Tag Archives: McLaren

Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car | Set Preview

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TLCB have just reviewed a championship-winning Formula 1 car, and now we have another! This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car.

Like the Williams-Renault FW14B a quarter-century before it, the McLaren MCL39 won both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships (making Lando Norris a world champion), and with LEGO’s longstanding relationship with the British car maker and its race team, the arrival of 42228 was almost to be expected.

At 1:8 scale and with 1,675 pieces, 42228 is a hefty Technic set, with a price-tag to match, costing £189.99 / $229.99 / €209.99 when it arrives on March 1st ’26. For that sizeable outlay buyers will get working steering and pushrod suspension, a V6 engine and two-speed (boo) gearbox under a removable engine cover, and a functional drag-reduction-system (DRS) on the rear wing linked to the transmission’s top (aka ‘only other’) gear.

You also get a seriously large amount of stickers to recreate McLaren’s 2025 sponsors (even the dodgy crypto-currency ones), but not – and unlike the aforementioned Icons 10353 Williams FW14B set – staggered width tyres. Again. Come on LEGO, this is a $220 set.

Still, we suspect 42228 will be a hugely successful Technic set when it lands later this year, and further cements LEGO’s relationship with the pinnacle of motorsport and – for 2025 at least – the team at the top of it. Even with a two-speed gearbox and chronically lazy tyre sizing.

 

Fish Face

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This TLCB Writer never particularly liked the McLaren Mercedes SLR. It looked like some kind of sad deep-sea fish. But no matter, because if you do like Mercedes-Benz’s mid-’00s collaboration with their then Formula 1 partner McLaren, previous bloggee Fabrice Larcheveque has recreated it brilliantly (sad fish face included) in 8-wide Speed Champions form, and with building instructions too. Find all the imagery and that link to instructions at Fabrice’s ‘McLaren Mercedes SLR’ album above.

LEGO Formula 1 2025 | Set Previews

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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.

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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.

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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 Car / 77247 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.

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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.

Lando Drives a Life-Size LEGO McLaren P1

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LEGO’s near 4,000 piece (and near £400) 42172 Technic McLaren P1 set is pretty big. This one however, is rather bigger.

Constructed from a steel frame and over 342,000 LEGO pieces, this astonishing life-size LEGO McLaren P1 took a team of twenty-three specialists from both LEGO and McLaren 8,344 hours to develop and build.

Powered by 768 LEGO Power Functions motors and a car battery, this full-scale replica of one the world’s most iconic hypercars is the first life-size LEGO model to lap a racetrack. In fact, it is the first life-size LEGO model able to steer at all, and who better to steer it than race-winning McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris.

Rumoured to be capable of around 40mph, the life-size LEGO P1 may not quite be able to match the real McLaren’s 217mph top speed, but watching Lando pilot it around the Silverstone Grand Prix track is perhaps even more exciting than watching him driving his usual wheels.

Take a look at LEGO and McLaren’s incredible feat of engineering in the video below, and click the link above to check out the rather smaller (but still pretty impressive) McLaren P1 you can own for yourself.

LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 | Set Preview

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LEGO’s long-standing relationship with McLaren has borne all manner of models over the years, from classic Formula 1 cars to Extreme-E racers, and life-size replicas to Speed Champions miniatures. This though, has instantly become our favourite LEGO McLaren collaboration to date; it’s the brand new 42172 Technic McLaren P1.

Part of LEGO’s flagship Ultimate Collector Series, the new 42172 set recreates McLaren’s iconic P1 supercar in a huge 1:8 scale from a whopping 3,893 pieces, many of which make their debut on this set.

These new parts include never-before-seen curved wheel-arch panels, lovely gunmetal wheels, and the utilisation of flame yellow, with the resulting model looking wonderfully accurate to the mighty 900bhp decade-old supercar.

Underneath that well executed exterior are a V8 engine linked to a 7-speed transmission, all-wheel independent suspension, opening butterfly doors (which required an all-new mechanism), working steering, and deployable rear wing.

There’s also a serious level of attention to detail, both within the engine bay and interior, making 42172 one of the few sets to carry the ’18+’ age stamp that we can well believe.

The brand new LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 set will be available to purchase exclusively from LEGO online/stores from August 1st 2024, carrying a price-tag to match the set’s enormous scale. Expect to pay £389.99 / $449.99 / €449.99, with each set including a unique serial number that unlocks bonus content, and even your non-LEGO-fan friends to want it.

LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna | Set Preview

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LEGO and McLaren have been hard at work, because the Speed Champions 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car is not the only new McLaren Formula 1 set to arrive in 2024. This is the new LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna!

Arriving in March of this year, 10330 brings one of Formula 1’s most famous cars to the Icons range; the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, which – in the hands of Aytron Senna and Alain Prost – won an incredible 15 of the 16 races in the 1988 Formula 1 season, and gave Senna his first Driver’s World Championship.

The first LEGO set to wear the Honda badge (which means we might get to see more Honda sets in future), 10330 is constructed from 693 pieces and includes working steering, a detailed (but non-working) replica of the RA168E V6 turbo engine, suspension (we’re guessing rubber blocks rather than springs here…), plus authentic slick tyres and sponsors. Those tyres will be particularly exciting for many Lego fans, who’ve never yet had access to non-treaded rubber.

But what of the 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna set’s ‘& Ayrton Senna’ bit? Well, the late Ayrton Senna’s name is a carefully curated brand in its own right these days, and 10330 duly comes with an inappropriately-sized mini-figure that looks vaguely like him.

However with under 700 pieces yet costing $80/£70, we’d rather have saved a few quid to not have the pointless mini-figure and additional branding associated with it. Still, LEGO no doubt calculated the ‘& Ayrton Senna’ bit resonates with the set’s 18+ target age group, and thus kinda-Senna is here, holding a trophy and looking rather superfluous alongside the racing car in which he drove.

Dubious mini-figure inclusion and high price aside though, the LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 (& Ayrton Senna) set does look rather excellent, and you’ll be able to get your hands on one when they reach stores in March of this year.

Speed Champions 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car | Set Preview

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During our reveal of the 2024 LEGO Speed Champions sets, fans may have noticed that one number, 76919, was missing. Well it’s missing no more; this is the brand new 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car!

Replicating last year’s podium-placing McLaren MCL60 racing car (although peculiarly not called that), 76919 recreates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s 2023 challenger from 245 papaya and black pieces, and about the same number of stickers.

It’s here we’d normally bemoan the stickerage, but in the case of a Formula 1 car, where the real thing wears sponsors on every inch of bodywork, they create wonderful authenticity. Every real McLaren Team sponsor is included, even the dodgy crypto-currency ones, whilst the slick tyres wear accurate Pirelli-printed type too.

The new 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car will reach stores in March of 2024, and we’re hoping it’s the start of many more LEGO Speed Champions replica F1 racers.

Sabre-Rattling

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McLaren have released more near-identical looking cars than even Porsche, despite only being around a sixth as many years. Cue another modern McLaren we’ve never heard of nor will ever see, the Sabre.

Built only for the American market, the Sabre is powered by the same V8 as every other recent McLaren, but looks very slightly different. Which means McLaren can charge $3million for it, as there will be enough rich idiots… er, we mean collectors, keen for some one-of-fifteen exclusivity.

Well, one-of-sixteen, as 3D supercarBricks has created this one. 3D-printed wheels and what look to be custom door frame pieces help to recreate the Sabre’s aesthetic, and there’s more of the model to see at 3D’s photostream. Click the link above to take a look at the most exclusive McLaren there is, before the brand reveals another one sometime next week.

Orange Squash

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This incredibly low – and incredible orange – car is a 1972 McLaren M20, one of the stars of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (or Can-Am) racing series that ran from 1966 to 1974. With no limit on engine size (in fact, with few regulations at all of any kind), Can-Am became an almost unrestricted racing series, with the cars even out-performing Formula 1.

The results were wild, often using the largest engines available (usually Chevrolet), and with many drivers coming from Formula 1 and Le Mans, including a few that would become champions of each.

McLaren won the series five times, with Bruce McLaren himself taking the driver’s crown twice. The M20 didn’t make it a sixth Can-Am championship for the British team however, as its 1972 debut coincided with the arrival of Porsche’s monstrous 917, powered by a 900bhp flat-12 that was rumoured to make up to 1,500bhp in qualifying trim.

The M20 still took two wins during the 1972 season however, finishing a distant second in the championship behind the Penske-Porsche, before McLaren left the series as a works-team to focus on Formula 1.

This spectacular Model Team recreation of the final McLaren Can-Am racer comes from Luciano Delorenzo, who has captured the M20 brilliantly in brick-form. The accurate bodywork includes authentic decals, there’s working steering, and a highly detailed replica of the 8.3 litre Chevrolet V8 is fitted underneath the removable rear section.

