As well as plenty of racing action, this weekend’s upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix will also feature a 418,556-piece life-size pink LEGO Cadillac.
Racing fans will have all eyes on the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, as Formula 1 returns to the track for two days of fast-paced entertainment. Ahead of the event, the LEGO Group has today announced the first-ever LEGO Racing F1 ACADEMY car and sponsorship, as well as an appearance by a special life-size brick-built vehicle.
Inspired by Elvis Presley’s legendary 1950s ride, the pink model has been designed and assembled by the home of large-scale builds, the LEGO Kladno Factory in Czechia. The F1 design team at the location constructed the Fleetwood Sixty Special, starting with a small model that was then upscaled.
The testament to the King of Graceland was created at a 28:1 scale, took over 4,000 hours to design and build, and is comprised of a staggering 418,556 bricks, including a record-setting 123,426 pink elements.
“We started by designing the small one ourselves,” said Design Manager Specialist Lubor Zelinka, “which took three or four weeks, going through different iterations. Experimenting with the scale, we did a wooden mock-up of the whole interior and took it from there. This is the same scale we used for the F1 cars in Miami.”
When it came to attention-to-detail, the model’s designers managed to devise wing mirrors made from up-scaled teacup elements held by a single-piece component, use gold accents from LEGO NINJAGO sets to create the iconic Cadillac logo on the front and rear of the car, and make the famed Cadillac emblem on either side of the hood from grey pieces.
The LEGO Kladno Factory team also faced an extremely tight four-month turnaround deadline in order to get the life-size Cadillac model completed in time for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“Typically, we’d have 12 months on projects that involve life-sized, drivable vehicles,” explained Lubor, “and here we had less than half that. We were building day and night with a group of ten people.”
The result is a striking large-scale model, one that weighs a whopping two tons, the average weight of a real 1950s Cadillac, and is packed with features. Those include authentic whitewall tyres and wire rims, a small retro steering wheel, working front and rear lights, turn signals and hazard lights, as well as an operational LEGO key to start the engine.
In addition, the LEGO Cadillac boasts a functioning trunk with spare tyre, a radio antenna made from a lever element, a single round plate exhaust, distinct wheel arches with both grey and pink trim, a custom single-piece plexiglass windshield for added realism, and lights for a Las Vegas-inspired neon underglow.
Those in attendance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be able to check out the LEGO pink Cadillac for themselves this weekend, as well as all of the excitement of the Formula 1 races.
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