Tag Archives: Race Car

Compact KTM X-Bow promises to get your heart racing

If you are unfamiliar with the Austrian auto manufacturer KTM, it may be because they primarily produce motorcycles. The KTM X-Bow (pronounced “crossbow”), expertly built here in LEGO by Nard Verbong, marks their entry into the road car market. The sporty little X-Bow GT2 has found its fans among connoisseurs, and was even invited to participate in the Bathurst 12-Hour endurance race, starting in 2022. This is one of those models where you aren’t sure how it’s holding together. This is Nard’s second iteration of the ultra-light sportscar. Extra credit to the builder for pressing to remove any studs in this updated version.

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LEGO Icons 10353 Williams FW14B & Nigel Mansell: “And colossally, that’s LEGO Mansell!” [Review & Exclusive Designer Insights]

Modern Formula One cars are fantastically complex beasts. And yet, if you ask hardcore F1 fans what the most technologically advanced car ever is, there’s a good chance they will plump for one from 1992. The Williams FW14B is famous for enjoying its technological superiority over its rivals, with traction control and active suspension among its many innovations. This icon of 1990s F1 is now getting an official LEGO set, alongside its most famous pilot, in the form of 10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell. With an RRP of US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99, this 799-piece kit can be pre-ordered now ahead of its general release on March 1st. (You might also see it on eBay or Amazon thereafter.)

Our editor-in-chief Andrew Becraft visited Billund last year to talk to LEGO Icons designer (and LEGO Masters Australia victor) Gus McLaren about this set ahead of its release. So you can expect to see some interesting bits of information sprinkled throughout this review. (A shout-out too to Nicole, AKA GirlBricksALot, for joining Andrew in the interview and backing him up with some specialist F1 knowledge!)

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.

Click here to read our review of this legendary racer!

The rain in France falls mainly on the track!

It’s said it always rains for Le Mans, and this LEGO build by Sybrin doesn’t disappoint! Each car – with a swoosh and a roar of the engine – kicks up a huge spray of trans-clear plates and 2×2 arches behind it as it tears down the track. My favorite part of this is that the natural shininess of the LEGO tiles in the road makes it look like the raceway is rain-slicked and shiny! Sybrin also did a great job with those custom-made Speed Champions style race cars too; the closest one is a Ferrari AF Corsa #50 , and the far car is Toyota Gazoo’s #7. So of Corsa we were going to make a big hulla-gazoo about this!

The water effects in the diorama are entirely brick-built, from the raindrops splashing onto the pavement to the rooster tails behind the roaring hyper-cars.

Racing across the gulf between galaxies

Iconic racing liveries have more reach than we first thought, it seems. In LEGO Speed Champions 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R, the former of the two vehicles sports the blue-and-orange colours of Gulf Oil, which have adorned countless other racing cars in this galaxy. In the galaxy far, far away, though, it’s Vertaro who has applied these colours (and that Ford’s windscreen, incidentally) to their own racing speeder. The asymmetric design is very cool, from the offset cockpit to the engine chained to the side. Now that might not seem like the safest way to attach your power plant. But at least if it breaks, there’s an unexpected passenger hanging off the side who can help fix it!

LEGO Speed Champions 76922 BMW M4 GT3 & BMW M Hybrid V8: A double-dose of winners? [Review]

What’s better than one LEGO Speed Champions car? Two LEGO Speed Champions cars! The latest dual-pack to be added to the theme is 76922 BMW M4 GT3 & BMW M Hybrid V8, with 676 pieces. Retailing for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £44.99, and available from March 1st, this dual-pack depicts two racers from the same manufacturer, but very different racing backgrounds. Is this race going to be a one-sided affair, or will they both win our hearts? You’ll have to read our review to find out!

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.

Click here to read our review

LEGO Speed Champions 76921 Audi S1 e-tron Quattro: Are we mad for this mad off-roader? [Review]

What do you get if you cross a Group B rally car with one of the craziest car stunt series on the internet, and throw in some LEGO bricks for good measure? Why, the new Speed Champions set 76921 Audi S1 e-tron Quattro, of course! Featuring 274 pieces for US $26.99 | CAN $34.99 | UK £20.99, this mean machine will hit shelves from March 1st. Are you brave enough to get behind the wheel? Hop in and read our review – let’s find out!

