CATERHAM LAUNCH
CLOSING INON THE
CATERHAM HAM We’ve followed the story since it was just another fan model and now Bricks catches up with the two designers of the official LEGO Caterham 620R Words: Lewis Matthews Photography: Andrew Tipping
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egardless of whether you’re a car fan, LEGO fan or LEGO car fan, there is an awful lot to get excited over with the new LEGO Ideas Caterham 620R. Bricks has followed this highly-anticipated model since our first issue, where we featured Carl Greatrix’s perfect creations, before revisiting it in issue 11 after it reached 10,000 votes on the LEGO Ideas platform and was successfully put into production. It was with great pride that we stood at the Caterham showroom in Crawley and watched our good friend beam with joy as he, and fellow designer Henrik Andersen of the LEGO Group, in true car showroom style unveiled the LEGO Caterham 620R. Caterham also revealed a real 620R at the same time which had the same livery as the LEGO set and a custom LEGO licence plate. It was a lovely touch and the room reflected it with a cheer. Henrik was charged with making Carl’s popular model meet the design standards of the LEGO Group. “I tried to stay away from changing the model too much,” he says, which is more than apparent when you put Carl’s concept alongside the finished 76 BRICKS
model. Despite usually building smaller City cars, it is clear that Henrik made the most of the opportunity to make a more detailed and to-scale model. One of the major differences between the two models is that the official model has lots of new elements which naturally Carl didn’t have access to, including macaroni tube pieces and a whopping 15 new printed parts, such as the Caterham 620R logo printed for the engine cover. “The fact that there’s not a single sticker in this set is a bit ironic, given that I’m known for using a lot of stickers,” says Carl with a huge smile on his face. As with other recent LEGO Ideas sets, there is not a single sticker in sight, which is sure to please many fans, assured that there will be no apprehension of applying a wonky sticker. One of the nicest touches on the Caterham is its printed brake disks, which unless you display without the wheels, no-one will ever know exist, as they are
otherwise covered. It is a testament to the quality and high level of detail expected from a set designed by Carl, and as Henrik explained, there are a few other features to help you play and display. “We wanted to acknowledge that this is a kit of a kit car, so in the boot you will find axle stands so you can raise it and ‘work’ on it. The bonnet can be removed to reveal the engine which can be interchanged, you can adjust the wheel arches, remove the seats and remove the wheels to reveal the printed brake disks.” The collaboration between Carl and Henrik has created a model that wields a formidable use of detail and parts, with pieces being used in ways that challenge the standard LEGO convention. “When I first saw the prototype, I was blown away by it because if I had known these parts existed, then I would have used them straight away. They would have been my first choice,” says Carl, taking a look at the final model. “I really like how Henrik has managed to round off the roll bar and the exhaust using the new pieces that are available, and even the fenders and nose cone are rounded off more than I ever could. All the shaping of the car works together. There have been
