Eric Ravenscraft
As part of a promo for the Italian Grand Prix, Lego built a functional Bugatti Chiron made from Technic pieces. And when we say “functional,” we mean you can drive it.
The Lego Bugatti Chiron is made of over a million individual Technic pieces—the line of Lego pieces that the company uses for more complex designs, especially ones with moving parts—but it’s not pure Lego. Since this thing needs to drive, it still uses a minimal metal frame and real Bugatti tires. Outside of those minor exceptions, however, the entire thing is made of bricks.
That includes the motor. Or, rather, motors. Specifically, 2,304 of the Lego Technic Power Function motors. These collectively give the vehicle an unfathomable 5.3 horsepower. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s probably more horsepower than any Lego creation you ever put together as a kid. That mild but impressive horsepower gives the car a theoretical top speed of 19 miles per hour.
As impressive as it is, the Lego version of the Chiron is almost certainly cheaper than the real Bugatti supercar. The regular Chiron costs around $2.914 million. Meanwhile, Lego pretty consistently prices its product at around an average of 10.4 cents per brick. Obviously some of these parts are more expensive—the motors alone would cost a little over $69,000 if you bought them at retail—but with a million pieces at around ten cents per piece, the car itself would theoretically cost around $104,000. Add the cost of the motors, and you’re looking at a total price of $174,000. You know, plus Bugatti tires, a metal frame, and the mother of all instruction manuals.
Source: Lego via TechCrunch
