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Items tagged with: technic
Last month I finally bought the #LEGO #Technic 8880 Super Car set (1994). It came out right in the middle of my teenage LEGO years, and was heavily promoted in all the other Technic sets released at the same time.
And for the time, it was a marvel of engineering: 4 wheel drive with 3 open differentials, independent suspension, 4 wheel steering, a V8 engine with moving pistons, and a brand-new 4 speed gearbox. A life-size version was even built for the Paris Motor Show around the same time, and I got the privilege to see it in person.
Alas, the set didn’t fit in either my birthday or Christmas budget at the time, and it stayed a dream figment for the best part of 30 years. Until last month when I finally got my hands on a second-hand copy of the set.
I was of course afraid that reality would trample that dream to dust especially after I was gifted a 42115 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 set by my partner which is in the same vein, but I’m pleased to report some of the original magic is still here.
The building experience is typical of 1990s Technic, with much more parts per building step than entirely comfortable, and several building techniques taking advantage of parts’ flexibility that have since been outlawed by LEGO. But the main advantage the Super Car still holds over newer large scale Technic vehicles is how didactic it is. Its weirdly high stance and airy design with no body panels makes every single feature visually accessible, including during operation.
This was immediately evidenced by my 10 year old kid asking me about the simple but functional gearbox. I was able to show her how it worked by comparing wheel speed with engine speed and point at various exposed gears. Sure, the Lamborghini’s modern gearbox is impressive, but I’d be damned if I could explain how it works to anyone, let alone show most of it given its tight package with body panels hiding the gears including on the bottom.
This makes for me the 8880 Super Car a timeless classic less by its outdated looks than by the sheer “how it works” enjoyment it still provides to this day while modern Technic sets can fall short in that aspect despite more complex features.
Sidewalk-found vintage LEGO bin final set list
Here's the final list of the sets I rebuilt with the help of additional spare parts, in chronological order of release. I have several parts left but not enough to accurately guess sets or not enough to justify completing guessed sets. For example, I have a couple parts that were issued for a unique set each, 6987 - Message Intercept Base and 6598 - Metro PD Station but I'm missing pretty much all the other parts of these sets.
LEGO System / #Legoland :
- 6931 FX Star Patroller (1985)
- 6385 Fire House (1985)
- 6386 Police Command Base (1986)
- 6380 Emergency Treatment Center (1987)
- 6954 Renegade (1987)
- 1499 Twin Starfire (1987)
- 6085 Black Monarch's Castle (1988)
- 6810 Laser Ranger (1989)
- 6923 Particle Ionizer (1990)
- 6981 Aerial Intruder (1991)
- 6540 Pier Police (1991)
- 6273 Rock Island Refuge (1991)
- 6878 Sub Orbital Guardian (1991)
- 6984 Galactic Mediator (1992)
- 40118 Buildable Brick Box 2 x 2 (2014)
LEGO Technic:
- 8040 Universal Pneumatic Building Set (1984)
- 8020 Universal Yellow Building Set (1984)
- 8832 Roadster (1988)
- 8054 Universal Motor Building Set (1989)
- 8024 Universal Red Building Set (1989)
- 8815 Speedway Bandit (1991)