Review: 10248 Ferrari F40
Posted by Huw,
The latest LEGO exclusive set, 10248 Ferrari F40 goes on sale today to VIPs at shop.LEGO.com:
UK (£69.99) | USA ($99.99) | Canada ($119.99) | Germany (€89.99) | France (€84.99)
The F40 is widely regarded as one of the best-looking Ferraris ever. Wikipedia states: "The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car built from 1987 to 1992. It was designed to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary and was the last Ferrari automobile personally approved by Enzo Ferrari. At the time it was the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car that Ferrari sold to the public, at a retail price of approximately US$400,000 in 1987."
Has LEGO successfully captured its beauty in brick form? I think it's done a pretty good job...
Box and contents
Not much to say about the box...
The single 136-page manual contains 80-odd instruction steps.
There are stickers, but thankfully the vehicle is not plastered with them.
Parts are split into two lots, in bags numbered 1 and 2.
The most significant new piece in the set is the trapezoidal windshield, 12 studs wide at the bottom, 8 at the top, and 4 bricks high. It's printed with red pillars on the side. I predict this will be a game-changer for those that build similar scale vehicles because the windscreen is often the most difficult part to get right.
The wheels are new in silver, and the alloy insert is a new part for this set. They look fantastic.
Construction
Half-way through bags #1 the chassis and much of the inside is complete. Note the spanner, green can (oil?) and white thing in the luggage area at the front.
Some neat building techniques have been used to achieve the angles in the bodywork.
The windshield is hinged and when lowered mates exactly with the 1x2 red cheese slopes at the front of the roof.
Construction from bags #2 begins with the engine. I noticed later in the build that I had missed off two 2x2 dishes from the ends of the circular assembly at the front. Note the pistols used for the exhaust manifold.
Once the engine is fitted, the rear bumper is attached.
Then, the engine cowling is built. Once again, I missed a part off at this stage of the build, a 2x2 red plate under the 1x2 grilles. I'm sure that's something we all do from time to time but unfortunately when photographing the build as I go along such mistakes stand out like a sore thumb and are very annoying!
The cowling is attached using a long Technic axle allowing it to be raised and lowered. A 'stick' is provided to keep it in the open position.
The rear spoiler is then added before attention turns to the front, to construct the bumper.
Finally, the front wheel arches and bonnet are added. The vent holes in the bonnet are cleverly constructed using clips and rods.
The finished model
Bonnet attached, Ferrari badges affixed, building errors corrected and the model is complete:
Verdict
There's no denying that this is a fantastic looking model, perhaps the best sports car LEGO has produced. Within the limits of the medium the look of the real vehicle has been captured well. It's a bit blocky in places but that's to be expected; it's made from mostly square bricks after all. The weakest part of the design are the rear pillars, which are printed on black slopes. They appear to be okay until you compare them with the real thing at which point it's apparent that that area of the model looks nothing like it should do. Maybe if the slope pieces were transparent black, like the windshield, it would have looked better.
It's a shame that the real vehicle has red leather seats because a bit of contrast would have been nice; a light tan leather would have looked better in my opinion, but that doesn't appear to have been a option back in 1987 :)
It's not a complex build but it is a very satisfying and enjoyable one. There's hardly any repetition and the process is punctuated with a lot of interesting techniques involving clips and bars to attach a number of sub-assemblies.
It's a sturdy model, until you pick it up to examine the underside: if you don't take care, the engine cowling, which is quite heavy, will fall to the floor, as I found out earlier :-(. The bonnet is not so bad.
In time-honoured Brickset user review fashion, here are the pros and cons:
Pros
- A faithful reproduction of a beautiful vehicle, lots of its curves and crevices have been recreated effectively.
- An interesting build.
- Not plastered in stickers, the few that are provided are easy to apply and align accurately.
- New windscreen element is a game-changer for MOCers.
- Superb display piece.
Cons
- The sides/pillars of the back of cabin are not very convincing.
- Back liable to fall off when turned upside down.
- Like all LEGO models of this kind, it lacks steering.
- Once built there is nothing really to play with, it's very much for display only.
If you like a good LEGO car, you'll love it: you won't find a better one.
It's available now to VIPs at shop.LEGO.com:
UK (£69.99) | USA ($99.99) | Canada ($119.99) | Germany (€89.99) | France (€84.99).
Thanks to LEGO for providing us with the set to review.
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41 comments on this article
Being a mechanic, racer, and Lego fan, this ahd the recent Speed Champions sets are truly meant for me! Can't wait to build it, and see what sort of modifications can be made. A shame that it looks too small to easily motorized, unlike the Mini with it's boxy shape.
The model looks fantastic and I'll definitely get this (after my holidays, I hope it'll be still available). As you said, Huw, I believe Lego managed very well to capture the looks of the real car.
However, as I said earlier (when the model was announced a few weeks back), IMHO the real car is rather boring, so I kindly disagree with the initial statement that "The F40 is widely regarded as one of the best-looking Ferraris ever". Yes, I know, it's been one of the top supercars of the 80's (if not THE supercar), but it's still from the 80's. And we all know how design was back then :)
Still, I love Lego cars and I'm really looking forward to building this.
Too bad it's missing fuzzy (furry) dice hanging from the rear view mirror ;-)
Shame they didn't put studs along the sides of the new windscreen piece, would have made it much more interesting.
Green can is instead of a spare wheel. Like the stuff you can buy in petrol garages incase you get a puncture. Tire slime etc etc
Overall I also think the designer did a great job! The removable engine is a nice feature.
Few points of critisism:
- B-pillars, like Huw said. If only because red printing on black parts results in slightly darker red, not as bright as bricks.
