Tag Archives: Le Mans

LEGO Technic 42223 1966 Ford GT40 MKII Race Car | Set Preview

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It’s that time of year again, when a crack team of Elven ‘Volunteers’ are fired over The LEGO Company’s perimeter wall by way of the office catapult, tasked with uncovering the newest LEGO sets due to hit shelves next year.

We’ll report their finds for 2026 in the coming weeks, but we have one 2026 Technic set to share ahead of the main event today. This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42223 1966 Ford GT40 MKII Race Car!

Bringing one of America’s* greatest ever race cars into the Technic line-up, 42223 recreates the car that finished 1, 2, 3 at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, and Le Mans 24 Hours sixty years ago, becoming an all-time legend in the process.

The new LEGO Technic 42223 Ford GT40 captures the exterior of the all-conquering ’66 MkII variant with a range of pieces appearing in new colours – including those gold wheels – plus an array of decently-authentic looking decals adding the side and centre stripes, roundels and seat details.

793 parts make up the new 42223 GT40 in all, with the set featuring the default working engine (a miniaturised V8), working steering, and the opening doors and engine cover expected as a minimum at this scale, and no more.

Except 42223 does have one unexpected variance from the mid-size Technic vehicles that have preceded it… An 18+ age and £65 / $75 price tag.

No, that isn’t a typo. Despite being constructed from under 800 pieces, and with no more working features than any other mid-size Technic vehicle, LEGO have somehow determined that 42223 requires a brain eighteen years or older to complete it, and thus it carries a price to match.

Which is – and there’s no other way to put this – a marketing scam.

We’re admittedly idiots here at The Lego Car Blog, but we don’t like LEGO treating its customers as such. The brand new 42223 Ford GT40 MkII Race Car might bring one of greatest cars of the 1960s to the Technic range, but the cynical, unscrupulous, and exploitative marketing that accompanies it is definitely from 2026.

At £55 / $65 and an age of 12+, 42223 could have been a strong set. As it is, this GT40 should have stayed in ‘66.

*Except it was British. Ford are no strangers to marketing scams either…

GT LM GTE #68

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This is a Ford GT LM GTE, which is – admittedly – not a good name. But it is one heck of a car, winning the GTE class at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2016 exactly 50 years after Ford first took outright victory.

This spectacular Technic replica of that very car (the #68, driven by Joey Hand, Sebastien Bourdais and Dirk Muller) comes from Jeroen Koopman, and recreates the GT LM GTE brilliantly in Technic Supercar form.

Working steering, a V6 engine hooked up to a sequential 6-speed gearbox, advanced in-board suspension, opening butterfly doors, and removable bodywork all feature, with some superb photography of the engineering within joining the exterior shots on Flickr.

You can see that complete image gallery via the link above, plus you can find full build details, a video, and a link to building instructions at the Eurobricks forum here.

American Achievement

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It’s the day after that Alaskan summit, in which presidents Trump and Putin held, to quote Trump, a “10 out of 10” discussion, in which they “got along great”. Except it achieved nothing at all. Still, we suppose Trump and Putin do have much in common, so that’s nice.

But when America does put its mind to Europe, it can achieve great things. Cue the Cadillac V-Series.R, General Motors’ entrant into the burgeoning WEC Hypercar class, and now a race winner sitting third in the sizeable top-tier class of the championship. Which bodes well for Cadillac’s forthcoming entry to Formula 1.

Built on an Italian Dallara chassis and run by the British Jota Sport team, it also proves that America can benefit from European expertise. We hope that might be remembered in round two of the Ukrainian peace talks that perhaps should include Ukraine.

Oh yes, the car! This superb Speed Champions replica of the Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R comes from prolific Le Mans Hypercar builder SFH_Bricks, who has captured the racer and its golden Hertz livery beautifully. Building instructions are available and you can head to the heart of European racing in an Italian-British-American collaboration via the link above.

The Heart of Racing

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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.

Plus Twenty-Four

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You own LEGO’s excellent 10295 Porsche 911 set, but what if you want something… racier? Firas Abu-Jaber has the answer.

Constructed only from the parts of the official LEGO 911 set, Firas has recreated one of Porsche’s wildest 911-based racers, the Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona and 1000km of Nurburgring winning 935.

With opening doors, hood and engine cover, working steering, a detailed engine and interior, and enough parts left over for a very appropriate trophy cabinet, Firas’ 935 is an excellent way to recycle your 10295 pieces, with building instructions available to assist.

There’s much more to see at Firas’ ‘Porsche 935’ album on Flickr, and you can add twenty-four to your 911 via the link above.

