I usually talk regarding connected objects in my section. But developing a Lego Technic set of 3800 pieces, allowing the construction of the last Ferrari Daytona SP3, which was not yet official, is still a technical challenge. To stay faithful to the title of my articles, I took the trouble to (start to) build this car which will measure, in the end, 59 cm long, 25 cm wide and 14 cm high!
How do you “draw” a Lego Technic vehicle?
I had the chance to speak remotely for 20 minutes with Aurélien Rouffiange, senior designer at Lego, from his office at the company’s headquarters in Denmark. My idea was how to draw a car. And I learned a lot of things, especially regarding the way in which Technic projects are carried out which “officially” reproduce existing cars (or which will soon exist).
It all starts with a project. “Two years ago, we finished the (Lamborghini) Sian project”and so the team wanted a new challenge for a new beautiful and big car to build. “We pushed to get Ferrari, we already knew them“, from a previous project. The idea of Lego, for some time, is to release the Technic version at the same time as the official release of the car – even if it does not simplify the work, you will see it Negotiations take place Lego receives some images of the prototype of the Daytona SP3, a super-car from Ferrari, very exclusive and produced in only 599 copies.
“We start with photos or 3D images (of the prototype) that we receive, and we start to work. We draw the chassis, we choose a size, a gauge, the wheels. We draw it with Lego pieces, we create a visual. It takes a few months, and then we present the project to the partner (to Ferrari, therefore)”. If the partner validates, “we then receive more info and more images“, which allows the design team of Lego to go a step further, to start building their own prototype.
©LEGO
Secret meeting to see the car “in real life”
Ferrari agrees with the model, the collaboration is confirmed… while the Daytona SP3 has not yet been unveiled to the general public. “So we go there, in the greatest secrecy. We have to take the plane with the model, which must absolutely remain confidential. At the airport, you have to plan ahead“, because the suitcase cannot be opened by the customs officers in front of everyone.
At the headquarters of the famous Italian manufacturer, the Lego team finally has access to the car. “We can then analyze it in more detail, take our own photos“, in order to offer a Lego version as faithful as possible to reality.
Custom parts or “standard” Technic parts?
The Daytona SP3 is “difficult to transform“in car Lego Technic car”it has very organic, specific forms“. Especially since the design team can not do anything. “In theory, all parts must be reusable”, so must be part of the countless existing parts. “But we can still create specific parts each year. Here, for example, it’s rims and tires, so that they are the right size”. As well as some specific parts of the ‘bodywork’. Of the 3,800 pieces in the set, “there must be 10 or 12 specific parts“, which were therefore created only for this Ferrari.
If it made you want to build a beautiful Lego Technic car, know that for my interlocutor Aurélien Rouffiange, you only need “regarding 8 to 9 a.m.“.It’s work time”for a person who is used to it”. During my test, I understood that it will be at least three times more for a person… But it is an engineering treasure made up of countless gears and a mechanical gearbox! Because there is no motor to make it a remote control vehicle, as is sometimes the case with Technic, “because there is no room, we preferred to put a nice gearbox and a nice engine, with all the gears” :
The only fly in the ointment: the price. 399€but everything makes you want to, from the packaging to the assembly booklets with photos and explanations, to the finished product which will sit on a beautiful shelf and the numbered card (because yes, it’s a limited edition.. .).