- Stickers for head lights is a no go for a set like this!
- The front lights seem to pop up a bit too far.
- The designer succesfully managed to brick-build most air intakes; it's a shame about the sticker for the one over the rear wheels.
I thought they'd have made a mini version again (as with the T1 and Mini), especially because they've designed it already for the Shell promotion. Too bad they broke with the tradition.
This looks like a great set and I will certainly be adding it to my collection.
I think the windscreen component would have been more useful if it had not been printed, requiring stickers instead. On the other hand the printing is preferable if you wish to keep the set assembled as I probably will.
Ordered! And I did connect to the shop through Brickset :-)
@Huw, the curved bricks right behind the front wheels, bottom of the wings/fenders, are upside down; the surface should bend inwards, not out.
Any size comparisons with the Mini and Campervan, especially in photos?
If there were no stickers I would be running to the shop now, if they had a mini version as a promo I would consider buying it now but with so many great sets at the moment this might be one too far and I might wait to see what comes next in this line. Huw did make the finished model look great and I think one day I will break and buy one but not today.
@Thunderburt, thank you, I should have spotted that. It's such a glaring error that I've replaced the photos of the finished model in which it was evident!
The can is tire spray as stated by the designer in the interview in the press release.
@Thunderburt, the mini T1 camper van polybag came out 2 years after the full size vehicle, so there's still hope.
@Huw: wow, you're quick!
@FuddRuckus: I did not know that; fingers crossed then...
Huw it's interesting that you mention that tan seats would be a better option. It just so happens that Ferrari's GT cars have been available in red with tan interior for decades. It's considered one of the finest colour combinations for a Ferrari grand tourer, to me anyway.
But the F40 is no GT. It's a raw sports car that didn't even come with a radio. Owners were lucky to get any upholstery in the cabin!
As far as I know the F40 didn't even have proper door handles, but just strings, to save weight... (on the inside, that is)
Who's got their delivery confirmation (especially if you're from Germany) already? My order status is still "Under Review"
Exposure to lots of Firas Abu-Jaber's cars on MOCpages makes it a little more difficult to appreciate sets like this, but wow... This set looks absolutely fantastic. The biggest con seems to be that the back can fall off when turned upside down, but I don't know of anybody who displays their cars upside down. :) Not a hardcore enough car fan to pick this up with so many other nice sets in the range though...
I will buy it if they will do mini version. If not - I'm not sure.
10 year old me is screaming for joy right now. This was THE car of my childhood. I agree that it's still one of the best looking Ferraris ever.
Excited to get my hands on one asap so it can join the rest of my Ferrari fleet of F430's, Enzo and FXX. This is a great representation of the real thing with the opening trunk and hood. Very happy to see TLG go the extra mile with the new windshield in order to get the shape as accurate as possible.
After all the various Ferrari models over the decades, the F40 is still the most iconic of them all. Fully capturing the faddish 80's era. All we need now is a Lamborghini Countach in white and a Porsche 911 of some sort.
That's a good-looking model that is.
"Note the spanner, green can (oil?) and white thing in the luggage area at the front."
Noted, but never mentioned again in the review. I know the green can is "Fix-a-Flat" tire inflation spray, but what's the white box?
I can't wait to pick this up! I really hope this becomes yearly thing with a new car every year!
This is a cool set.
Picking this up for sure.
@Huw or anyone who owns a copy, have you noticed that the steering wheel piece is not as shiny black as the other parts? It looks more like a leather wheel, but I'm not sure if it's intentional or just poor part quality.
Looking at side view shots of the model and side pictures of the real car, I think the wheel base is a couple studs too short... I also really wish that the designer could have found an actual way to build the rear pillars instead of using those printed pieces... IMO, that area is the least appealing part of the model..
^ Indeed, it's the weakest part of the design by far.
I'm disappointed that this is now $99.99 rather than the $89.99 originally given. Surprisingly, it kind of pushes it over the edge for me.
Does anyone know what the two 1x4 green plates are for? They are between the F40 and the brick separator in the main pic on LEGO LEGO.com. They Just seem so random.
Their use is apparent in the pictures above.
@Huw have you ever seen that before, where you put a part on and later are told to take it off again.
In this case it's needed to prevent the bumper from collapsing when building on top of it.
I've seen parts added then removed on large Technic models with multi-axle steering where several beams are connected together then used to align axles before constructing the steering mechanism.
Order placed. Can't wait to build this set!
Yep, mine is on it's way too. Chance to redeem some VIP points, makes it even more affordable than what the shops here are asking for it in pre-order...
Mine was delivered today and I'm out of town! It's on the front porch! 0_o
@SMC I have seen such techniques for building purposes before in a set: In the built of the 4x4 Crawler (set 9398, 2012), the double hinged, 3-part wheel base is being constricted by some bars and pins to keep it straight and prevent it from flopping left and right whilst building. Only in a later stage you get to remove these parts and you free up the ability to steer.
Re the green plates: I was wondering what they were for too. I've seen adding and removing parts before, but what I find odd about the green plates here is that they aren't used for anything else. The Technic models I've seen that use the technique use the parts again as part of the finished model. I'm sure that would have been achievable here too.
The green plates puzzled me too, until I read some reviews. I don't like separating parts of a set from each other; so those plates now reside in the "trunk" of mine. Also, and I've seen this in pretty much every F40 review; those two air filters on the engine are supposed to be pivoted forward so they appear to contact the engine intake at the top. On the real car, they are of course directly connected.
So, its been released today, now does anyone know when the building instructions will be available online? :D