishbones all round with good travel but a penny-pinching single spring per wheel is not enough and it’s too soft. Apart from that it’s a well engineered system that doesn’t take up too much room and, although it isn’t as strong as 8880 or 8865, it is strong enough. Don’t think it could cope with being dropped, though…
Gearbox: The one area that shows a solid advance on what went before. A full five speeds plus reverse give this car the best transmission of any 20th Century set.
Chassis: I do wonder if the ghost of Colin Chapman stalked Lego Towers at the time this was developed – they listened to his mantra of ‘just add lightness’. It’s a lot less bulky than any car set since 853 and, with the benefit of new bracket pieces and better building techniques, it’s stiffer than that dear old blancmange. Not as stiff as 8880, but, like a lot of things on this car, it’s good enough. A bit like a Lotus Grand Prix car that was designed to last until the end of the race and then fall to pieces, it did what it had to do.
Body: As the first big set to use the new multi-faceted panels and flexi-tubing, it made good use of the new styling pieces to create a sharp-looking sports car, in any of it’s myriad configurations. This plethora of body styles, all on the same chassis, was a departure from the norm and they all looked convincing. The convertible is my personal favourite, the cleverly contrived folding roof of which worked in much the same way as the then-new Mercedes SLK’s. The gullwing doored coupe was a hit as well, although those dampers wouldn’t survive many operations of the doors before wilting. More evidence of the cost-cutting that compromises this set, perhaps. Whatever, the body was definitely an overall success, however you fancied building it.
This set stands up very well on it’s own merits. Compare it too closely to 8880, however, and it does come up short in a few areas. It’s a more ‘commercial’ set, if you like, concentrating on surface aspects more than the substance within. It also has more of a ‘built to a price’ feel than the ‘money no object – let’s stuff everything in’ 8880. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – 8880’s four wheel steering was just wilful – but it seems a slight shame that, for the first time in this series, technical progress had stopped.
A short word about those panels and tubes and things – No. A long word about those panels and tubes and things – Unconscionable. Although they managed to make this stuff look pretty good here, these things were, in the decade that followed this car, responsible for more multi-faceted hideousness than the Technic theme itself could bear; a dark era from which it is only now emerging.
Rant over. And breathe…. that’s better. The above isn’t this car’s fault and, overall, I like it for its thoughtful, lightweight engineering and snappy style. 9/10
The last of the studded Supercars
Welcome to the next instalment in our series of Lego’s ‘ultimate’ car sets reviews. We had a fight over who was going to post this one. Likely I won ;). This set was bought for me by my girlfriend in 1995. Needless to say I was so impressed with it, that I married her!
It was originally released in 1994, 6 years after its predecessor 8865. The last of the supercars to be built purely from studded beams. It is packed with functions that we all take for granted today and includes over 1300 pieces, some new and unique never to be seen again.
Let’s start with the chassis as all good supercars should. Traditional Technic principles of multi layered beams separated by two plates make this a very strong and stable model. If you want to learn how to build a Technic chassis you need not look any further.
Next the gearbox and transmission, this is where we start seeing some new and exciting pieces, which are still used today. The new transmission driving rings and their reciprocal clutch gears allow for a smooth four speed transmission with a good range of ratios. The specially made gear stick and shift plate I believe are unique to this set. Transmitting power to all four wheels through 3 ‘new’ style differentials and a completely unique hub system. This part of the model is a huge leap forward from its predecessor and in my opinion has not been matched until the recent release of the 2011 Unimog.
Suspension and Steering – Independent suspension using double wishbones on all four wheels fully integrated into a four wheel steering system via the hubs and steering arms. Very clever and total overkill, but great fun to build and play with. The suspension travel is somewhat limited and a little stiff. Although you can increase the travel with minor modifications, but I suspect the wheels would rub on the body at full compression. You can not drop it from height, as you could with 8865, as the steering link would ‘pop off’ the ball pin/joint. I believe in later sets black pins where included with more friction to address this problem. In my opinion this is the only major problem with the set. This was the first supercar to include a Hand of God device and in-car steering, making it much more playable than previous supercars. It is a little awkward to use if you have fat fingers, but a minor modification (pulling the wheel up by a half bush or two allows for a more pleasant action, and much easier than reaching into the car. It is possible to change the steering wheel (another new part) to right hand drive, if you so desire, but you need to start the process very early on in the build – not really possible post build.
The engine is a ‘new’ style V8 connected via a drive chain as opposed to a more solid gear system. A minor flaw but nothing to write home about.
The bodywork is as good as it gets when using studded beams. It comes with what seem like hundreds of hinges that cleverly create a skeleton shell. The boot (rear hatch) opens and locks into place but unfortunately there are no driver or passenger doors – Dukes of Hazard style entry system then. When compared to more recent Technic models it does look a little blocky, but for the time it was pretty darn good. You could roll this bad boy on a high speed corner and survive the crash, unlike more modern panelled and flexi pipe models which buckle and break easily. Oh yeah its black – gotta love black Lego. The pop up lights are a nice touch and operated by a lever on the dashboard. The seats look OK but are no where near as functional as its predecessors, another minor flaw.
