LEGO Speed Champions 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R [Review]

Even if you are not a motorsport geek you may have heard about the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour Continental race known for Ford’s 24-hour endurance win. By the way, the event was portrayed in the 2019 movie Ford v Ferrari starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon. To celebrate the 55th anniversary of the legendary achievement, last August, Ford revealed a brand new Ford GT Heritage Edition. And while car collectors are hunting down the new edition of the GT, another Ford’s icon, Bronco R, is competing in one of the most dangerous off-road races in the world, Baja 1000. Together these two very different vehicles ended up in one 660-piece LEGO Speed Champions set, 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R which will be available starting June 1 for US $49.99 | CAN $69.99 | UK £44.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Packaging and contents

The set comes in a medium-sized box, with a dynamic image of both cars cruising side by side. Additional pictures on the back of the box don’t reveal much; they don’t even include additional shots of minifigures, which I find a bit disappointing. Obviously, the theme is all about the vehicles, not the drivers, but the minifigures in the set both look great and increase playability.

Being on the larger side, Ford Bronco R consists of more elements than a regular LEGO Speed Champions lightweight supercar. Hence, three bags of pieces and a sticker sheet of moderate size. Not four, but you can instantly spot six tires in bag #3.

Ford GT Heritage Edition only drives 4 wheels and needs significantly fewer pieces. But unlike Bronco’s, GT’s bags are a feast for the eyes. The sight of all the pieces in medium azure gives anticipation of a stunning build.

New elements

I was surprised to find so many new elements in this not that large set. First of all, it’s the new 1×5 plate. Fans spotted the piece in white in one of the upcoming VIDIYO sets, but here you’ll find one in black.

It looks very ordinary placed by similar plate elements, but the difference it makes for the build is hard to overestimate. Used as the core piece in Bronco’s front headlights section, the new 1×5 plate allows for an exceptionally compact but sturdy structure.

Next comes something completely different — the new bar element. It seems to come to replace the lipstick piece, but unlike the lipstick (which is made of softer rubber), the new bar is pure ABS.

Saving you some questions: 1) it’s 2L long (just like a Technic pin) 2) yes, you can stick a plume on either end of the element 3) no, you can’t use the element as a connector for pneumatic tubes — there’s a wall inside in the middle. The potential of the new piece is yet to be discovered, so I recommend any builder get at least several pieces as soon as possible. However, you’ll only find two used in the Bronco.

Finally, the set is one of the finest sources of smaller pieces in medium azure that you can find on a store shelf today. In the photo below, you can see all the types of pieces from bag #4, and there are some more in bag #5. Most of these come in pairs, so whether you have a vast collection or you’ve just started collecting, this may be one of the finest expansions for your collection.

Minifigures

The set features two minifigures, a female and a male driver. Behind the wheel of the massive Bronco is a courageous driver in a modern-looking racing suit. The design of the torso goes fantastic, along with printed legs. I like all the logos both on the front and the back of the minifigure. Bonus points are for two facial expressions; there no such thing as a too playable set.

Unlike the female driver, the male one wears a retro suit. And if you find it familiar, this is because we’ve already seen a similar minifigure in 75881 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40. Note that the new torso has stripes of different colors. I wish the legs were printed as well.

The build

According to the instructions, first, we have to build Bronco R. There’s nothing mindblowing about the building solutions inside the model, so I suggest we take a quick look at the car at different stages of assembling. And using the pieces from bag #1, you build something that looks equally like the future Bronco and an alien spaceship. With studs facing every possible direction, it’s quite an interesting structure.

It only takes several steps to cover the body with a bunch of sloped. One of the most prominent features of the car is the blue roll cage inside the car. To my surprise, the angles at which the blue bar elements are set are not random at all. The neighboring pieces help a lot when positioning every adjustable element inside the car.

There is no much room inside the car for interior design. However, a single sticker with the central console is a nice touch.

With the roof and all six wheels in place, the Bronco R is ready to hit the Mexican desert. We’ll take a closer look at the finished model in just a moment.

