Drivable, yes*. Steerable, no.
You can’t always rely on the automotive industry to push boundaries of wackiness, and frankly thats a attribute that we reckon it could use more of. Naturally, it’s up to companies serving other industries to pick up the slack. But Lego?
The Danish toy and hobby assembly kit maker has went ahead to make this, a life-size and fully drivable Bugatti Chiron, replete with accurate dimensions, interior, an engine (of sorts), even wheels and tyres. Undertaking such a project needed quite bit of conviction and perhaps some hallucinogenic support.
The ‘car’ is constructed of over 1,000,000 Lego Technic elements custom moulded for the purpose, though they won’t disclose how many (if any) human beings were involved in piecing it together. We’d love to see a time-lapse of this thing taking from a huge pile of Lego parts. All assembled, which they say took over 13,000 to develop and construct, this ‘Legotti' does still weigh as much as a mid-size family sedan at 1,500kg.
That means that the 2,304 Lego Power Function electric motors working in unison still struggles to move it along at any appreciable rate. Luckily it does manage to move thanks to the combined twisting force of 92Nm, but with a total of just 5.3hp, it won’t have much more to give once initial momentum is gained.
Undoubtedly the coolest part of the whole package has to be the retractable air-brake rear spoiler, pneumatically powered and controlled from within the cabin, which still does seat two. With Bugatti’s support, Lego even managed to get chief test driver Andy Wallace to pilot the Legotti to a top speed of 20km/h at the Volkswagen Group’s (Bugatti’s parent company) high speed proving grounds in Ehra-Lessien, Germany.
If I were Mr.Wallace, I’d definitely be most amused at the car, thoroughly in admiration of what Lego was able to do and how faithfully they’ve kept to an actual Chiron - probably while unable to control my laughter from the sheer hilarity of the whole experience.
