Real-size LEGO cars: which ones were made?

California – The Land of Cars

The first time we saw a full-size LEGO car was at LEGOLAND California in 2004. The driving school attraction had just acquired Volvo as a sponsor and there was an XC90 SUV parked in front of the school entrance.

It was certainly impressive, if only for the sheer scale of the model! The curves of the vehicle were well rendered using simple bricks and plates, while black bricks were effective for the glass of the windows. If memory serves, the model was initially displayed on the ground before the raised simulated rock platform was added.

As part of the corporate sponsorship, a real Volvo was parked at the main entrance to the park, with a brick-built family of four stepping out to enjoy a day at LEGOLAND. Taking this co-branding even further, there were a handful of reserved parking spaces for Volvo drivers. A promotional brick for the Volvo Driving School was even given out for the new sponsor.

Just a little detour to the next...

During one of our visits to the park, there was a special event for Volvo employees. We happened to meet one of the employees at one of the construction areas of the park and got to talking. He mentioned that one of the perks of the event was a Master Model Builder build of a small 2D model of a Volvo SUV. Well, it turns out we were distant relatives (back to Adam), and he offered to “adopt” me into his family to participate in the build. While it’s not the most amazing model, it was still fun to participate. The astute reader will note that this was built during the transition from old grays to blue-gray (bley) tones.

A few years later, the model shop team decided to prank the park’s general manager. The general manager happened to be driving a Volvo at the time (what a coincidence!) and they swapped his real Volvo for the brick-built car. You can see it for yourself here or below. If our trusty collection of park maps is to be believed, it appears that Volvo’s sponsorship ended in 2013.

Florida joins the trend

When LEGOLAND Florida opened in 2011, we were very surprised to see that their Driving School was sponsored by Ford, concurrent with the sponsorship of Volvo in California. Of course, a full-size LEGO Ford Explorer was on display. In subsequent years, a full-size classic 1964 Ford Mustang and F-150 pickup truck have also been on display.

These Fords were similar in construction with black windows and brick-built wheels and tires. When we checked their website while preparing this article, we didn't see any reference to Ford, so the collaboration has probably ended. But of course everyone knows the LEGO 42126 Raptor 150

The Driving School at LEGOLAND Deutschland is currently sponsored by Hyundai. We’ve seen several photos of real vehicles parked outside the park and the attraction’s entrances, but surprisingly, we haven’t seen any sign of a full-scale LEGO version. (Come on Hyundai, join in!) At least there were promotional bricks commemorating the partnership.

As impressive as these LEGOLAND models were, we must now place them in the mundane category compared to what came after. As with retail LEGO sets, the years that followed have seen a number of increasingly complex and inspiring car models that have eclipsed these earlier cars.

In addition to adding features like opening doors, working lights and detailed interiors, we'll read about some of the great features that have been added to some of the recent cars.

Technic Supercars

The introduction of the 1:8 scale Porsche 911 GT3 RS (LEGO 42056) in 2016 not only marked the start of a great product line, but also spawned the creation of some equally great full-size LEGO models. The LEGO Group chose to copy the Technic model design rather than following the design aesthetics of the actual car, resulting in a stunning build and a realistic look for the model that would go on sale in the US.

The full-size Porsche 911 was displayed at various car shows and public venues around the world for a number of years. The model was last reported parked at the LEGO Hotel and Conference Centre in Billund.

In 2018, the Bugatti Chiron (LEGO 42083) was added to the LEGO portfolio. While the LEGO model and the car itself are beautiful, the full-scale LEGO model is the pinnacle for LEGO cars.

Not content with just any old LEGO car, they made this car drivable and powered by 2,304 genuine Technic Power Functions motors ! The subtle curves of the exterior were replicated with geometric Technic sub-assemblies fitted together within a flexible skin to create a more organic form than traditional LEGO models.

While all full-scale models use hundreds of thousands of parts, the Bugatti takes the prize with over 1,000,000 unglued Technic elements! After touring the world, this model is now on display at the LEGO Campus building.

There is an excellent video of the car on YouTube. We were a bit amused to see the famous race car driver and Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace donning all his traditional racing protective gear to take the car to an astonishing 20 km/h. Amazing for a 1.5 tonne LEGO powered car!

2020 continued the biennial tradition with the Lamborghini Sián (Sian) FKP 37 (LEGO 42115) . This version used curved Technic panel elements that were assembled to create hexagonal shapes to represent the skin. There was a full interior and an extensive moving light display. There is an embedded video on this LEGO webpage that you can watch. The retail LEGO model was unusual in that it was developed at the same time as the actual design of the car. While the retail Technic model was plagued by lime green color variations, the full-scale version was professionally painted by Lamborghini!

The Ferrari Daytona SP3 (LEGO 42143) was released in 2022. One of the unique aspects of this LEGO product launch was the release of a coffee table style book documenting the car and model. I am not aware of a full scale LEGO version being produced for the initial product marketing. But fear not, that omission was corrected in partnership with LEGOLAND Windsor, as we will read shortly.

The latest Technic supercar release in 2024 is the McLaren P1 (LEGO 42172) . Again, I'm not aware of this car joining the full-size club yet. I'd be shocked if one doesn't eventually see production, both to continue the trend and because there have already been three super-sized McLaren models!

