Last year at Le Mans, Porsche unveiled a sculpture that was half Porsche 911 RSR race car and half LEGO sculpture. It was a really interesting piece, and it made the rounds to a few events, including Rennsport Reunion. This year, a similar sculpture has been crafted, but this time out of a 919 Hybrid LMP1 car. The left half is made of real-deal LMP1 parts, and the right half is crafted from 375,000 LEGO bricks, adding some 450 kilograms to the car. The build process took seven full-time builders over 6 weeks, and I must say the end result is pretty meticulous in its recreation of the look of the 919.
The display at COTA was in the infield fan village area among the other manufacturers displays, myriad food trucks, and a few booths selling race-weekend gear. Flanking either side of the 919 LEGO car was a complete 919 Hybrid show car and a complete 911 RSR show car. It was a neat centerpiece of the event’s displays, and sat right next to a nicely air conditioned Porsche Driver’s Selection mini-store.
In discussions with someone from Michelin, the LEGO 919 was apparently supposed to debut at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion in their booth, but transportation logistic issues cropped up last minute and the car was delayed in coming to the States. Porsche apparently had to build a special crate for this LEGO hybrid to get it loaded on an airplane to make it over here without damaging it.
While some of the smaller type face is difficult to replicate in LEGO, like the nosecone’s Mobil 1, Michelin, and Chopard branding, there are parts of the LEGO 919 that are impressively true to the original design. The Porsche and DMG MORI logos on the rear stabilization fin are very close to completely accurate. Well done Porsche, this is a really cool marketing tie-in with LEGO’s Speed Champions series. I already have a bunch of the Porsches from that series, and I’ll likely be getting more as they roll out new models. I keep hoping for a 1:18th scale 917, but I might be hoping for a long time.
[In-Progress Photo and Data provided by Porsche Technical Partner Michelin Tires. All other photos ©2016 FLATSIXES.com/Bradley C. Brownell]