► Lego Technic kit number 42111
► Scale model of Dom Toretto's Charger
► Wheelie bar, V8 with moving parts and more
Fast and Furious has gone from making movies about the mid-2000s underground street racing scene to epic action extravaganzas with increasingly unhinged storylines and… acting that hasn’t really improved since the first one. There was even a short-lived live show.
But, regardless of your opinion of the entire franchise, what rises to the top of the memories of those who have seen any of the movies are the cars. Brian O’Conner’s (played by the late Paul Walker) bright orange Supra and silver R34 Skyline GT-R spring to mind, as does the blue RS1600 Escort from F&F6… oh, and Han’s Veilside Mazda RX-7? Legendary.
But there’s one car that everyone remembers: Dom Toretto’s nitrous-equipped Dodge Charger. It appeared in four films, with one of those appearances seeing it modified as an off-roader. Now, it’s in Lego form – and CAR has built it.
So, what’s in the kit?
It’s a 1077-piece Technic kit, with a recommended age rating of 10 years and up. Like the Lego Defender we’ve also built, it’s a pretty standard kit; unlike the Bugatti Chiron or Porsche 911 GT3 RS Technic sets that have bonus extras like a history of the car or bespoke box, this has simply all you need to start building.
What you get at the end of it is a 1:13 scale model that’s chock full of neat details. The doors open, you can steer it via a cog at the back and there’s a double-wishbone suspension system. The more bespoke details come via a massive, working V8 engine complete with massive air ram and timing chain, nitrous tanks in the boot and a fire extinguisher in the cockpit.
The piece de resistance, though, is a lockable wheelie bar – reminiscent of Toretto’s car tilting back during the drag race with O’Conner in the original film… just without the crash damage at the end of said drag race.
Let’s get building!
The set is split into four parts: rear half of the chassis and wheelie bar, front half of the chassis with steering and engine, front half of the body then rear half of the body.
One thing that really stands out is that it’s not a daunting kit to put together, unlike our somewhat haphazard experience with the Defender. That's not necessarily a downside, and it means the minimum age recommendation makes sense – there are few pieces of the kit that are strenuously technical, save for the driveline and engine.
If you’re the kind to blast through the instructions thinking you’re a pro (like, er… we tend to do), that means far less time double-checking you haven’t put the wrong piece in the wrong place. But older builders may want more of a challenge than the Dodge offers.
Lego has mastered the art of making its pieces come together in such a way that they really look like the ‘real’ thing with recent Technic kits; others, like the orange 911 GT3 RS kit stretch the look-a-likeness a little too far the wrong way – not the case with the Charger. This definitely looks like the car from the F&F franchise.
Admittedly, there’s less customisation here when you’ve built it; unlike the Defender, where you can run it with or without the ‘Adventure Pack’ add on or tweak the additional parts, the only change you can make to the Charger is the wheel design, simply by swapping which side the rims show.
How much is it?
Lego has it for £89.99 on its official store, which is definitely on the less expensive end of the automotive Technic section; the only cheaper, similarly sized vehicles are the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Ducati Panigale.
Lego Dodge Charger: hands-on verdict
Lego has struck a good balance with the Charger. It offers an accessible challenge for younger builders without allowing them to drown in endless chassis construction or complicated gear systems.
For the older builder, this will take roughly four hours to complete – a solid amount of time for what is a very detailed kit that’s filled with neat details. It may not be as much of a triumph to complete as, say, the Defender or Chiron but the end result is a realistic model of a movie icon and a fun addition to anyone's collection.
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