Yes, 1:10 is smaller than 1:8 scale!

While not part of the Technic 1:8 scale series, now would be a good time to discuss the 1:10 scale Technic Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar (LEGO 42156) . Developed to celebrate 100 years of racing at Le Mans, the Peugeot shows how form follows function in race car design. While I personally think the model has a face only a mother could love, the full-scale version brought an exciting new twist to LEGO building.

Rather than building a typical model, they designed and built "hyperelements" to replicate Technic elements and subassemblies. These 711 hyperelements were then assembled live at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, in much the same way that the 1,775 elements in the Technic shop set are assembled.

We can imagine the team did a lot of practice sessions to make sure it would not only be ready within 24 hours, but also not too early.

While the Peugeot set may have been smaller than the supercar series, it’s interesting to note that the geometry of real Technic elements was best replicated at an 11:1 scale. That means this LEGO model is actually larger than life size, approximately 110%!

Meanwhile, in LEGO's marketing department….

In addition to the premium Technic 1:8 scale models, a number of other full-size LEGO car products have been built in recent years.

The full-scale 2017 McLaren 720S model was unusual in that it was intended to be an interactive display model. Members of the public were invited to place “missing” orange bricks over the exposed gray sections of the bodywork to complete the model as part of a charity collection. This was a great marketing tool for the humble LEGO Speed ​​Champions (75880) set.

Raising the bar considerably from the previous McLaren was an impressive Senna model in 2019, featuring opening doors and a full interior. The body styling used a traditional brick construction technique, but was very convincing. This was another example of a full-scale model, based on the much smaller Speed ​​Champions (75892) kit.

The flagship LEGO Retail Store in Leicester Square has added a full-size Aston Martin DB5 during the store’s 2022 refurbishment. This is a large-scale version of set 10262 from 2018 and the smaller 76911 Speed ​​Champions from 2022. While not all of the Bond gadgets are included, the large version does have a functional rotating number plate frame.

Seeing Red in LEGOLAND Build & Test (Race)

Starting in 2022, LEGOLAND parks have begun renovating/rebranding their Build and Test areas, where park guests build miniature LEGO cars to race and drive through obstacles. So far, four of the parks now have upgraded LEGO Ferrari Build and Race attractions. LEGOLAND California features an impressive life-size Ferrari F40 model at the entrance to the area.

You would expect other parks to use the same model car to shorten the design time, but it turns out that the four parks each have a different LEGO Ferrari on display. LEGOLAND Billund has a unique Monza SP1 with a single-seater cockpit. I can only assume that Kjeld (third generation owner) had something to do with this choice. After all, the original exclusive LEGO Inside Tour set from 2005/06 was based on Kjeld's red single-seater sports car design!

LEGOLAND Florida has a 296 GTS, a two-seater Berlinetta spider concept powered by a 120° V6 engine mated to a plug-in electric motor. Meanwhile, LEGOLAND Windsor has the missing Technic supercar Daytona SP3, which arrived in an equally impressive box!

While I was initially impressed with the F40 on display in California, I can’t help but feel a little cheated by the other displays in the park! While the 1987 V8 F40 is fun, it’s kind of a “Chevy” compared to other, more impressive Ferrari models. Okay, that was a bit harsh, but you get the idea…

Independent contractors

The LEGO Group model shops aren't the only ones producing full-scale LEGO cars. LEGO Certified Professionals (LCPs) have built a number of them over the years, including the previously discussed McLaren 720S.

The Brickman (Ryan McNaught) and his team built a life-size version of the LEGO Technic McLaren Formula 1 (42141) race car in 2022. This car was recently put on display at The LEGO House in Billund. The car follows the trend of large-scale models promoting LEGO retail products. This model goes back to basics with brick and board construction, right down to the brick-built tires. The model also attempts to emulate the Technic set rather than the actual car. While it doesn’t elevate modeling techniques, the model is sure to impress visitors to The Home of the Brick.

AFOL cars

Even AFOLs have tried their hand at these large-scale models. BrickNerd already told you about Swedish LEGO Masters winner David Gustafsson who used his prize of bulk bricks to build a full-fledged Volvo. While the idea may have started as a casual response to the LEGO Masters host, David went on to follow through with this monumental build.

Along with the full-fledged Bugatti and the 24-hour Le Mans hyper-element Peugeot, I consider the pneumatically powered AFOL car to be one of the three most inspiring full-fledged cars.

This car was designed by Romanian AFOL Raul Oaida with help from Australian entrepreneur Steve Sammartino in 2013 and is actually older than my other favorites. The car used over 500,000 LEGO elements and reportedly cost around $25,000 in 2013. The car was originally built in Romania and then shipped to Australia. Sammartino used his fame to help crowdfund and generate publicity for the project.

Technic pistons were used to create four 64-cylinder radial LEGO engines that were then paired together to power the hotrod-style car. This method of distributing the power requirements across many smaller components was the same method LEGO would use a few years later with the electric motor-powered Bugatti. The hotrod has a theoretical top speed of 20-30 km/h, but they kept the speed much lower to prevent the heat generated from having catastrophic effects.