Lego car hits the road in Melbourne
Forty people funded the Lego car, which was built in Romania and Australia during a 20-month period for about $18,000.
An Australian entrepreneur and a Romanian student have completed their ambitious project to create a car from 500,000 Lego pieces.
The Super Awesome Micro Project, from Steve Sammartino and Raul Oaido, launched in February 2012 to fund and build a car made almost entirely out of the brightly-coloured bricks.
Forty Australians stepped forward to finance the project, pledging between AUS $500 and $1000 each to make the dream come true.
“I wanted to do something interesting that shows there are a myriad of possible innovations for cars. We wanted to be an example to open people’s minds,” Sammartino told Australian media.
“It’s something the car industry needs.”
The life-sized two-seater has a top speed of 30 km per hour (20 mph) and is powered by four orbital engines with 256 pistons – all made of Lego – that run on compressed air.
The yellow and black car, designed like a hotrod, took 20 months to complete.
Apart from structural gear such as the wheels, tires, gauges and load-bearing components, only Lego bricks were used.