LEGO McLaren 720S is amazing

McLaren Automotive, the maker of exotic cars like the P1 and 570S, has gone to excessive lengths to re-create its latest sports car, the 720S, in LEGO.

In this outstanding time-lapse video, the lengthy build of the full-size LEGO McLaren has been squished into just 60 seconds, but is nevertheless one of the coolest builds we've seen for a while.

The average LEGO brick weighs roughly a gram, so the 280,000 pieces that make up the McLaren 720S tip the scales at around 280kg – still a fraction of the real car's hardly substantial weight.

That said, there's a heavy base involved, wheel brackets plus wheels which would add a fair bit of weight.

Taking 2000 hours to create, with five or six builders working on the project at any one time, the 1:1 scale LEGO McLaren 720S was displayed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the last 13,000 block were added on-site. It subsequently raised around £2,700 ($A4440) for the Goodwood charity.

Of course the McLaren is certainly not the first life-sized car to be made out of LEGO. Chevrolet let rip at this year's Detroit motor show with an incredible take on the LEGO Batmobile.

And let's not forget the Romanian-built SAMP, or Super Awesome Micro Project which features an air-propulsion engine. The fully-drivable project boggles the mind, especially the way the engine actuates hundreds of tiny pneumatic LEGO pistons.

If that project sounds too challenging, then the 161 piece set available from toy stores around Australia might be your speed. At least you won’t need a spare room to tackle this 720S Lego construction, a small coffee table would suffice!