This Full Size Lego Batmobile Might Be The Best Thing From The 2017 Detroit Auto Show
The Detroit Auto Show is one of the most exciting car shows in the world. At this annual show, automakers from all over the world gather at the birthplace of the automotive industry to show off their newest and most innovative creations. The 2017 Detroit Auto Show was no exception. Fuel-efficient concept cars were on full display at the 2017 show, including a new Volkswagen electric microbus and Ford’s EcoSport hybrid SUV. Other standouts included a completely redesigned Toyota Camry and an impressive new sedan from Kia, the 365-hp twin-turbo V-6 Kia Stinger. By far, though, the car that received the most attention at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show was not a car you’ll see on the roads anytime soon. That’s because this car was the Batmobile - and made entirely out of Lego.
While Lego cars aren’t a new sight at auto shows, the sheer size and precision of this Batmobile replica made it stand out on the show floor. The full-sized 1:1 scale Lego version of the Batmobile was on display at the Chevrolet booth. Every inch of the car, from the tires to the windscreens, were constructed out of standard Lego bricks. This impressive Lego Batmobile measures 17-feet long, almost 7-feet tall, and over 9-feet wide. In all, the Lego Batmobile weighs 1,695 pounds. 344,187 individual Lego bricks in seventeen different colors were used in its construction, which took a reported 1,833 hours - that’s more than seventy-six whole days. The design and layout alone took another 222 hours.
The Lego creation was modeled after Batman’s Speedwagon seen in The Lego Batman Movie. True to the Batmobile, the Lego version sported a wide array of crime-fighting gizmos and gadgets and a massive bat-shaped hood ornament. The Lego Batmobile was built by Lego master builders along with Chevrolet engineers and students from Detroit’s Cody Rouge community. After the Detroit Auto Show closes, the Lego Batmobile will be displayed at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show. Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet marketing, stated the Lego Batmobile is the perfect vehicle (pun intended) to display Chevrolet’s core brand values:
This is the first opportunity where we’ve got a scalable property that aligns perfectly with our brand values: imagination, creativity, fun, light-heartedness etc. It really made the perfect marriage. What we get out of it is social conversation and people see the brand through a different lens. It shows that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
The Lego Batmobile at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show isn’t the first time Chevrolet has partnered with the Batman franchise. For the 1989 film Batman directed by Tim Burton, Chevrolet built a custom Batmobile for the filming of the movie. That Batmobile was built on a Chevrolet Impala frame and powered by a Chevy V8 engine.