Car number five in the LEGO Technic supercar line was released on 1 August 2024. This one is #42172-1: McLaren P1 Hypercar and it retails for $449.99. It contains 3,893 pieces which works out to $0.116 per piece. This is actually slightly lower than the last car #42143-1: Ferrari Daytona SP3 which was $0.119 per piece. The Ferrari also had 3,778 pieces so this one has slightly over 100 more pieces. Overall this one seems to be in line with the others, but at $450, it’s quite expensive. I used a large amount of Lego Insider Points to pick this one up at a discount and grabbed a GWP as well in the process.

The packaging is very impressive much like some of the previous cars. The imagery on the box is very sleek with the set shown on one side while the other side shows the image of the real car with a P1 logo.

When you open the box, there is an image of the actual car using flaps. Opening these flaps shows a few other images of the actual car and then an image of the LEGO car which is created with the assembly of the three boxes that contain the parts bags.

When the parts boxes are removed, the very bottom of the box include the two instruction books. Shown on the picture on the right below are the boxes numbered by when they are used in the instructions.

Each of the boxes contains numbered parts bags and some number of unnumbered bags. There is one of each number of bag and it goes up to 23. The last box contains the wheels and rims.

Bags one and two start to build the exhaust and rear suspension. It is mostly a Technic build, but on the picture for bag two you can see some System pieces to include the gold pieces on the top.

Bag three finishes up the rear suspension.

Bag 4 starts the 7-Speed Gearbox and V8 Engine. First up is the Gearbox and it is an intense build where you really need to make sure you pay attention to what goes where in the instructions. I thankfully finished it without any issues as it would be a lot to take apart and try to repair.

Bag five wraps up the gearbox while bag six adds some connectors to eventually connect it to the engine.

Bag seven adds the Technic piston pieces that move when you move the wheels.

Bag eight is listed as Hybrid Mode, E-Mode, & Interior in the instructions. It wasn’t clear to me what the Hybrid and E-Mode sections of the build were, but I’m not a car expert so that’s probably why. As you can see from the picture, this bag extends out the frame from the back.

Bag nine adds in the seats and more of the details in the front to include the paddle shifters. Bag ten builds up the dashboard a bit and more of the front of the car.

Bag 11 is listed as Door Mechanism & Sides. The doors open up and they are held in place with a spring mechanism. That mechanism is added in this step. Bag 12 adds some of the side panels of the vehicle behind where the doors will go.

I failed to take a picture of the build for bag 13, but the instructions label it as Front Suspension & Steering.

As advertised by bag 14, you have a steering wheel and a front suspension. Bag 15 adds the roof to the vehicle.

Bags 16 and 17 are labeled as Front Hood & Headlights. Bag 16 assembles more of the front to include the bottom bumper area. Bag 17 adds the lights and more of the hood. The main part of the light is a LEGO claw piece which is a cool use of the piece.

Bag 18 finishes the hood. When assembling it I thought it looks odd, but it really comes together in a Technic sort of way and looks good.

Bag 19 adds the passenger side butterfly door. This was another part of the build where as you are building, it doesn’t seem to make sense, but the final product comes together well. The mechanism to hold them open works well. There is not switch or lever, you just grab the door and pull, but it still works.

Bag 20 adds the driver side door. The picture shows them both open.

Bag 21 is labeled as the Rear Clam & Spoiler. This section is built away from the rest of the car and then attached later. One bonus to this set is there are no stickers. All printed pieces. So I guess the $450 isn’t bad in that sense.

Bag 22 continues to build out the rear section.

Bag 23 wraps up the build with the rear spoiler, the rear part assembles the rest of the car, a small carry bag, and the printed tile you can place next to the car with the name and details. I took a few pictures from different angles and with some of the play features to include the rear spoiler which can be raised or lowered by turning a gear in the back of the car.

Overall, a great build. I enjoy the challenge and marvel at how the Technic designers can seemingly take some random pieces and craft the into a cool looking car. I will continue to get these into the future, but will look for sales or use Insider points. $450 is a lot and at over $0.11 per piece, it falls above the usual range of $0.10 per piece. I understand it’s a licensed product and there are a lot of odd pieces, but still…. Yikes! That price is steep.

I pulled out all the cars that I have for a photo shoot. My kiddos suggested we line them up in rainbow color order. We just need a purple one next. LEGO? Now I need to find a good way to display them in my build space.

Happy building!