42083 - Bugatti Chiron

[Jim]

Just now, LucyCol said:

I'd be interested to see if we get new panels to to cope with the large curve behind the door, after all they did introduce a new panel with the Porsche to do the wings?

If you are referring to the tiny black panels, they weren't new. 

But of course, I am very interested to see if the set include ANY new parts, besides the rims.

[Kjellevirus]

3 hours ago, Jim said:

Exciting news guys!! I will be live at the unveiling of the Chiron in Billund on the 1st of June.

Even more exciting; I will meet the LEGO designers and real-life car designers, and we get to ask questions.

Soopadoopa exciting; there will be a copy for me to bring back home.

So does that mean the Chiron isn't the 2nd VIP set for this month?  Makes me wonder what it will be.

[Jim]

Just now, Kjellevirus said:

So does that mean the Chiron isn't the 2nd VIP set for this month?  Makes me wonder what it will be.

We already knew it wouldn't be the Chiron since the countdown on the TLG website stated 1st of June  
(Ninjago maybe, not sure if it has already been announced. But let's stick to the Chiron in this topic)

[Kjellevirus]

10 minutes ago, Jim said:

We already knew it wouldn't be the Chiron since the countdown on the TLG website stated 1st of June  
(Ninjago maybe, not sure if it has already been announced. But let's stick to the Chiron in this topic)

I hoped so much for it to be the Chiron But with that countdown it couldn't be otherwise.  Thanks for the clarification. 
The waiting game continious. 

[Jim]

Just now, Kjellevirus said:

I hoped so much for it to be the Chiron But with that countdown it couldn't be otherwise.  Thanks for the clarification. 
The waiting game continious. 

Only two weeks extra 

[agrof]

I have also high expectations about an upcoming review @Jim 

My questions would be:

- What lead to the final color scheme choice (constrains, branding, eye-catching, personal preference)?

- What found Bugatti engineers the most impressing / appealing in the work of LEGO engineers, what could they learn from them?

- How many engineering hours went into the final model (inclusive creating BI)?

- What test programs had the LEGO model achieve till finalization?

- Does LEGO consider an off-road supercar in the future?

EDIT - new last question, reflecting Jim's answer below:

- Do they prefer butter over margarine? 

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by agrof

[Jim]

Just now, agrof said:

I have also high expectations about an upcoming review @Jim 

My questions would be:

I need to get back in the game, so hopefully it will be worth the wait hehe.

Thanks for your questions. TLG won't answer your last question though 

[allanp]

This is hard considering we know nothing about the set. But that's a good question about the off road car, are these sets limited to just super cars or CAN (not will) they be any iconic car? 

The Porsche was the first of this series, as with any first there are things to learn so what was learnt and how have those lessons been incorporated into the Chiron?

What questions do the Lego designers have for us?

What were the limitations/demands you received from Bugatti? 

They may not be able to answer any of these but without seeing the set or knowing it's functions.....

 

[AVCampos]

Here's another see-if-the-spitball-sticks question:

Can we have images of the preliminary models that led up to the final set, like we had for the 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U400?

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Question: Will this be another technically inauthentic and emotionally letdown like 42056

[kbalage]

Can't wait the review, I wish I had the opportunity to be there at the reveal :) Some questions:

- Were there any technical features of the Chiron that  Lego designers planned to implement but they could not due to complexity or the limitation of the available parts?
- How did they select the final model scale, were there different sizes considered during the design process?
- What was the level of involvement of the Bugatti engineers in the Lego model's design process?
- How many design iterations did they have before arriving to the final model?

 

[Didumos69]

I heard the Bugattit will have a City-theme B-model, because of its high ratio of studded parts :D

[Bublehead]

@Jim, My biggest question would be, are the models in this series targeted at the non-AFOLs who are gearheads, the general Automotive Enthusiast, or children ages 9 to 90? Because they sure don't appeal that much to this Technic fan as much as sets like 42030, 42043, or the BWE. Sure, I bought a Porsche like most good Lego Technic fans, but I was disappointed in the final model and was glad I picked it up used for way less than retail, which I think is a testament to how much some fans disliked the set that they would part with it so cheap. If they are trying to bring more people into the Technic theme using popular real automotive models, then I am all in for anything that helps the Technic theme survive. But the over abundance of super car models is making Technic more a "Supercar Construction Set" building toy and I feel that is getting away from the original idea behind Technic, which was a construction toy to make working models of real world machines and vehicles, not just supercars, which have their place in Technic lore, but are not what I look forward to every year from TLG.

BH

[TeamThrifty]

1 hour ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

Question: Will this be another technically inauthentic and emotionally letdown like 42056

maybe you could twist that around slightly, and ask what lessons were learnt during 42056.. thats a fair question as no matter what industry you work in, every day is a day at school. So it not an insult or provocative to ask? They may offer some interesting insight...

Just now, Bublehead said:

over abundance of super car models

thats not actually correct. I prefer construction and agriculture personally, but there isn't an abundance of supercars. And they are the most popular theme on this forum, they might not be mine, but i have to respect the fact that i'm in the minority... Its not an issue for me, its just a fact. 

[Meatman]

So the model is going to debut and go on sale on the same day?