Night Out Of The Museum

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It’s Star Wars Day! So to celebrate here’s a classic Porsche 936.81 Le Mans racer. Yeh, we’re not great at sci-fi. But no matter, because the story of the Porsche 936.81 is much more interesting than George Lucas’s space saga.

First racing in the mid-70s, the 936 was rather outdated by the early ’80s, and thus surviving units were residing in a museum. Needing a car for Le Mans, Porsche brought the cars out of retirement, brought their drivers out of retirement too, and fitted a detuned engine from an Indy Car.

The resultant hodge-podge unbelievably won the 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours, with a museum-piece car, a retired driver, and a left-over engine. And that’s a better story than anything in Star Wars.

Built by previous bloggee SFH_Bricks, this fantastic Speed Champions recreation of the 936.81 captures the unlikely race winner brilliantly, and there’s more to see of his superbly presented model at his ‘1981 Porsche 9361.81’ album here.

Alpine Past

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Alpine are back from the dead, with new production cars, a re-badged Renault Formula 1 Team, and re-badged Oreca Le Mans Hypercars. Which is nice and all, but they were cooler the first time round. Particularly when they built this; the 1978 Le Mans-winning Renault Alpine A442B.

Only two manufacturers competed for outright victory in ’78, but with the other being Porsche and Alpine’s Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud completing a record distance over the twenty-four hours, the victory was still an immense achievement.

This fantastic Speed Champions recreation of the ’78 race winner comes from Flickr’s SFH_Bricks, whose catalogue of classic Le Mans racers is both extensive and beautifully constructed.

A wonderfully accurate livery adds to the realism (which TLCB Elves like too for some reason…) and you can see more of SFH’s glorious Renault Alpine A442B at his album of the same name via the link above.

Le Mans Matra

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Matra. The greatest car manufacturer most have never heard of. Formula 1 World Champions, three-time Le Mans Winners, and creators of hugely influential production-car successes like this, segment-pioneering inventions like this, and colossal failures like this.

That last one bankrupted the company, which disappeared forever in 2003, so we’ll jump back to 1972 when Matra where on top of not just their game, but everyone else’s, taking the first of three Le Mans wins in a row.

They did so with this, the wild Matra Simca MS670, which won the race by eleven laps in the hands Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill, with another MS670 in second. This superb Speed Champions recreation of Matra’s ’72 endurance racer is the work of SFH_Bricks of Flickr, who has added it to his ever-growing roster of Le Mans cars.

Authentic decals and fantastic presentation make SFH’s MS670 a worthy homage to the oft-forgotten champions, and you can take a closer look at his brilliant build via the link above.

It’s Raining Men*

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If the Super Soaker commercials and the crab from ‘The Little Mermaid’ are to be believed, it’s better when it’s wetter.

We’re not sure the teams at Le Mans would agree though, what with there being a direct correlation between precipitation and risk, but for fans (at least watching at home in the dry on TV), rain can add a huge dose of unpredictable excitement.

This year’s 24 Heures du Mans delivered on that promise, as the heavens opened mid-way through the race and brought on a four hour safety car period followed by treacherous racing. After the twenty four hours had elapsed the winning Ferrari finished just fourteen seconds ahead of the second place Toyota, with a record nine cars all on the same final lap.

Cue recent bloggee SFH_Bricks, who has recreated that incredibly tight margin, and the rain that enabled it, in this stunning Le Mans 2024 diorama. Featuring the Ferrari 499P, Toyota GR010, and a huge dose of spray, SFH has captured the rain-soaked Circuit de la Sarthe spectacularly; we can practically feel the wetness from here.

Click the link above to take a look through the spray, and this bonus link to see the vast collection of Le Mans creations in our Archives.

*Obviously. Because Le Mans!

Collection of Letters

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This is a Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE, which is very boring name. It’s not a boring car though, being designed for the World Endurance Championship’s GT-Class (which includes Le Mans), and being the single loudest thing that this TLCB Writer has ever heard*.

Built by newcomer Reddish Blue, this superb Speed Champions example replicates the works cars that competed in the 2017 championship and came 4th in class at the famous 24 hour race.

Building instructions are available and you can find out more about Reddish’s Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE at his album of the same name via the link above.

*Except for your Mom last night.

All Night Smokin’

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Back in the 1980s, anything that was bad for you could be found on the side of a racing car. Which has got to be cooler than the crypto currency and credit cards we get today.

This particular mobile billboard for cancer comes courtesy of Porsche, and the last time they won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the 962C, when Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Al Holbert crossed the line twenty laps ahead of the second-placed car. Which was also a Porsche 962C.

Built by SFH_Bricks, this exquisite Speed Champions replica of the 1987 race winner includes a superbly authentic livery thanks to Brickstickershop, custom wheels, and building instructions are available too.

