in the lego technic team we came up with
a really crazy idea
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could we build a full-scale bugatti
chiron out of lego technic elements and
actually make it drive
this is the story of how we did it
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it's one thing to get an idea
it's something else to actually make it
happen
but our goal was to prove that with lego
technic you can really build for real
so our first rule was that at least 90
percent of our car had to be built from
lego technic elements
so the first time i heard about the
model i was really excited because it's
something we haven't ever done before we
have also a lot of concerns because we
don't do much technic building here
so we just didn't know if that's
actually possible it's something that
moves the boundaries and completely
redefines the standard
before we could even start the
construction process the team had to do
a lot of research and sketching
we quickly realized that only a few
technical parts could be drawn on
computers most of the car had to be
designed while we were building it
we try to minimize the construction as
it is possible
so
not to go with the classical chassis as
all the cars have we tried to minimize
everything and to be more close to build
for real
and that's the reason why for example
now we have the a-pillar the rear wing
or
for example door hinges made of lego
technic bricks
and it was a huge task for the team to
build almost everything out of technic
elements the real chiron has very
sculptural aesthetics with a lot of
curved
surfaces basically there is no straight
line on the car so we have to come up
with a way how to replicate the surface
of the car with lego technique and for
that we came up with this so-called skin
basically the idea is we divide the
surface of the car into
very small triangles and then connect
them with flexible elements so we can
actually
have this impression of curved surface
we not only had to build the car but a
special tool for adjusting the outer
skin as well
one of the key design elements of the
original bugatti chiron is the unique
light system
the iconic wide rear light bar is an
integral part of the chiron's dna
so it was very important for us to
reproduce the entire light system in the
lego technic version and make it work
just like the original car
well as i heard for the first time the
model is about to be movable it was like
well we can do that and they told me
then with this
so i was like okay we gotta work on it
and come up with something so
we started testing and it's a matrix of
seven times seven
motors and two layers and multiplied by
24 so you have 2304
power function motors in the vehicle
the small lego technic gear wheels were
a major concern they had to move a car
with a weight of 1.5 tons we started by
testing other materials like metal
kevlar and carbon fiber
well it was kind of kind of
interesting for me that
the lego technic gears were better than
the kevlar ones or the carbon fiber 3d
printed gears
a major technical challenge on this lego
technic version of the bugatti chiron
was the large rear wing especially when
we decided to make it fully functional
and powered by lego technic power
function and pneumatic systems
this was a true build for real project
and all details had to be perfect
all together the team spent more than 13
000 man hours constructing the car
and used more than one million lego
technic elements
every single element was assembled by
hand completely without glue
the final construction had to be both
stable and flexible so the car could
drive without breaking apart
and the result was astonishing
it was time to leave the workshop and
head to the ultimate test track at
ireland outside wolfsburg in germany the
same track where bugatti test drive
their vehicles was it possible to build
a car out of lego technic and make it
drive using only lego technic power
function motors
we were about to find out
there was only one person who could
drive our car
and that was andy wallace the official
bugatti pilot
he was ready but was the car
it could drive
but only a few meters
something was wrong
was this going to be a major failure
instead of the success we dreamed of
the team had to quickly identify the
problem and fix it we disassembled the
hood to gain access to the motor unit
the problem lay with a heavy metal chain
in the center of the engine block
not with any lego technic elements or
motors
the other it is that we have opened the
car and saw the engine
and we adjusted
the chain
and we made some adjustments also
regarding the position of the shaft so
right now it's kind of more flexed so it
should work
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everyone was ready
and so was the car
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it could really drive it was an
incredible moment the car drove faster
and faster and continued down the track
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that was fantastic yeah it was yeah and
it actually was gaining a lot more speed
as we went along yeah after all it's
always it's amazing i mean wow what else
this is why we came and this is great
it's running under its own power
every little piece that's on the real
cheer on is there
and it's not until you sit and you look
and you spend time
taking it all in and yeah and enjoying
the surroundings but also you know okay
we know dynamically it runs very well we
know that but if you stand 10 meters
back
between the lego chiron and the rails
here
you really would struggle to tell the
difference i mean seriously
it's it's that good
we did the impossible we built a car out
of lego technic elements and actually
made it drive