There’s more of the model to see at Luciano’s ‘1972 McLaren M20’ album on Flickr, and you can jump back to the mightiest racing series there’ll probably ever be via the link in the text above.

LEGO Technic H1 2024 | Set Previews

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It’s time! After a period lost in space, and with the Elves that managed not to become German-Shepherd-snacks safely back at TLCB Towers, we can reveal the brand new for 2024 LEGO Technic line-up. And it’s such a good one…

42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer

LEGO have released several Technic bulldozers over the years, with recent incarnations being large enough to actually bulldoze. However we kick-off the 2024 Technic range with one that marks its entry point, the lovely 42163 Heavy-Duty Bulldozer.

Aimed at ages 7+ and with under 200 pieces, 42163 is the best starter set we’ve had in a long time, and includes rotating tracks plus a neat worm-gear driven blade elevation mechanism, controlled via a cog on the roof. A few System parts add realism and – joy – it needs no stickers whatsoever. Top work LEGO.

42164 Off-Road Race Buggy

The excellentness continues with the second new Technic set for 2024, the 42164 Off-Road Race Buggy. Aimed at ages 8+, the 219-piece ORRB looks a bit like ‘RC’ from ‘Toy Story’, and it seems LEGO have remembered more than just that computer-animated movie from 1995, having equipped 42164 with proper mechanical functionality that we thought they’d all but forgotten in recent starter sets.

Harking back to those mid-’90s Technic sets, 42164 includes working rear suspension via a single-shock, a miniature V4 piston engine turned by the rear wheels, opening doors, and – more unusually – tilt steering (like a skateboard).

The set also features good visual details, some almost comically generic stickers (what should be written on the side of a buggy if not ‘buggy’?), and some rather non-off-roady tyres, but overall we think the 42164 ORRB looks great, presenting another fine way for newcomers to begin Technic building…

42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team & 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team

…unlike these two. OK, that’s a little unfair, because LEGO do seem to have got their head around ‘Pull-Backs’ after some dismal efforts, with recent sets being visually appealing and bringing some unusual licenses to the range. 2024 continues this trend with the 42166 NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team and 42169 NEOM McLaren Formula E Team sets.

Aimed at ages 7+ and 9+ respectively, the new sets recreate two of McLaren’s non-F1 race teams, both of which are electrically-powered. Each does a decent job of reflecting its real-world counterpart, although via the assistance of a million stickers, whilst the 452-piece 42169 Formula E car (the most pieces for a Pull-Back ever?) also includes working steering alongside the obligatory kinetic motor. Operating this whilst deploying the aforementioned motor is probably the trickiest thing you’ll ever do however…

42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck

The electric and officially-licensed trend continues with the next new addition to the 2024 Technic range, the superb-looking 42167 Mack LR Electric Garbage Truck.

Constructed from just over 500 pieces and aimed at ages 8+, 42167 resembles a miniaturised version of the 42078 Mack Anthem B-Model, and features some lovely mechanical functions, including working steering, a side-mounted bin emptying mechanism, and a tipping compactor, all controlled by hand via various cogs.

Wearing thoroughly excellent messaging and with a few new parts too, 42167 could be the pick of the range when it reaches stores early next year.

42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester

Away from the starter sets and things are getting bigger, although not by much. This is the 42168 John Deere 9700 Forage Harvester, a 559-piece replica of the ‘self propelled forage harvester’ fitted with ‘ProStream Cropflow’ and ‘XStream KPTM’, according to the excerpts we took from John Deere’s website. We’re not really sure what any of that means, nor that 42168 needed to be an officially licensed set, but we suppose it’s nice to have the added authenticity.

Working rear steering and an elevating and spinning harvesting header (via many yellow cogs linked to a small jockey wheel on the ground) are the working features, which is actually a little less than the smaller 42167 Mack and 42164 ORRB. Still, if ‘Farming Simulator’ is your thing, then the 42168 Forage Harvester may be your cream of the crop when it reaches stores alongside the rest of the 2024 Technic range in January.

42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R

The final new Technic set in our H1 2024 preview is this, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R. Yup, LEGO have partnered with another motorcycle manufacturer following their successful collaborations with BMW Motorrad, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, and Ducati, bringing Kawaski’s legendary Ninja to the Technic line-up.

In doing so, 42170 doesn’t actually bring anything new to the Technic Superbike genre beyond the new partnership, but it does offer as much in the way of working functionality as its predecessors, with working steering and suspension, a foot-peg operated two-speed plus neutral gearbox, and a piston engine buried somewhere inside the frame.