Head for post-race cigarette via the link above.

Le Mans ’71

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It might be Ferrari and Toyota at the top of endurance racing right now, but there’s one manufacturer that has dominated Le Mans more than any other; Porsche.

Winning the Le Mans 24 Hours on nineteen occasions, the first of Porsche’s victories came in 1970 thanks to this; the magnificent 917K.

Powered by a wild flat-12, the 917 debuted in 1969, where it was… rubbish. Dodgy aerodynamics (which were still largely experimental at the time) made the car terrifying to drive at high speed, but Porsche refined the car, chopping the tail off and later fitting it with two stabilising fins and a magnesium chassis.

The result was the most dominant one-two in Le Mans history, when in 1971 both 917Ks finished some thirty laps ahead of the third place Ferrari.

This spectacular Speed Champions recreation of the ’71 race winning car, complete with its iconic Martini Racing livery, comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks of Flickr, who has captured the 917K absolutely beautifully in brick form.

Building instructions are available and there are more stunning images to view at SFH’s photostream. Click the link above to take a look, and wait thirty laps for the Ferrari to catch up.

Porsche vs. Porsche

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Le Mans is getting very exciting of late, with a raft of new works teams entering or re-entering the world’s most revered motor race. Lamborghini, BMW, Cadillac and Peugeot have all joined or are about to, plus – most famously – Ferrari, who took the outright win upon their return last year.

Back in the late-’70s however, the competition was rather more… one-dimensional. Porsche were the only works team competing for outright victory in 1979, and even though their 935 was already several years old, its 800bhp twin-turbo flat-6 and immense reliability meant it was so dominant that one by one all other manufacturers dropped out of endurance racing.

The result was that a third of all the entrants in the 1979 24 Heures du Mans were Porsches, and no other works manufacturers took part. Unsurprisingly, it was Porsche that took victory, competing mostly against their own cars raced by customer teams, with the Kremer Porsche 935 K3 of Klaus Ludwig, and Don & Bill Whittington crossing the line having covered the most distance after 24 hours, followed home by two other Porsche 935s and a 934.

This superb Speed Champions replica of that race-winning car comes from previous bloggee K MP of Flickr, who has recreated both the car and its livery in beautiful detail. Take a look via the link above, and get ready for a much more competitive 24 Heures du Mans than it was in 1979 in just a few days time!

My Other Le Mans Car’s a Peugeot

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The Technic 42156 Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar is a slightly weird, but nevertheless welcome, addition to LEGO’s officially-licensed line-up. First competing in 2022, before a full World Endurance Championship assault in 2023, the 9X8 has been… underwhelming.

A single podium all season and an 8th place at Peugeot’s home event of the 24 Heures de Mans is the best the car has achieved so far, but PeugeotSport are past race winners, so the results may come yet.

Until then though, if you own a 42156 Peugeot 9X8 and fancy swapping it for an endurance racer that’s more… winning, davidragon of Eurobricks has the answer!

Making his TLCB debut, davidragon has used the pieces from the 42156 Peugeot 9X8 to recreate a car from the other end of the World Endurance Classification, but one with rather more success.

The Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is the first mid-engined Corvette racing car, and placed second in the GTE-Pro class at Le Mans in 2021, before winning GTE-Am in 2023, finishing one place ahead of the second Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar that competed some three classes above it. Oof.

Davidragon’s incredible C8.R alternate features opening doors and hood, independent suspension, working steering, and a mid-mounted piston engine, and there’s lots more to see, including a link to building instructions, at the Eurobricks forum.

Click the link above to swap your Peugeot 9X8 for a Corvette C8.R, and improve your chances of winning some silverware.

Stow-on-the-Wold Avoiding Chipping Norton

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Running from Burford to near Worcester, the A424 is a main north/south road in the Cotswolds, passing through the pretty Norman town of Stow-on-the-Wold whilst avoiding the busy conurbation of Chipping Norton. It’s also a 2024 Le Mans endurance racer. But back to road, an… Oh, you’d prefer the car? Um, ok… bit weird, but alright.

This is the Alpine A424. Which is not a road. It is instead rebranded-Renault’s 2024 offensive into the burgeoning Le Mans Hypercar class, using an Oreca chassis and Mecachrome V6 engine from Formula 2, but featuring lots of ‘Alpine’ decals.

This superb Speed Champions replica of the road between Burford and Worcester 2024 Le Mans Hypercar comes from SFH_Bricks, who adds it to his ever-growing list of endurance racers. Building instructions are available (as are the excellent custom stickers), and you can drive to Worcester via Stow-on-the-Wold via the link above.