Lego's latest 1:1 replica is the McLaren Senna, which took four months and 467,854 bricks...

[midian182]

In brief: Another famous vehicle has been given the Lego treatment, with the small plastic blocks being used to create a full-size replica of the car. This time, the subject was McLaren's 208mph Senna hypercar, which took nine times longer to create than the real thing.

We’ve already seen 1:1 Lego replicas of Chevy’s Silverado truck, a Porsche 911 Turbo, and a drivable Bugatti Chiron.

Recreating the Senna was a massive undertaking that required 467,854 bricks, 20,000 of which were designed specifically for the model. 42 Lego professionals worked 2,725 hours—the equivalent of four months—on the creation. That’s more than nine times longer than the 300 hours it takes to hand-build an actual Senna car. Additionally, the model weighs 3,748 pounds, over 1,100 pounds heavier than the production vehicle.

While the model isn’t drivable like the Bugatti, it does have some working features, such as the lights and infotainment system. There’s also an ignition button that plays an audio sample of the car’s 789bhp twin-turbo V8 starting.

Not everything in the replica is made from Lego. The bricks, which are glued in place, sit on a reinforced steel frame, while the pedals, steering wheel, driver's seat, badges, wheels and tires all come from the actual car, though the brake calipers and discs are made from Lego.

The distinctive dihedral doors, meanwhile, don’t work on a hinge—they need to be lifted on and off by hand.

Only 500 McLaren Senna cars are being produced, and every one of the £750,000 (around $992,000) vehicles has already been sold.

McLaren will be displaying the Lego Senna at events across this year, including the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/79383-lego-latest-11-replica-mclaren-senna-which-took.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

When you're a multi millionaire or multi billion dollar company, buying a car like this is about purchasing an asset. They don't track these cars. They don't drive these cars. They sit in a gallery earning value till they can be sold at gain.

Less risky than the stock market.

Same applies for paintings, other fine art and ultra-luxury real estate in prime areas.

 

[elementalSG]

"...Additionally, the model weighs 3,748 pounds, over 1,100 pounds heavier than the production vehicle."

This made me laugh. It also shows just how amazing materials like carbon fiber and aluminum are; carbon fiber is much stronger than steel, yet weighs much less for the same tensile strength. A car built of plastic Legos is over half a ton heavier than the actual production one that can go 220 mph. Material science is just incredible.

 

[kira setsu]

Whats the point of a car like this, so elite, and that will never be driven? I dont mean the lego one I mean the real thing.

I honestly dont understand, super rich people will park it and forget about it, so whats the purpose of it? so engineers at mclaren or any high end car company honestly, can rake in funds to build an even more focused vehicle that'll never get used?

 

[Vulcanproject]

When you're a multi millionaire or multi billion dollar company, buying a car like this is about purchasing an asset. They don't track these cars. They don't drive these cars. They sit in a gallery earning value till they can be sold at gain.

It can be somewhat risky depending on the model, demand and economic situation. The Senna will probably go up in value over the retail price someone might have paid for it very short term. Say the first 18 months because it's the hot new thing, it's the desirable youtube and instagram car. But then something else comes along even from Mclaren after a few years, the values can soften. Possibly rise again after 5+ years, but not necessarily faster than inflation.

A Mclaren P1 average retail (from factory) price in 2013 was a bit over $1.5m according to Mclaren, but they aren't really worth more than that now. They haven't lost in 6 years, but they haven't gained either especially accounting for inflation. The gains were in the first 2 years.

You have to flip the car in the right window when it's hot. Economic instability can crash the used hypercar market, because more often than not these cars are not just straight forward cash sales. People finance up to the eyeballs, even millionaires.

Take the Enzo for example. Early values (03-04) were well above the retail price of $670k. People bought them second hand as $1m cars. Then they dropped back significantly when the car was 4-5 years old as the recession bit. Failing to sell at $800k. 10 years later they are easily worth $2m.

They can be very good investments but I think people should buy them to drive them, buy them because they like them. However it's true that most people don't. Many likely didn't get to be so wealthy by not just viewing the car as an asset to sell on at the slightest hint of a profit, that's their nature.

 

[Capaill]

Whats the point of a car like this, so elite, and that will never be driven? I dont mean the lego one I mean the real thing.

The purpose is: they want it so they will buy it so the car company makes money.
If there was enough demand from billionaires for a pink rocketship that blows bubbles out the engine exhaust, that would get made too.

 

[elementalSG]

Whats the point of a car like this, so elite, and that will never be driven? I dont mean the lego one I mean the real thing.

I honestly dont understand, super rich people will park it and forget about it, so whats the purpose of it? so engineers at mclaren or any high end car company honestly, can rake in funds to build an even more focused vehicle that'll never get used?

So I continue to enjoy car shows such as The Grand Tour and Top Gear and live vicariously through the hosts who drive them and present how it feels through the television?

Kidding aside, the reason is because these cars represent the bleeding edge of technology in automobiles. 5-10 years later, many of the concepts and designs (including materials like carbon fiber, aluminum) become mainstream and are added to the actual cars we buy and drive everyday. But the bleeding edge tech had to be created and tested somewhere first. It will always be initially in these insanely expensive hyper/super cars. Then what makes sense and can be mass produced filters down to our mainstream cars.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

A Mclaren P1 average retail (from factory) price in 2013 was a bit over $1.5m according to Mclaren, but they aren't really worth more than that now. They haven't lost in 6 years, but they haven't gained either especially accounting for inflation. The gains were in the first 2 years.