Aimed at ages 10+ and with 643 pieces, the 42170 Kawasaki Ninja H2R will join the rest of the 2024 Technic line-up in stores early next year, which – in case you missed it – includes a few new additions we really weren’t expecting.

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Let us know your favourite new 2024 Technic set in the comments. Us? We’ll be picking up the trash in the 42167 Mack LE Electric Garbage Truck. Although… there is one set number as yet unfilled…

Having a Lark

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Once the world’s fastest production car, and winner of the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours, this is the McLaren F1 GTR.

Following its victory at Le Mans (the first time either a manufacturer or team had won the race on their Le Mans debut), McLaren’s Ron Dennis and businessman Kazumichi Goh decided to take the car to Japan, forming McLaren Team Lark, and taking on the country’s domestic teams in the newly formed GT500 championship.

The Lark McLaren F1 GTRs were dominant, comfortably beating domestic rivals from Nissan, Toyota and Honda to win every GT500 race in 1996 bar one.

So dominant was the F1 GTR in fact, that the organisers effectively legislated it out of the championship, imposing so many restrictions on the team that they withdrew before the start of the ’97 season.

The result, after that single all-conquering year, was that the rest of the GT500 teams considerably upped their game. GT500 cars became much faster, more exciting, and more technologically-advanced, and thus the ongoing success of the GT500 Championship has more than a little to do with a little British car that entered for just one season some three decades ago.

This wonderful homage to the short-lived but spectacular Team Lark McLaren F1 GTRs comes from TLCB debutant brickengineeringdude, who has recreated the ’96 championship-winning racer brilliantly in brick form. 3D-Printed wheels, tyres decals, and a superb approximation of the Team Lark livery make brick’s F1 GTR instantly recognisable, and there’s much more to see at their photostream via the link.

But what of Team Lark and GT500? Well owner Kazumichi Goh went on to buy an Audi R8, and with it won the 2004 Le Mans 24 Hours, becoming only the second Japanese team to win the race outright. Meanwhile Japan’s GT500 championship has gone from strength to strength, but has never again been won by a non-Japanese car since the Team Lark McLarens of 1996…

Monaco ’88

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‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, the Toyota Corolla, and the Monaco Grand Prix. All simultaneously the greatest examples of their respective genres, and also the most boring.

But Formula 1 in Monaco wasn’t always a procession. Before the cars were the size of school buses, which these days makes overtaking impossible, Monaco could put on quite a show.

Back in 1988, even with the complete dominance of the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, the ’88 Monaco Grand Prix delivered. Twenty-six cars started – two of which were even called ‘Megatron’ (seriously, look it up!) – just ten finished, and Ayrton Senna was the class of the field.

Out-qualifying his team-mate Alain Prost by a staggering 1.4 seconds, Senna led the race by almost a minute… until he didn’t. A momentary lapse of concentration eleven laps from the finish and he hit the wall, whereupon he exited his broken McLaren and walked home.

Prost took the win (his forth and final Monaco GP victory), followed by Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari some twenty seconds back. Which means there’s perhaps some artistic license with the cars’ proximity in alex_bricks‘ stunning 1988 Monaco Grand Prix vignette, but in every other respect this is a spectacularly realistic homage to the Monte Carlo street race.

Recreating the circuit as it was in the late-’80s required Alex to watch old race footage (which is surely some of the most fun research required to build a Lego model), matching his brick-built version of the Mediterranean Principality to the televised imagery from the time.

The result is a replica of the streets of Monaco as they were in 1988 so perfect we can practically hear the noise from the Formula 1 cars bouncing off the walls of the buildings, with Alex displaying his incredible build at the Brickfair show earlier in the year.

Fortunately he’s uploaded a few images to Flickr too, so you can join TLCB Team immersing themselves in Monaco in 1988 via his photostream. Click the link above to head the greatest race on the Formula 1 calendar, long before it was boring.

I Want a Painted Mac*

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The McLaren F1, once the fastest production car in the world, a Le Mans 24 Hours winner, and – if you are very rich indeed – a default choice for the car collection.

3D supercarBricks, whose Le Mans winning McLaren appeared here earlier in the year, has now turned his very talented hands to the road car, building this stunning maroon Model Team version as a commissioned piece.

