Lost_In_Noise

Pictorial Review: 8860 Car Chassis

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8860 Car Chassis was the second Technic/Expert Builder Car Chassis to be released. In 1980, three years after the original Auto Chassis, this ultimate model had suspension (gasp!), an engine and reclining seats. The average BrickLink price nowadays is about $90, I think I paid 60 for mine. The original retail price was $59, 10 dollar less than the 858 Auto Engines set. The engine was the first Technic engine to be rear mounted. It has two models, this and a dragster.

The instruction booklet is of the really old type, with the "happy kid playing" picture and an explanation of what this really is:

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After the first 7(!) introduction pages, you will find the start of the set's instructions.

The Parts

This set has four of the early foam tires and rims. These were used primarily in the bigger Technic/Expert Builder sets of their early age, until they were

phased out in 1989 with the 8862 Backhoe set.

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A notable non-Technic part of this era is the 2 x 2 Turntable, which is aiding the steering of this model.

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A total of 29 gears vs 668 pieces is not bad at all. This was the first Technic set to include a Differential, so the rear tires doesn't skid when turning. Also, it was the first to include Shock Absorbers

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Fun-fact: The 1/2 bush wasn't introduced yet, so it made this build somewhat bulky.

The only axles which are connected are the ones in the differential, because the Axle and Pin Connector Toggle Joint Toothed wasn't availible until 1982.

A model: Car Chassis

This build starts with the adjustable seats, which recline and slides on some axles. This is a function which has been abandoned by the Technic designers, allowing them to focus more on mechanical functions.

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Note that everything is assembled with frictionless pins, because the black ones with friction weren't made until 1981.

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Here's the start of the build, with the differential on the base of the rear axle.

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Next the main part of the chassis is made primarily out of bricks. Then the two parts are put together like this:

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Note the 4 gear racks, which will be used later.

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Here you can see how the two parts of the chassis is reinforced by vertical bricks. This technique is widely used in the studless era.

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The steering rack uses the 2 x 2 Turntable, as mentioned earlier. The yellow bricks in the back is the support for the engine.

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Now for the driveshaft, which has three output gears; a 24T, 16T and 8T. The 14T spur gear meshes with the rear differential.

This is what the steering setup looks like:

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The steering rack is placed along with the driveshaft. The three 8T gears will align with the gearbox made next.

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Finished gearbox. You can see how the gear shift takes place.

1st: 24:8=1:3 ratio

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2nd: 16:16=1:1 ratio

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3rd: 8:24=3:1 ratio

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Here you can see how is meshes with the driveshaft:

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When the shift stick is placed, it is locked by this brick. If you remove one of the three bushes, you will be able to shift to third gear. This is used with motorizing the car, but I wanted to keep it anyways.

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The engine is a 4-cylinder boxer, which is made of bricks. For more details about this engine, see my other 858 Auto Engines review.

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The crankshaft is made using the offset axle holes of 3 24t gears.

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Here is the support for the steering column. The steering is mostly finished by adding these plates and bricks.

And the support for the shock absorbers. The spark plugs are also placed on top of the engine.

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In the second-to-last step, the fuel lines are connected to the distributor, the shock absorbers are placed, and the steering wheel is mounted on the dashboard. The car chassis is nearly complete.

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Still remember the seats? Now it's time to place them, along with the wheels to finish the model.

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Finished!

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Features

Steering:

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Moving and reclining seats:

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Engine:

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Rear suspension:

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As you can see, the suspension is only hinged in one angle, causing the wheels to lean inwards when the springs are compressed. This would be fixed in the next model:

8865 Test Car.

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Comparison with 8880 Super Car:

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8448 Super Street Sensation:

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8070 Super Car:

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B model: Dragster

The B-model doesn't have any piece call-outs, so you'll have to pay close attention to the instructions. This is step 3, and you can see the steering axle in the front. The support for the steering column is already in place.

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The driveshaft has a 14T spur gear on it, which meshes with the rear differential. No real drag racers has one, because it would have hindered the rear wheels from spinning.

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The driveshaft is routed around the steering column with some 8T gears. The final drive ratio is 2:1 for this model.

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The steering column is fixed in place, and the support for the driver's seat is made.

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Now the driver's seat is finished, and some mudguards are next.

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The engine is this model is a flat 4-cylinder boxer. The only difference from the main model's design is the cooling radiators for the distributor. The distributor itself cannot be seen.

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It's placed together with the front axle.

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The build is finished with the front wheel(hubs) and the gear rack for steering.

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Features

Turning:

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Moving engine:

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Comparison

8847:

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8205:

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2129:

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The verdict

This is an excellent set, filling the gap between 853 Car Chassis and 8865

Test Car. The mechanics work well, although the gear change is somewhat sluggish. The specialized pieces introduced in 1994 would change this, allowing for a synchronized gearbox. The main pro with this set is that you could make any body for it at your heart's desire, unlike the Test Car. The B-model is also well done, but I would like it better if it had made better use of the pieces. More than 200 (30%) parts are left after finishing the alternate build.

This set taught me how a differential works. A must-have for any Technic car collector!

Thanks for reading/looking, as always, pics are availible @ BrickShelf.