You're doing short-term comparisons.

How about 10 years?

How about 20 years?

How about you tell me the purchase price of a McLaren F1 during the 90's and the profit gain now in 2019.

 

[pcnthuziast]

A truly cool and wonderful thing to look at it that is absolutely and utterly pointless. Life is good tbh.

 

[Vulcanproject]

A Mclaren P1 average retail (from factory) price in 2013 was a bit over $1.5m according to Mclaren, but they aren't really worth more than that now. They haven't lost in 6 years, but they haven't gained either especially accounting for inflation. The gains were in the first 2 years.

You're doing short-term comparisons.

How about 10 years?

How about 20 years?

How about you tell me the purchase price of a McLaren F1 during the 90's and the profit gain now in 2019.

Investments can be short term and long term. Either can be difficult to predict. A Mclaren F1's value soared from about 10 years old until now, 25 years old. It's THE best example, but can you tell me the price of many other similar cars from that era?

Take a Jaguar XJ220 of a very similar time period. $500k car new. Values crashed to barely $150k, stayed low for the next 20 years, and only started to rise enough to make it a smart investment (now $500k+) quite recently in fact. You could grab one for as little as $100k not much more than 10 years ago.

Or the iconic F40. You would think it exploded in value ($400k) after introduction in 1987, but they didn't. In around 2000 you could buy one for maybe $200k. It is now a cool $1m+ car, much more if a great example. But for most of that life (say about the first 20 years) it wasn't worth more than it was new, tracking inflation. You buy it in 1987, you had to wait 30 years to get your money back or show a small profit.

You have to know the market quite well to make good money. That or sit around for over 20 years and hope it'll be worth better than inflation. The F1 is, the XJ220 isn't and even the F40 barely is. One was a great investment from new, the other two not in that aspect. It's just too far away to predict and subject to many forces beyond anyone's control.

 

[toooooot]

I love it. It must have been an amazing experience building it.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Take a Jaguar XJ220 of a very similar time period. $500k car new. Values crashed to barely $150k, stayed low for the next 20 years, and only started to rise enough to make it a smart investment (now $500k+) quite recently in fact. You could grab one for as little as $100k not much more than 10 years ago.

Or the iconic F40. You would think it exploded in value ($400k) after introduction in 1987, but they didn't. In around 2000 you could buy one for maybe $200k.

#1 Jaguars SUCK. They always have - they always will. FORD helped improve Jaguar, Rover and Martin's reliability and they are still low on the reliability charts.

#2 Ferraris depreciate mostly because they are driven.

Considering what socialists are doing in Europe - causing these companies to downsize engines and increase safety features and weight, a car like a McLaren, Lamborghini V12 or just about any other anti-green vehicle will be worth a lot more given time.

 

[Vulcanproject]

#1 Jaguars SUCK. They always have - they always will. FORD helped improve Jaguar, Rover and Martin's reliability and they are still low on the reliability charts.

#2 Ferraris depreciate mostly because they are driven.

Considering what socialists are doing in Europe - causing these companies to downsize engines and increase safety features and weight, a car like a McLaren, Lamborghini V12 or just about any other anti-green vehicle will be worth a lot more given time.

Many Jaguars are fantastic. E Type probably the most beautiful car ever built. The I Pace is the best electric car on sale today. That's a big statement, and one backed up by many motoring journalists. Jaguar only really improved when Ford sold them. Under Ford they built garbage like the S Type and X Type. The renaissance happened post 2008.

Ferraris don't really depreciate for several years, because demand massively outstrips supply, intentionally so. You order a new Ferrari of any current model, you probably won't see it for at least 3 years.

After it's no longer the hot thing and a new model replaces it, that's when the value dips. Except perhaps for the limited edition models, which you also can't buy because Ferrari only invite people who have a history of like 20 other Ferraris the past 20 years to buy them. But only if they like you personally. If they don't like you, you can have 100 Ferraris and they still won't invite you. I'm deadly serious, this is a known reality. Ask David Lee or Preston Henn when they tried to buy an Aperta.

As for future values I think it's highly dangerous to predict that high powered internal combustion engined hyper cars will go up significantly in value. We stand upon the threshold of a brand new era for cars. In 20 years there may be very few new ICE cars still built and fewer younger people interested in manually driving them, let alone buying them.

Just the other day I considered this. It's not going to be trendy driving around in any ICE car in 25 years as everyone is zooming about dozing off in their electric robot cars. It's going to seem more and more anti social insisting on running over pedestrians and filling precious baby lungs with particulates when robo car does neither. Younger people are probably not going to be looking favourably upon it as they suffer the effects of the oil lust that gripped the world the previous 150 years. An ICE hyper car is practically the symbol for that time of excess and waste that could no longer be sustained.

Maybe the values will rise, maybe they will stagnate, maybe there will be a backlash and these cars are shunned as a bygone era. Do most people still want to go buy and own a horse? Not particularly, the population no longer desire one, only a tiny percentage. As a mode of transport the interest has waned significantly. Perhaps most people in the future will view and value an ICE vehicle the same way. Uncertain.

Whatever happens, attitudes to ICE vehicles are certainly gradually changing in most of the developed world.

 

[pythonNoB]

That was probably an amazing experience , time consuming and it's worthy .