In a flight of fancy, Australian entrepreneur Steve Sammartino dreamed up an idea of making a car from Lego pieces.
By roping in the skill of a Romain ‘technology genius’ Raul Oaida and the funding from a crowdsourced campaign, his whim is now a reality.
They recently took the car on its first drive (video at the end of the post) and it reached 20mph.
Over 500,000 Lego pieces were used in the construction. Even the engine, which runs on air and contains a total of 256 pistons, is made of the tiny bricks. However, the wheels and some load bearing elements are non-Lego.
So, how did entrepreneur Sammartino find the funding to bring this £25,000 #superawesomemicroproject to the streets?
It all kicked off with this very simple tweet in February 2012:
Forty people displayed an interest in parting with $500 but not before reading Sammartino’s amusing prospectus.
“The project is one of those things that is cool, but in reality can only be done once. In some ways it is a stunt, but with meaning. It has important implications for technology and the world it is creating. For all those involved it will bring credibility. For the public I am certain it will create deep curiosity.”
He is not wrong. Everyone loves Lego and although we have all seen big Lego models before, seeing the little pistons in action is really, well awesome!
//www.youtube.com/embed/_ObE4_nMCjE
