It is not uncommon to see life-size replicas of cars or motorcycles in LEGO. But recently, LEGO did something which I don’t believe has been done and using a method that is completely new. Celebrating the centenary of the iconic Le Mans 24-hour race, LEGO Technic builders and the elite hypercar design team from Peugeot Sport worked together to scale up the recently released LEGO Technic Peugeot 9×8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar (421156) to 11:1 scale and doing so in just 24 hours.
I don’t believe there have been direct scale-up LEGO sets before, which would make this the first. This upscale model also presents another first. It was built using a newly developed concept known as “hyper elements”. Hyper elements are essentially upscaled versions of regular LEGO Technic elements made from hundreds of individual LEGO pieces. This was the first time the “hyper elements” concept was used.
All told this 11:1 scale Peugeot 9×8 was constructed from 626,392 LEGO Technic elements, featuring 632 different types of LEGO Technic elements. The model contains no less than 720 hyper elements, each Technic element containing about 1500-2000 individual Technic elements.
12 design, engineering, and building experts from LEGO raced against the clock in this alternate endurance challenge at the classic Circuit de la Sarthe track at the Peugeot Sport stand in the Fan Villiage on June 09, 2023, at 19:00 CEST, witnessed by visitors to the pre-race event. The result of the build is a 900 kilograms (1,984 lbs) beauty that measures 520 cm (17’) long, 220 cm (7.2’) wide, and 136 cm (4.5’) high.
Obviously, this 11:1 scale of awesomeness is not for sale. You can, however, still pick up the LEGO Technic Peugeot 9×8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar (42156) for around US$199.99.
Images: LEGO.
