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I had been eagerly waiting for this set to appear on the shelves for several months and so I was
very pleased to see it in the new Argos catalogue. A quick call to Argos Ring and Reserve informed
me that me local branch had them in stock and so by the end of the next day I had the completed main model
sitting in front of me. Was it worth the wait?
The first point of interest is the new packing system they have used for this set. Each section
of the car is packaged into a separate box with eight sections in all. This makes it much easier
to assemble as you only have to wade through a few hundred pieces at a time rather than 1000 plus.
The instructions are actually contained in two books, one for the main chassis and the other for
the body work. The set reports to build two main models and provides partial instructions for
four others but they are all based on the same chassis and so we are talking variations on a theme
rather than true alternative models that have traditionally appeared in previous sets.
The basic chassis features rack and pinion front wheel drive controlled by the steering wheel in the passenger
compartment (no 'hand of god' system has been implemented), front and rear sprung suspension,
five speed gear box with reverse gear and an eight cylinder standard Technic engine
(which can be front or rear mounted due to the clever design of the chassis).
The gear box features two new Technic gears which would appear to be been introduced to take more
strain than the existing gears. The gearbox/engine/wheels combination is now true to life
(unlike the original Super Car,
8880
), i.e. The engine revolves at a constant speed while the wheels turn faster as you move up
through the gear box. The other brilliant design feature is that a motor can be easily added to
the drive shaft which can really show off the gear box and drive mechanism when the rear wheels are raised from the ground.
It is also very easy to convert the car from left to right hand drive.
Once you have completed the chassis you have to make a decision on how to proceed. The second
instruction booklet provides directions for body work with a convertible roof or wing doors
(There are also partial instructions for a concept car, a racer, a hot rod and a buggy). I turned
my chassis into a convertible complete with automatic closing (but not opening) hood which uses
another new component, a clear 'air dampened' piston. Other features include a retro style dashboard,
two white bucket seats, wing mirrors, four pipe exhaust, front and rear number plates and of course,
new red body work constructed from the new curved plates and flexible rods.
And so to my overall impressions of the set. It is a VERY well designed set which confirms comments
I have made in the past about the Technic LEGO designers getting better as each year passes. The look
of the car is very pleasing and the new plates and flexible rods along with clever use of the
angled rod connectors give the car a very curvy (sexy!) appearance. The silver wheels and treaded
tyres finish it off nicely.
So, how good is it when compared to the other Technic sets in my collection? Well I really
didn't want to give too many sets the top mark so I will give this one 9.9 rounded up to 10 :)
Note: You may have noticed that I haven't made too many comparisons between this set and the old Super Car.
The reason for this is that I have a comparison chart which can be found here.
Score:
 10/10
Pieces: 1408
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