Edited by Lost_In_Noise

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This was my LEGO Technic set, back in 81 or 82. :classic:

It was such an emotion, to buy it, to open the box, see the bags in the parts tray below the cristal cover, open them, touch the all new kind of parts, build and finally play with it! :thumbup:

I was about 14 and it was a lot of money for me. About 2.000 PTE (in our old currency) but it worth every "Escudo" :laugh:

Will never forget there was a part missing (one 1x8 black tile) :angry: , which my father asked to a local LEGO employee sometime later when I participated into a toy store build contest about that time.

Sometime later received at home an envelope with the missing part. Another emotion... :classic: My first LEGO envelope.

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This would have been my 3rd set I think in 1980 (after 850 and 851). Loved it then, still love it now.

One minor quibble, but the 2x2 turntables were in many of the early technical sets for steering, the 850 and 851 forklift and tractor for example both use them. Maybe not in black, but they're used.

Thanks for the review!

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Thanks for this great review. It reminds me that I still have to build mine which has been sitting in a box staring me in the face for the last while now :blush:

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This was my first (and only) Technic set from my childhood. It was dificult to get any LEGO in former Czechoslovakia before 1989, so to get hands on Technic it was like a miracle.

It took me 4 hours to build the main model. And with those, for these days "only", 600+ parts I was able to build a lots of models just from the pictures from catalogues.

Really a great set. Just those differential gears were easy to break.

Thank you for the review, you brought my memories and I will probably try to complete my model again.

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Nice to see that this classic has been reviewed, very nice pics! Brings back very good memories. I remember the thrill when I got this set for my 8th birthday. And now, almost 30 years later, I finally "stole" it from my parents' house to rebuild. Still a classic, best seats ever!

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Great review, I bought mine a month ago for only 10 euros.

It is indeed a great set and nice to built. But before I have built mine, I had to remove much of dust :laugh:

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Thanx for a great review :classic:

Please take a good look at this pic again :

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What's wrong? :wink:

(Yes, that's exactly how I used torn apart pencils to create those shockabsorbers .. funny how that prelim pic got in the manual ..)

Edited by 1974

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Thanx for a great review :classic:

....

What's wrong? :wink:

(Yes, that's exactly how I used torn apart pencils to create those shockabsorbers .. funny how that prelim pic got in the manual ..)

Ahh yes, same here :laugh: They never worked as good as the Lego ones though :grin:

Thanks for the nice review!

This takes me back some years... I bought this set when I was about 10 years old. (using the price-money from Lego competition I won :blush: )

After the years and quite a few siblings in my family, I still got some parts of it :cry_sad:

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So, what is it with those custom shock absorvers? 1974 is a former Lego designer who made this hack and it accidentally got into the booklet. Or wut?

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So, what is it with those custom shock absorvers? 1974 is a former Lego designer who made this hack and it accidentally got into the booklet. Or wut?

That must have been a big accident, because the custom shock absorbers even made it to the box art.

My guess would be that the just before release, some clever designer engineerd the new shock absorbers and there was no time (and money?) to change the pics...

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Whoa, nice find! I didn't realize there was any difference between the model and the photos. It's not uncommon to have differences in the instructions vs the model, but this is something else.

Thanks for the nice comments peeps. I'll spend the day rebuilding the main model...

Edited by Lost_In_Noise

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That's something I've been thinking of for more than 25 years :classic: I already heard some Lego collectores that said the "photo variant" really existed... but I don't really believe that.

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That must have been a big accident, because the custom shock absorbers even made it to the box art.

8860_box_1.jpg

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I got this at a garage sale( not quite complete.), but it was fun to build. alas, it is currently resting in pieces.

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Excellent review, please also do 8865!

Here's my 8860 with two 8700s motorizing the steering + drivetrain. (You also need the 872 gear redux set)

http://www.brickshel...ery.cgi?f=76885

That's really cool. I just built mine and am wondering if PF-motors (with RC) could be built in. Something to try out for next week!

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I got ripped off......

I never got the first 7 introduction pages back when I got mine, I still have the book ( I wonder if Lego will send me a replacement book, I suppose 31 years is pushing it.)

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I got ripped off......

I never got the first 7 introduction pages back when I got mine, I still have the book ( I wonder if Lego will send me a replacement book, I suppose 31 years is pushing it.)

The "introduction" pages were typical of early Technic/Expert Builders sets. If for example, you had this set in 1984, surely new reprints of the building instruction didn't need the introductiory pages, because the Technic line in the meanwhile had become famous among fans and toy store customers.

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(box image showing bare springs on axles)

At least they fixed that in the official catalogs.

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Here are some photos of the B model, showing a few more angles not shown by the topic creator...

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Edited by SheepEater

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Thanks for posting this review, what a nostalgia trip!

I think this is my all time favourite Lego set, not just for the quality, which was amazing in 1980, but memories of getting it for Christmas when I was ten years old, and the hours spent immersed building and rebuilding it.

I made it so often I was eventually able to construct it entirely from memory. No chance of that nowadays!

Jennifer

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That's something I've been thinking of for more than 25 years :classic: I already heard some Lego collectores that said the "photo variant" really existed... but I don't really believe that.

I was also under the impression that this was the first actual version and that the parts got replaced soon after the release. No tangible evidence for this though.

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