Legoland Florida is now in possession of the bright red Ferrari that’s made almost entirely of Lego bricks. It will front the Winter Haven theme park’s new Ferrari Build & Race attraction, which opens to the public March 8.
Ryan Wood, a master model builder for Legoland Florida, talked us through some things to know about the full-sized if blocky edition of a Ferrari 296 GTS.
It’s really, really red
“It’s very Ferrari red,” Wood said. “The designers who worked on it nailed it down to the finest detail. Every little thing that you could be looking for is there.”
Inside job
Unlike with most Lego models, park guests will be able to sit inside the Lego Ferrari for photo ops.
“I think what feels unusual about this is that most of us won’t get to get inside of a Ferrari in most of our lives,” Wood said. “And this time, everyone in the family can ride in this one, take a spin in the driver’s seat.”
To be clear, that’s a pretend spin in a pretend car.
“Once it gets into that garage, it’s parked there. It’s not going anywhere because we don’t want it to get away from us or our guests,” Wood said.
Block party
The addition is mostly made of Lego bricks, but not entirely. The tires are real, and inside, so is the steering wheel.
“There are a couple of Ferrari-specific features in the model – like the steering wheel is out of a real Ferrari,” Wood said. “Just holding that steering wheel is such a powerful feeling.”
But the model’s brake pads are Lego, as are the gear shift, rearview mirrors and two-tone headlights, which function.
“Those are in sort of a two-tone color combination that Ferrari was actually very specific that we get right,” Wood said. “Guests aren’t just going to see transparent lights; they’re going to see transparent and smoke-colored lights that are realistic to the actual thing.”
By the numbers
The model weighs 2 tons, about the same as a real Ferrari 296 GTS, Wood said. He called that a happy coincidence.
The price of the 2023 real-life non-Lego vehicle is about $371,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Number of bricks used in the model? Legoland is mum on that for now.
“We are teasing that feature. Actually, there are a few details that we’ve held back because we’d like our guests to try to guess what that is,” Wood said. “I do believe that will be unveiled at a future date.”
Bringing up the rear
The final touch? A Florida license plate on the back, Lego-style.
“That license plate, for me, was one of the more awesome things to see because they didn’t just throw on like, a Ferrari Italy license plate or something,” Wood said. “We went full bore with Florida.”
Revving up
The model will be parked in the attraction’s garage setting, which leads to creative activities.
“Hopefully, it inspires you for the three zones that follow that space,” Wood said. “Those zones are a build area where you can build your car and a test area where you can try it out on some different ramps, and then a digital interactive gaming area where you can turn your car into a digital model and race it against other people.”
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