The spectacular detail is achieved via some ingenious building techniques, plus 3D-printed wheels and maroon spray-paint, which aren’t strictly purist, but we suspect the owner of the real McLaren F1 (and member of the Bin Laden family) is probably used to things being rather more tailored than us peasants.

There’s more of the model to see at 3D’s ‘McLaren F1’ album, and you can make the jump to an air-conditioned garage somewhere in Saudi Arabia via the link in the text above.

*Today’s (butchered) title song.

Le Mans ’95

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Mid-’90s endurance racing was – in this writer’s opinion – the peak of Le Mans cool. Purpose-built racers competed on equal terms wildly fast supercars, based on those that could actually be bought by the public (in some years they even had to have space for luggage in the regulations!). This created both spectacular on-track battles and some astonishing road cars, with this being one of them; the Le Mans winning 1995 McLaren F1 GTR.

Designed by Gordon Murray and powered by a BMW M-Power V12, the McLaren F1 was the fastest production car in the world, and remains the fastest naturally-aspirated production car to this day. Twenty-eight ‘GTR’-spec F1s were produced for racing, with the model winning not just Le Mans, but becoming the first non-domestic car to win the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship.

This is the Le Mans winning car, which beat rivals from Ferrari, Corvette, Honda, and Porsche, plus a range of purpose-built open-cockpit racers, and took third, fourth and fifth places too. It comes from previous bloggee 3D supercarBricks, who has captured the F1 GTR and its ’95 Le Mans livery beautifully in brick form.

Custom wheels and opening doors, front trunk and engine cover feature, and there’s much more to see at 3D’s photostream. Click the link above to travel as fast as it was possible to go in car in 1995.

Speed Champions 2023 | Set Previews

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It’s the final part of our 2023 Set Previews, and today it’s perhaps LEGO’s most successful and well-regarded range of recent times; the fantastic officially licensed Speed Champions theme.

LEGO’s decision to bring real-world cars to bedroom floors everywhere at pocket money prices was an inspired one, and the list of partner manufacturers is now at eighteen strong. Yup, that means there’s a brand new manufacturer joining the line-up for 2023 – read on to find out who!

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76914 – Ferrari 812 Competizione

The 2023 Speed Champions range kicks off with this, the 76914 Ferrari 812 Competizione. For $25 / £20 you can own one the greatest Ferraris of recent times, constructed from 261 pieces including a mini-figure, a printed canopy, and a lot of stickers. Too many? Well to our eyes yes, but LEGO know what appeals to 9 year olds, and they’ll be on to a winner.

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76915 – Pagani Utopia

Yes the eighteenth manufacturer to join the Speed Champions line-up is Pagani! Maker of wild AMG-powered carbon-fibre hypercars, the Utopia is the brand’s latest, with an 850bhp 6 litre twin-turbo V12 and an ultra-exclusive 99-unit production run, although we suspect there will be a few more owners of the car in brick-form. Expect 249 pieces, lots of stickers, a slightly lazily-printed canopy, and a $35 / £20 price.

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76916 – Porsche 963

2023 will finally see the expansion of the prototype series at Le Mans, with a raft of manufacturers joining to challenge Toyota’s dominance. Two categories will race within the top-tier class; LMH (Toyota, Peugeot, Ferrari), in which full works-built prototypes can be built using entirely bespoke components, and LMDh (Cadillac, Acura, Alpine and Porsche), using spec chassis and hybrid systems. 76916 brings Porsche’s entry to the Speed Champions range, with 280 pieces, clever SNOT building techniques, and stickers on every surface.

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76918 – McLaren Solus GT & McLaren F1 LM

2023’s final Speed Champions set is a double, featuring two cars from the McLaren range. OK, one really, as the 25-unit, V10-Judd-engined, track-only Solus GT that we hadn’t heard of exists only in Gran Turismo at the moment. But let’s be honest, you wouldn’t be buying 76918 for that…

The reason we all want 76918 is for the fantastic McLaren F1 LM, which looks absolutely magnificent in orange bricks. It doesn’t even need many stickers. 581 pieces, two mini-figures, and some genuinely tricky building techniques feature, making it one of the best Speed Champions cars to date. And there’s a Solus GT or something too.

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That’s the brand new 2023 Speed Champions line-up; five new sets (including the previously-revealed 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R R-34), one new manufacturer, and six-hundred new stickers. We’ll be taking the 76918 McLaren F1, and consider it an expensive single model set, but with a bonus pack of white and black parts thrown in for free. Couldn’t LEGO have made it with two F1s instead?…