Lego continues the series of Technic Ultimate cars with the P1 based on the McLaren classic. It is a handsome, but also expensive decorative object, which easily takes more than ten hours to assemble.
Lego Technic McLaren P1 is a 1:8 scale brick version of McLaren’s hyper sports car launched eleven years ago. The Lego novelty that arrived in stores in September has been praised as Lego’s most advanced Technic Ultimate set to date.
The McLaren P1 was my first exposure to Lego’s top-of-the-line cars for adult builders – and the first technical Lego since the 1980s – so it’s hard to judge the accuracy of the statement. In any case, the product made an impression.
On Lego’s own website, the price of the McLaren P1 is stated to be 449.95 euros, but the product is available for up to a hundred euros cheaper with a little searching. The McLaren P1 developed jointly by McLaren and Lego is therefore quite expensive entertainment even at its most affordable, but it is easy to understand what the price consists of.
Even the sales package of the McLaren P1 impresses. It has a width of 52 cm, a height of 33 cm and a depth of 23 cm. The weight of the package is seven kilos. A standard-sized Lego-Batman is shown in the picture below to illustrate the size of the package – you can’t get it on the side of the P1.
When you lift the lid of the McLaren P1 package, you will see a picture of the car, whose plastic block version is hidden in the corners of the package.
As a small detail, the autographs of the makers of the Lego car are printed on the cardboard of the cover.
After the “cardboard covers” that open on the sides, we start to get to the point: the package reveals three boxes placed next to each other. For some reason, the order of the boxes is 2,1 and 3. The logic didn’t make sense to me.
The three boxes contain a total of 23 paper bags in which the plastic blocks are packed. Most bags contain even smaller additional bags for all the smallest parts. In addition, tires, for example, are packed separately. So there is enough to assemble.
Underneath the boxes are two thick instruction books, which contain, in addition to the instructions, an almost 40-page long and detailed description of the creation process and making of the Lego Technic McLaren P1.
The books are in English and German so that the same thing is printed on the same page in two different languages. The actual building instructions are presented only in pictorial ways, as is characteristic of Lego. Assembling the product therefore does not require language skills.
Unlike most Legos, the McLaren P1 actually has instruction manuals books. Both have about 400 pages of content, and weigh about a kilo.
If you are not interested in turning the pages, you can also find the instructions in a 3D version that can be downloaded for free From the Lego Builder app. It is available for both iOS and Android.
The P1 aims to be as detailed a model of McLaren’s million dollar car as possible, and that means building the V8 piston engine and 7-speed gearbox in-house, along with all the drivetrain components. The job is unrestrained tinkering, but also rewarding; time and time again, Lego’s ingenuity impresses, and when the car is being built, you feel like you are part of a chain that has created an impressive miniature model.
There are small cosmetic flaws in the McLaren and Lego product – such as hard-closing doors and wobbly side mirrors – but the whole is impressive. The only major disappointment is that when the McLaren P1 is finally finished, not all the details hidden under its shell can be seen anymore. Just looking under the car gives you an idea of the extent of the work, but on the other hand, you don’t like to turn the wheel much when it’s ready because of its size and kilos.
Butterfly doors that open upwards, suspension, tires that turn from the steering wheel, an opening bonnet and a rising spoiler can be presented to guests without taking them apart as dust, after all, when the assembly work is complete.
Lego Technic McLaren P1 consists of 3893 parts, so it is not a Lego novelty that can be assembled in just one evening. In most estimates, the construction time is estimated at around 11-12 hours.
I would estimate that I spent a total of about 14 hours on the tree. A couple of times I started to continue building tired and in a semi-dark room, and this quickly backfired as a pointless building that ended with the dismantling of everything that was done. With the deep chest voice of experience, I can also state that involving a five-year-old “assistant” in such a project is not necessarily the best idea in the world.
Hours were also added by the fact that the McLaren P1 punishes harshly for mistakes made. It is such a complex whole that one piece that ends up in the wrong hole cannot be replaced just half an hour later. And even if you notice the mistake quickly, you have to be careful not to pull the pieces apart with too much force. In the worst case, the whole drive will soon fall apart.
During the entire construction process, I had the small needle-nose pliers with me for incorrect fixings, and it helped me a lot in the work.
Like any larger Lego set, the McLaren P1 contains a lot of repetition, but I wouldn’t call it really difficult to assemble. In my opinion, the age recommendation 18+ speaks more about the income level required to acquire the product than about the skill requirements. Surely even a 15-year-old can put the car together, as long as they have the time and patience.
Of course, the Lego Technic McLaren P1 is not suitable for anyone of play age, especially when the finished product is not intended for floor play despite the moving wheels.
The size of the product brings its own challenge to building the Lego Technic McLaren P1: when the car’s body has reached its full length, over half a meter, it is significantly more challenging to move it than at first, and there must be enough table space as well.
It is also good to take care of the lighting, because even though the “paint surface” of the car is bright orange-yellow, there are plenty of black and dark gray parts inside. It’s frustrating to drill the right hole and pin in the dark.
When driving, it’s good to also think about where you plan to place the car. The finished Lego Technic McLaren P1 is 59 cm long, 25 cm wide and 14 cm high. The weight increases to no less than three kilograms, so it is not better to place Lego on any corner of the table, unless you want to quickly start the construction work from the beginning.
As a reward for their work, the builder of the Lego Technic McLaren P1 will receive a plaque with a unique serial number. However, its festivity is slightly reduced by the support, which consists of two ordinary Lego blocks.
Like its prototype, the miniature model also has a unique serial number that can be used to access online content.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of McLaren or any other Autotalli, but the McLaren P1 is quite a sight when it’s ready. Of course, serious car enthusiasts may be annoyed by the compromises that Lego blocks have forced into the product, and they may not like the car’s appearance. This did not bother me.
The Lego Technic McLaren P1 is therefore a skillfully made product in every way, which can be recommended to those interested in Lego’s top car models. The product is admittedly very expensive, even at its cheapest, but there is plenty of value for the money – but of course only and only by the standard of Lego products.
Good
- Handsome detailed execution
- Plenty of details and functionality
- The assembly is meaningful and the instructions are clear
- The overall feeling is high quality
Bad
- High price
- The appearance of the car does not completely resemble the original
- Shaggy doors
- Penalizes mistakes bluntly
The most important information
- Price €449.95
- Finished product size: 14 cm high, 59 cm long and 25 cm
- Weight 3 kg
Source: muropaketti.com
