Taking a page out of McLaren’s marketing stunt playbook, Toyota has gone and built a life-size replica of its sportier-than-ever Camry entirely out of Lego. Look, I’ve recreated a lot of cars out of Lego as a kid but I can’t say my dad’s old Camry was one of them.
Commissioned by the brand’s Australian arm, the Lego Camry was designed by Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught, one of only 14 Lego Certified Professionals in the world and apparently the only one to reside in the southern hemisphere. Ever find yourself in the Land Down Under and in need of some professional help, Lego-wise? Ryan’s your man.
Equipped with working headlights, turn signals, and brake lights, the whole thing apparently required 500,000 bricks, weighs around 4,200 pounds, and took 900 hours to build. In other words, this plastic, mostly stationary Camry costs more, is almost 900 pounds heavier, and takes more than 40 times longer to build than the real thing.
Speaking on the special project, Toyota Australia Chief Designer Nicolas Hogios didn’t pass up the opportunity to talk up the qualities that make Toyota, well, Toyota. “The dedication and time that has been put into this one-of-a-kind project really meshes with Toyota’s dedication to the quality, durability, and reliability of our respective products,” said Hogios. “It also provides us a fun platform to showcase the stylish Camry design in a different and interactive way.”
The Lego Camry is on display at the Brickman Awesome exhibition in Melbourne, Australia from now until April 29.