11 minutes ago, Bublehead said:

@Jim,  But the over abundance of super car models is making Technic more a "Supercar Construction Set" building toy and I feel that is getting away from the original idea behind Technic, which was a construction toy to make working models of real world machines and vehicles, not just supercars,

I think that a car was in the first run Technic models. The large majority of Technic models are not supercars or even cars at all.

[Jim]

25 minutes ago, Bublehead said:

@Jim, My biggest question would be, are the models in this series targeted at the non-AFOLs who are gearheads, the general Automotive Enthusiast, or children ages 9 to 90? Because they sure don't appeal that much to this Technic fan as much as sets like 42030, 42043, or the BWE.

Of course it does appeal to a lot of Technic fans. The fact that you and a hand full of others prefer sets like the BWE seems hardly representative for the entire Technic audience.

This set is targeted towards all of the above. I don’t need to ask TLG. This sets sells, just like the “awful Porsche”, which is at the top of a lot of Technic lists. Only the Arocs can compete with it. 

The Technic audience is a very broad group of people, kids and AFOLs, not only the ones who are in it for the functions. I was a bit disappointed with the Porsche too, but I still would have bought it, because it’s a collector’s item.

And about supercars; there’s absolutely no abundance of supercars. Far from that. Every couple of years there’s your run of the mill 8070, 42039, etc, but I wouldn’t call Technic a “supercar construction set theme”, not at all. 

[allanp]

Here's A question for Jim, will we get the answers?! 

[Meatman]

The large majority of people in this world like cars as they are a part of their every day life. While things like a forklift may be fun to build and play with, most people are going to gravitate towards something that they are familiar with. Not to mention, what is easier to market and hype up to a large crowd of would-be Lego consumers? A 3,000 piece Forklift or a 3,000 piece Lamborghini?

[Bublehead]

25 minutes ago, TeamThrifty said:

but there isn't an abundance of supercars

I would posit that 2 super cars in 2 years is pushing the super car distribution cycle-

here are the years TLG has put out a large auto chassis:

1977,1980,1988,1994,1999, 2000, 2011, 2016, 2018 which gives an average number of years between them of 4+ years

so releasing one every 2 years could be considered an abundance when you look at it from a historical viewpoint but not unprecedented as the 1999/2000 cycle saw two back to back with the Super Street Sensation and Silver Champion.  I am sure there are a lot of people here who wished it was every year like that and gladly look forward to the one after the Chiron, but like you, I prefer a different and a broader range of flagship models other than auto chassis.  So maybe over abundance was an incorrectly applied term and what I am really getting at is the noticeable uptick in supercar offerings from TLG seems out of the norm for them.

BH

 

 

@Jim, maybe my question should be "Are these sets going to become their own specialized sub-theme, and should we look forward to a new one every 2 years? Kind of a "UCS" for Technic?"

 

BH

[TeamThrifty]

I did post months ago that i hoped, really hoped, that the Chiron wasn't another supercar.. if the rally car had been a full-on snorting flagship, that would have been awesome, but that was just from a personal preference. If i was looking to make sales, i'd be releasing supercars hand over fist!! (and 42056 wasn't as bad as it was made out.. i just think expectations were very high)

Its possible that the super-special line is a supercar sub-theme, but overall there's still a good mix of other theme's. Looking at your list of years, from 2000 onwards the number has decreased a lot. Only 4 in 18 years, so there's some catching up to do there for the car fans!

one day there's be a massive flagship tractor using huge new tyres!!!

 

[BusterHaus]

2 hours ago, kbalage said:

 

- Were there any technical features of the Chiron that  Lego designers planned to implement but they could not due to complexity or the limitation of the available parts?

@Jim I was going to request a very similarly worded question - instead, I'll just add my vote for this one.

You could possibly ask about "other reasons" why particular functions were not implemented - sometimes the decisions may be driven by financial or marketing reasons. 

I think a solid answer to this question would end much speculation as to why certain functions are simplified, or omitted from the model. 

[brunojj1]

55 minutes ago, Meatman said:

The large majority of people in this world like cars as they are a part of their every day life. While things like a forklift may be fun to build and play with, most people are going to gravitate towards something that they are familiar with.

Kids like to play with things they are familiar with, but can´t handle in real life, such as big vehicles of all kind. AFOLS like me want to own and play a supercar of which they can´t afford a real one, most likely never in their life.

59 minutes ago, Meatman said:

A 3,000 piece Forklift or a 3,000 piece Lamborghini?

A 3.500 pcs McLaren or Ferrari.

[Blakbird]

7 hours ago, Jim said:

Exciting news guys!! I will be live at the unveiling of the Chiron in Billund on the 1st of June.

Even more exciting; I will meet the LEGO designers and real-life car designers, and we get to ask questions.

Soopadoopa exciting; there will be a copy for me to bring back home.

That is awesome!  It would be even better if you were taking me along though.  I will just miss you.  I will be Germany (which for an American is pretty close) most of May.

[Erik Leppen]

1 hour ago, Bublehead said:

the original idea behind Technic, which was a construction toy to make working models of real world machines and vehicles

I think in this respect, a nice and very simple question to ask would be "Which function of the Lego Technic Bugatti model are you (the designers) most proud of to have achieved?". Can you add that to your list @Jim?

[dforce]

The question I'd ask is:

Which part of the vehicle did you start with as you began designing and which parts determined the scale of the entire build?

(For me that is one of the hardest parts when I mock, I tend to make one portion and then realize that it won't be proportional to the rest of the vehicle if I continue)