The second model is a great build in its own right and resembles a Formula 1 / Indi car from the late 80s early 90s. Includes full independent suspension and a two speed sequential 😉 gearbox. A nice build except for the dashboard which is under a lot of stress – one wrong move and it will ping across the room slide under the sofa and be lost for ever.
It comes with a few stickers but luckily they do not span more than one brick so you can take the model apart, and rebuild as many times as you like without damaging them. The box is a sturdy construction and includes a plastic tray with divider boxes. I wish Lego would reintroduce these types of boxes. Wink wink nudge nudge.
In summary a huge leap forward from 8865, a good looking model (for the era) full of functions and a challenging build for all ages. It has lots of potential for modifications; increased suspension, removing the rear wheel steering and the interior could be improved, but I am a Lego purist and love it just the way it is. I have built most of the Technic supercars, F1 cars and 4x4s over the last 30 years. This is the one I use as my bench mark. An easy 9/10. The only one I that think beats this classic is the new Unimog. Oh and maybe 8860 – you never forget your first love 😉
Happy building 🙂
This is a shining example of how much more you can do with a car built at a larger scale… say about 40 studs wide ! There’s even wildlife in the boot… Enjoy it at http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/303121 and ask Senator Chincilla if he has any pieces left…
Welcome to the second in our series of Lego’s big car sets reviews. The year is 1980, and the sophistication of suspension arrives at Lego Towers. Not very brilliant suspension, but we’ll come to that..
First, the build. Still fairly straightforward, and the flaws of it’s 853 predecessor are skilfully dealt with – it’s nice and stiff, the steering works well (provided you’ve put the axle bushes on the right way round…), there was now a differential and it’s definitely sportier than before. Again, the engine is the only fiddly part, but if you set this up right it will run smoothly in all three gears (very fast in the lowest gear, which was intended purely for use with the motor and gets blanked off in the instructions. Leave it open and savour the noise!).
This is a truly satisfying model. The colours look right, there’s enough technical stuff going on and it’s playable. It seems like Lego’s designers made a concerted effort to include all the features they could manage with the pieces then available. Briefly, these include the sliding / reclining seats, the rear-mounted flat four engine with some lovely detailing, a three speed transmission, steering and swing axle rear suspension. This was Lego’s first attempt at a car’s suspension and, like the VW Beetle it resembles, it didn’t work brilliantly – forcing massive camber changes as the springs were compressed. Still, it was a start and better than nothing.
It’s an easy model to modify, too. Adding front suspension with the newer steering links and ball joints is pretty straightforward and, with a little rearrangement of the rear reinforcement there’s space for a pair of ‘+2’ rear seats. You now have something that’s exactly the right size and mechanical layout to build a Porsche 356 body on… this is the sort of thing you can mess about with for hours!
Oddly, the second model – some kind of weirdly scaled dragster – isn’t that good, but it’s easy to build something nice with this very complete selection of parts.
As with 853, the box is nice and solid and beautifully illustrated – although it would have been good to have as many ideas on it as 853’s had. It doesn’t need to be quite so big, either, but I’m nit-picking now….
Overall, this superb set deserves a 10/10 – it might not be flawless but, for the time, it’s deeply impressive and still stands up today as a good-looking, effective model. Get one and you’ll see why it was good enough to sit at the top of the Technic tree for eight years.
Welcome to what will be the first in a series of reviews of all of Lego’s ‘ultimate’ car-based Technic sets. We start, naturally, at the very beginning. In 1977, this was the ultimate and I was a lucky boy!
This red machine (still the longest model of any such set…) featured a reciprocating 4 cylinder engine, a forward/reverse transmission, working steering and adjustable seats and…. that’s it. At the time, this was plenty – greater sophistication would come later; the great thing about this set was that it showed, better than any other, how a car went together.
The build is fairly simple – the only complex part being the engine. It feels a little strange building a Technic car chassis by mostly snapping bricks together, but it also makes you wonder if the newer elements make things unnecessarily time-consuming. Slotting the engine/transmission unit and steering assembly into place makes you imagine workers doing the same thing on a production line. An enjoyable and educative experience.
The finished model is a delightfully vintage thing and highly playable. The best thing about it is the speed and smoothness of the engine’s running as you push it along, assuming the engine’s set up just so… This gives it a personality that’s lacking in most of the later cars, whose engines simply don’t make enough noise to be truly satisfying.
Flaws; well this is a very early effort so there are a few… the biggest of which being the chassis’ lack of stiffness. Blame the penny-pinching single layer of studded beams that form the car’s structure. Double these up and it’s fine. The front wheels drag on the chassis when on full lock – something that couldn’t happen in a newer set, mostly because newer sets seem to have hardly any steering lock… A differential would have been nice, but you can slot one in easily enough now. The lack of suspension can be forgiven, I think; especially as, if it did have springs, I suspect the chassis would flex more than they do!
Now we come to one of the best features of all these early sets – the box! A proper, sturdy box with plastic compartments for all the new and special pieces that came with this set, and beautifully illustrated with a wealth of model ideas, most of which had no instructions but served to inspire the young builder’s own creativity. Note to Lego: PLEASE BRING THESE BACK!
Overall, this set deserves a solid 9/10 – there was enough to inspire the budding petrolhead here and, if you can, I urge you to seek one of these out (expensive these days, I know..) and re-discover the simple joy of a charming model.