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.

Click here to read our review

LEGO Speed Champions 76919 McLaren Formula One Race Car: Pretty in papaya [Review]

It’s a good time to be a fan of LEGO and the McLaren F1 team. If you prefer your Macca race cars a bit more modern — and minifigure-scaled — than the new 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna set that we just reviewed a few days ago, then 76919 McLaren Formula One Race Car may be for you. It’s hitting shelves from the 1st of March for US $26.99 | CAN $34.99 | UK £20.99. Are its 245 pieces worth the time and money? Read on to see what we think of this latest addition to the Speed Champions garage!

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.

Click here to read our review

LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna: Grand Prix race-winner, or backmarker? [Review]

If you want an easy way of being remembered as a sporting entity, a good way of doing that is by becoming unbeatable. Think Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’, or the Miami Dolphins circa 1972. In Formula One, no team has won every race in a season, but two have come close. So it’s fitting that, a few months after Red Bull became the second F1 team to win every race bar one in a season, the first car to achieve this feat hits the shelves in the form of LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna. Retailing for US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99, this set will be available from March 1st. The MP4/4 was a mighty racecar, but does this set live up to its legendary status? Read our review to find out!

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.

Take your place on the starting grid to read what we make of this set!

Prototype by name, prototype by nature

If you know your motor racing, the 1999 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will probably have you picturing a Mercedes-Benz CLR somersaulting the Mulsanne straight. Spare a thought for BMW, though – they won the race, and almost no one remembers their car! The aptly-named LEGO builder PROTOTYP sure does, though. This model painstakingly recreates the BMW V12 LMR in the brick, with the help of a few custom decals and wheels.

Make no mistake, though – the bricks are doing the heavy lifting here! The detail is evident underneath the bodywork and on top, and this is where my motorsport nerd heart starts fluttering. The engine is there, of course: all 12 cylinders of it. But so are the radiators, the wiring, the cooling hoses, the driveshafts, and – my personal favourite – the shock absorbers, with red 1×1 round studs standing in for springs. This is attention to detail truly worthy of a winner!

Does a checkered flag even wave in space?

This LEGO Speed Champions space-ification by EricTheSkeleton is giving me some serious “2013” vibes. For it was a decade ago that we were introduced to GARC, or the Galactic Asteroid Rally Circuit. And while Eric’s terrific speedsters are more “circuit” than “rally,” they still leave me pining for the golden age of LEGO space racing. With all the recent Speed Champions options out there now, maybe it’s time for a comeback…

A silky-smooth build of a speedy Jaguar

Of all the things the 1980s gave us, undoubtedly the coolest were some of the race cars of the era. As well as its F1 cars, you had Group A touring cars, the legendary Group B rally cars, and the futuristic Group C prototypes. LEGO car builder extraordinaire KMP MOCs has taken a stab at one of my favourite Group C racers: the Jaguar XJR-12, in resplendent Silk Cut livery. I’m impressed with how low to the ground this is. KMP builds most of their MOCs in a scale similar to Speed Champions, and the ground clearance in these sets isn’t particularly accurate (though understandably so). But here it’s practically cutting daisies! I don’t think you could fit much more than a piece of paper under there.

LEGO Technic McLaren Formula 1 Race Car – A replica worth buying? [Review]

We all know that LEGO is the best toy company in the world. And in the Formula 1 community, one of the most (if not the most) popular teams is that of McLaren. As the second-oldest competitor, they have a lot of clout under their belt. They’re also known for being innovative in the world of racing vehicles. So it was only natural that the two joined forces to introduce the LEGO Technic 42141 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car. This 1432-piece set will be available beginning March 1st, and retail for US $179.99 | CAN $239.99 | UK £159.99. Come along as we hop in the driver’s seat to take a closer look and run her through her paces.

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.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Technic McLaren Formula 1 Race Car