By contrast, Ford GT Heritage Edition is a much more conventional LEGO Speed Champions model. It starts with a regular car floor element and brings almost no surprises for the right half of the assembling. It’s not until the doors are in place when you start noticing the gorgeous shapes of the car. Obviously, with the limitations of LEGO pieces, it is far from a proper scale copy of the car. Nevertheless, there are many piece combinations to enjoy, especially in azure, black and orange.

One of the most intriguing moments was the signature front part of the car. And, yes, the headlights are made with printed pieces, not stickers.

Once the front and the windscreen are attached, the car is ready to join its bigger brother on a trip all across North America.

The completed models

With cars placed side by side, it becomes very apparent how much different the cars actually are. Although much lower and sleeker, Ford GT’s exterior is much busier than Bronco’s dark and dull livery. No doubt, the development of the set started with GT, with Bronco as a complementary model.

As for the rearview, a couple of spare wheels in Bronco’s trunk instantly caught my eye. I’d say both cars look equally great; while GT reveals fantastic use of curved tiles and angles, Bronco brings some playability with the rear bay.

Capturing both cars from a lower angle proved to be quite a challenge. Bronco looks great from above, but as soon as you get lower than the headlights, you can’t help noticing quite an ugly chassis. Dark gray bricks with wheel axels running through them completely ruined the impression for me. Obviously, it’s simply impossible to recreate all the details of the independent suspension of the truck, but it doesn’t justify what I see right now.

Another unexpected limitation of Bronco’s design hides inside the car. With all the roll cage bars sticking out here and there, it’s not obvious how the minifigure will fit inside. And at the very end of the building guide, you’ll find a dedicated page showing the right way of placing the minifigure inside, i.e., the left hand must be lowered down.

By just looking at the driver, I can feel how uncomfortable she is inside the car. And with blue bars hiding the face from most angles, the car doesn’t look elegant at all.

Unlike the off-roader, GT welcomes its driver with an exceptionally comfortable cockpit. Just look how spacious it is.

As a challenge, I tried to find an angle that GT would look ugly from. Well, there’s no such angle; the car is a little masterpiece.

By the way, the car uses new types of wheels and rims. We will take a closer look at the pieces in another Speed Champions review. For now, let’s enjoy the look of the new Ford GT.

Despite the criticism above, there a lot of lovely things in Bronco, too. Its shape may not be as sophisticated as the GT’s, but I like the livery created by stickers. And it’s actually very true to the original, too.

Bronco was designed for rough terrain. Its body is lightweight and ergonomic, with as least details as possible. Even the stoplights are just a couple of 1×1 transparent red tiles, so do not expect much inspiration from this model.

Of course, the roof is detachable, revealing both the cockpit and the rear bay with the spear wheels. There’s also a 2×2 round dish attached to the roof that helps to keep the top wheel in place. Smart and simple.

Very often, Speed Champions cars are not only about the building experience but also about displayability. Fortunately, both cars look even greater with their drivers posing near. The colorful stripes on the driver’s suits beautifully compliment the car’s livery.

And since Bronco offers a bit more playability, you can easily turn the driver into a mechanic.

Conclusion and recommendation

Let’s make put it this way: 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R brings two cars — one is a beautiful masterpiece, and another is, well, not that beautiful and masterpiece-y. No doubt, most fans will get the set for the sake of Ford GT, but Bronco will still take its place in the collection by other offroaders, like MINI John Cooper Works Buggy. We still have five more summer Speed Champions sets to review, but it’s safe to say right now that Ford GT is the most beautiful car of this year.

76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R contains 660 pieces and two minifigures. Starting June 1, the set will be available from LEGO and other retailers for US $49.99 | CAN $69.99 | UK £44.99. It may also be available on Amazon and eBay.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

2 comments on “LEGO Speed Champions 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R [Review]

  1. Jonathan Gale

    Is the central collar the same diameter as a stud, so could you insert this into a Tile, Round 2 x 2 with Hole for example?

  2. winstonheard

    This wasn’t my favorite at first, but that GT looks better the more I see more angles. In general, I think the Speed Champs are MUCH better in hand than in photos so I shouldn’t be surprised. I still wish a non-sticker front bumper could have been constructed though

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