Whenever a hot car debuts nowadays, the inevitable life-size Lego build follows soon after. Like Nürburgring lap times for supercars, it’s practically an expected part of the vehicle launch routine. The latest vehicle to get the treatment is the not-for-America 300-series Toyota Land Cruiser.
The build was commissioned by Al-Futtaim Motors, the exclusive Toyota importer for the the United Arab Emirates. According to a short video about the project, it took a team of 12 individuals 2,688 hours to complete the 1:1 scale sculpture. A total of 440,000 Lego bricks were used in the build, and the finished Cruiser weighs approximately 4,520 pounds, or about 1,000 lighter than the actual 5,600-pound truck.
Everything, including the windows, tires and little Toyota oval logos found throughout the car, are made from Lego bricks. The headlights and taillights are even illuminated, backlit from some kind of interior light source. Built around a simple steel frame for rigidity, it measures about 195 inches long, 78 inches wide and 76 inches tall. In the shopping center where it’s on display, a real 300-series Land Cruiser parks beside it.
While the Land Cruiser isn’t sold here, Toyota has promised us a Lexus LX 600 variant with all the off-road prowess the chassis promises. Under the hood will reside a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 making 409 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque as its only engine option; the Cruiser’s diesel and 4.0-liter naturally aspirated V6 aren’t coming. In the rest of the world the 300-series has been well received as a proper evolution of Toyota’s legendary off-roader, so hopefully that presages good things for the Lexus.
The Land Cruiser follows in the fine tradition of other life-size Lego builds. Past unrelated projects have sprouted up all over the globe, and the plastic brick subject matter has included a Formula One car, Lamborghini Sian, Ferrari SF70H, Bugatti Chiron, Toyota Camry, McLaren Senna, Chevy Silverado Trail Boss and Toyota Supra.
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Source: www.autoblog.com