Group B rally cars always look great as scale models, but what about in Lego form? Just such a thing is in the works as a Lego Ideas project, and if it receives enough votes and makes it through the company's evaluation process, it could become a commercial set you could buy directly from Lego.
The Lancia Delta HF Integrale is one of the best-remembered cars from that magical (and scary) Group B era, and in Martini livery it's also became a style icon and halo car for the brand. The Delta had humble roots, starting out as a front-engined Golf-fighting hatchback in the early 1980s, but it was soon remade into nothing short of a rally terror that competed for years.
Lego Ideas builder Lumik set out to create a large-scale Delta Integrale model from the 1990 model year in Martini livery that would also demonstrate a lot of technical functions of the car, requiring a mix of standard and Technic Lego pieces.
"Construction began following the good old-fashioned Lego building concept of a clean sheet, piece by piece, trial and error effort. Who would have thought it would take me 15 months! As I kept on building and rebuilding, the concept refined: a hybrid between Lego Technic and Lego Creator. The chassis would be Lego Technic whereas the body made by conventional Lego pieces," Lumik writes.
The set, as built, relies on a large number relatively small pieces for flat surfaces, which are in ample supply in the design of the Delta Integrale, with an effort made to offer flat surfaces everywhere possible, without the traditional Lego surface dots.
The model itself is very functional, featuring a working steering wheel that's height adjustable, a double-wishbone suspension, a differential up front, and working front and rear lights. The model is also powered by electric Lego motors, and the gear lever in the cabin can switch from rear- to all-wheel drive.
"A priority therefore was a well proportioned body, it had to be as photo realistic as possible and well suited for plenty of stickers (a trademark of rally cars, the more the better!), which translated in keeping the body stud-less and with as few gaps as possible," Lumik writes. "Every piece of Lego in my hands was turned over and over again, searching for innovative ways of combining bricks. Choices had to be made regarding every corner and new skills, such as custom made stickers, had to be learned to reach the final goal."
Lego Ideas is a forum where members can submit their own builds for evaluation, and if a project receives 10,000 member votes within a certain time frame (usually within a year), and enough support from the company, it could be made into a Lego set you can buy. Of course, with models of real-world objects, there are usually a few stumbling blocks, such as permission from the automaker, and from the companies whose copyrighted graphics are on the car.
The model itself is a large one and contains 2,584 pieces, so it wouldn't be the easiest for Lego to produce as a set, and it would also be pricy. But it shows a lot of attention to detail and has plenty of working functions, and there is certainly niche demand for ultra-detailed and very technical Lego models.
Visit the Lego Ideas website to view more details on this project.
