This Time-Lapse of a Life-Size Lego McLaren 720S Build is Hypnotic to Watch
2,000 man hours, 280,000 bricks, and a whole lot of coffee.
McLaren delighted both the young and the young at heart when they brought along a life-size replica of the 2018 McLaren 720S constructed (almost) entirely out of Lego to the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month. Now the company has released a timelapse video showing the build come together, and spoiler—it's a damn plastic brick ballet.
To create this masterpiece, McLaren provided CAD data to Lego in order to determine the correct number and range of bricks, then turned to a team of professional Lego builders to put it all together. The six-person Bright Bricks crew took around 2,000 man hours and used 280,000 bricks to put it all together, constructing the model over a steel frame and a very real set of Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires.
Compare that epic effort to the mere 12 days it takes the McLaren factory to build a real 720S entirely from scratch and you'll realize that this is much more than a giant, 3,200-pound toy car. (Yes, it's heavier than the real thing too.) And though it's a little disappointing that they didn't attempt to model the interior or engine, you can't knock their structural support system—builders are seen putting their whole body weight on the hood and the roof with no problem.
The final 13,000 bricks were added by Goodwood attendees in a charity event that McLaren says raised over $3,000. Unfortunately this 1:1 model remains a one-off creation for now, so if you have your heart set on owning a plastic version of Woking's finest, check out the smaller example officially released by Lego in June.