Rishab N

I recently decided to build a supercar of some sort, and after some input from Blakbird I decided to buy the famous 8448. This was my first “old” Technic set and while deciding to buy it, I found a surprising lack of reviews for it. The only comprehensive review I found was here on Eurobricks(which is here and is quite good) so I decided to do another review for it as this set definitely deserves more. In this review I’ll be reviewing the gull wing model.(I apologize for pic quality if I ever do another review they'll be much better I promise) Here’s the pile of parts at first glance. It’s pretty big coming in at about 1400 pieces, and was the biggest Technic set at that time (correct me if I’m wrong). It has a large number of 1x16 technic bricks and 7x3 liftarms. The set had a couple unique pieces being the wheels and the steering hubs. Here are the wheels compared to the common supercar tires made by Lego.They're quite large and IMO they seem to be the most realistic tires as they are thin and are able to make the most realistic steering designs (see here).They're shiny, but don't look that great in terms of design, so they aren't used much. The steering hubs are also quite interesting although they are not widely used except in Jorgeopesi’s Ferrari F40. Any way let’s go build this thing. The books are absolutley awesome and are divided between chassis and body(ies). They are both thick heavy books and the quality is great even 16 years later. The build is divided between the chassis and the body. The entire build maintains modularity which is interesting and adds a nice customization aspect. The chassis is divided into numerous modules and starts off with a frame. The frame is quite sturdy and has the beginnings of the drivetrain in it. Next up we have the suspension modules. The rear suspension is too stiff and the front suspension is too soft. I feel like this set could have really used the yellow hard springs as these are only the medium stiffness. After the suspension we have the gearbox. The 8448 probably has the best gearbox produced in a Lego Technic set. It has a total of 5 speeds and one reverse gear. It was reproduced in the 8466 Off Roader. The gearbox and engine are added, and at this point the car is fully functional. All of the gears can be selected and the engine moves nicely. I also like the effort put into the engine details, its not something you see in modern sets. The interesting thing about this car is that the engine can easily be placed in the back even when the model is fully built, but it makes the front look very sparse. Once the chassis is built you can continue onto the bodywork, but if you aren't a fan of the original design, you can always build one of the other 4 designs(hot rod, racecar, concept car, and buggy) The instructions used to be hard to find, but now they should be here. After this point the build loses a technical aspect and focuses more on aesthetics. The dashboard is added and the bodywork starts to take shape Eventually you reach this point where you make a choice whether to build the convertible version of the car or the gull wing version. I chose to build the latter. Some nice seats are added and the bodywork is finished up Anddd we're done. I gotta say even though this model is 16 years old, it still looks really good. The minimalist design with flex axles and panels with large holes leaves a bit to the imagination, but makes an awesome shape. There are a couple clever techniques to get these shapes. The functions all work well and the gullwing doors have an extremely smooth operation. One thing I don't like about this model is that it lacks Hand of God steering which makes it a bit more difficult to play with. I would go far enough to say that this car was the original "supercar". Although there were others before it, I feel like this is the first one in which looks seemed to be a priority. It also had realistic functions unlike the 8880(which is still an awesome car with its complexity) which had 4 wheel steering which isn't really seen on most cars. So how does this car compare to our modern supercars? I owned the 8070 for a while, but then parted it out to build the Vampire GT. Both the 8070 and 8448 have their strengths. The 8070 obviously has a more modern look due to the newer parts and it is much more filled it. It also has the function gear box which opens everything nicely; however, for me, the 8448's realistic gearbox is far more interesting. Something about the different speeds of the engine just interests me a lot. Also the 8448 has the modularity concept which makes everything much more interesting. Here's a final pic with Crowkillers's Vampire GT. The 2 cars almost look like father and son with their gullwing doors. Overall I got to say this is one of the best sets I've built. It has great looks combined with excellent functions such as the gearbox, modules, and gullwing doors. It only has a few flaws that detract from the main model, but they are barely noticeable.If you guys are still with me after this long review I'll give a rating now Building Experience-10/10 Building this model never gets boring. The modularity is nice and its always fun to see all the modules come together Design-9/10 The 8448 was a massive step forward in design compared to the blocky supercars of the past. It looks good, but has a bit too many holes in some places and the wheels don't look too good. Functionality-8/10 The gear box in this model is amazing and has to be Lego's best. Its gullwing doors open very smoothly. I can't attest to the other models, but I'm guessing their functionality is just as smooth. The only flaws I see here is the lack of HOG and the problems with the suspension. Value-10/10 In the States you can get this model for little over a 100 on Ebay while in Europe its probably a little cheaper. I payed a little more for my copy, but I don't regret it. The model is one of the best Technic models I've seen. Parts-10/10 This model is full of excellent parts. There are many normal Technic parts which are always good to have, and an abundance of bricks and studded parts which are good for Model Team/studded Technic. The set also has 10(!) of those rare #3 red connectors which sell for ridiculous prices on Bricklink. It also has many rare red soft axles and some interesting parts such as 12L axles in red. It also has the rare metallic wheels, dampers, and steering pieces. Overall-47/50 Highly Recommended. Go buy this model and you definitely won't regret it, and in the rare event that you don't like it feel free to send it to me Thanks for reading and feedback on the review is welcome

Wow you guys are critical . I don't think it looks that bad except for the yellow seats

Your link is from the actual computer. I would try and upload the pictures to some website such as Brickshelf, Flickr, etc. Then you can post it here

If you want help here I would post pictures so people can see what it looks like and give improvement ideas. Try using Bricksafe to upload pics as it is quick and allows you to post smaller versions of pictures

Awesome

It looks really good. I like the fire too

Nice review. It was good to see the gearbox explained as I didn't really understand it till now. The chassis also looks very rigid which is great. This looks like a must build for me sometime in the future

Nice MOC especially in such a small scale

i noticed that the renders show the truck having a standard dump instead of side loading. Any reason for this?

This is an awesome idea. Would love to see more pics

1.Looks like he used several as I can't think of a way to split one that much 2. No its an alternate license plate that came with the boss. Everyone who owns one of those has a EK 41999 3. Definitely looks like his logo

I cringed when I saw those 8653 wheel covers with mud on them . Aside from that nice MOC!

Pipasseyoyo's creations are always awesome and this is no exception

Nice little tractors. I like how both are so compact

Would love to try to attempt a supercar such as an NSX. I made a basic gearbox and made a door to scale, but that's as far as I got as I don't have nearly enough parts and I'm terrible at building digitally.

The power functions isn't for the SUV its for the main model

I'm surprised this topic hasn't got more attention as this looks like a really clean design and captures the G Class well

I just love how the back propellor section folds in. Very fun to watch

The wheel arches look very clean. Nice work

Try using this

Nice looking truck!

I'm thinking black wheels, replacing the orange with black and a black spoiler. Not sure how that would turn out

Excellent writeup Blakbird. This is one awesome model

I hear it has longer linear acuators and full RC.

Can we get Blakbird renders of this?