Lego car models have gotten pretty sophisticated in recent years, with scale (and realistic!) vehicles in all sizes and makes. Lego Fiats, Lego Defenders, even a little Lego minifigure of Ayrton Senna have all been offered for sale in recent years.
Those creations, however, were tiny scale models. To commemorate the opening of a new Ferrari-themed attraction at Legoland Florida, the company kicked it up a notch and had a team of builders create a life-size replica of the Ferrari 296 GTS entirely out of bricks.
The model — which Lego says took a team of 10 people 1,850 hours to build — features working headlights, taillights, and license-plate illumination. The driver's door opens and the interior, also built entirely out of Lego bricks save for a real 296 GTS steering wheel, features a two-tone beige-and-black dash and a pair of what are likely to be the least-comfortable bucket seats in the world.
A Lego twin-turbo V6 pokes through the exposed rear window of the car. Despite being made almost entirely of plastic, it weighs more than a running, driving, 819-horsepower 296 GTS, with the Lego model clocking in at nearly two tons versus the real deal's 3,395 pounds.
No official count was given for the number of bricks used to make the car. Instead, Legoland Florida will host a contest on its Instagram page to guess how many were used. Previous full-size vehicle models the company has built such as the Ferrari F40, Volvo V70, and Ford F-150 Lightning used around 350,000 pieces each, so it's likely that the Ferrari 296 GTS is somewhere in that neighborhood.
Given an average cost in most Lego sets of about 10 cents per brick, that would put this 296 GTS at a cost-to-build of about $35,000. Not a bad discount, considering the real deal costs more than ten times that.
If you want to see the Lego Ferrari for yourself, it will be on display at Legoland Florida starting March 8th.
