There’s nothing like speed. The Caterham Seven 620r, for one, can go up to 155 mph. The beautiful 2-liter speedster hits 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. Sadly, it costs a soul-crushing smooth $100k, twice the average American annual income. Fair to say, not many of us will bring home the elegant sporting car. Thankfully, lovers of British automotives have a more affordable option: the LEGO Caterham Seven 620r.
This brilliant kit is designed to give an authentic feel to your petrolhead’s collection. My favorite part is the extraordinary level of to-scale detail. Every line, curve, and feature is designed to bring the Caterham to life. There are (praise be!) no decals. Instead, each detail is precisely printed onto the pieces, so there’s no chance of a sticker falling off, or gumming up your build. I hate stickers, so this was huge for me.
Under the hood, I found a faithful representation of the (terrifying) 2-litre engine, and the rest of the high-performance design of the Caterham’s build. In the picture above, you can see a set of LEGO pistols for the engine exhaust, and a whip to represent a hose. Clever substitutions mean that details aren’t skipped just because the specific pieces don’t exist. I couldn’t help but think of Indiana Jones loaning me his whip to fix up my car, though.
On the driver’s side, you’ll notice the engine exhaust runs the length of the vehicle. In the actual car, this can (and will) mean burns for the careless. With the LEGO kit, you get the style, without the scalding consequences. Under the front tire, you can spot an axle stand. Four of these keep the Caterham lifted. This has multiple purposes. Most practical is the fact that when on the stands, the model cannot roll away. The most authentic is that speedsters tear their tires up—fast. Jacking up the Caterham allows the collector to replace the wheels with ease.
This kit is surprisingly affordable. On Amazon, it’s running $78.56, a fair price for its 771-piece total. It falls ever-so-slightly outside of my 10-cent rule, but by less than a fifth of a cent. The completed kit is over 3″ high (a bit higher on the axle stands), 11″ long, and 5″ wide. The kit also took several hours to complete, and is totally re-buildable for folks who can’t (or don’t want to) afford the high costs of traditional automobile model building.
The Caterham Seven 620r is a great gift for any auto-loving geek over 12. I’ve already built it twice, just because I can, while binge-watching television. When you build it, tag @GeekDads on Twitter with a pic. We’d love to see it. Now, get building!
Disclaimer: The author was provided a review unit for this article.
