LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 review

The latest Technic supercar is a premium build experience, so long as you don’t compare it too closely to the source material.

A large, complex recreation of an impressive luxury car for the mega-rich, LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 offers everything we’ve come to expect from sets of this size and price point. For fans of LEGO Technic, there are few sets that can compete with the build experience offered here, and the result is an absolutely gorgeous display piece with impressive moving parts. The only real downside is that the set doesn’t entirely nail the curves of a real McLaren P1, which may be disappointing for automotive Technic fans.

Release: August 1, 2024 Price: £389.99 / $449.99 / €449.99 Pieces: 3,893 Minifigures: 0 LEGO: Order now

A luxury build experience

LEGO Technic’s growing Ultimate Car Concept Series represents the pinnacle of what can be achieved with the LEGO Group’s familiar pins and gears. While there are other large Technic sets on the market, none have the clout of these supercars, which give automotive fans the chance to live out their dreams by building cars which, unless they are exceptionally lucky, they will never have the opportunity to own in real life.

Given this reputation, it’s not surprising that every part of the LEGO Technic 42172 McLaren P1 is streamlined to perfection. The packaging alone is highly detailed and delightfully inviting, setting the tone for a lengthy build that, ironically for a set based on a fast car, takes a long time to complete.

This is not the kind of build that should be attempted in one sitting, nor should builders aim to rush the process. The insertion of gears and levers, the connecting of pins and joints and bolts, all feel reminiscent of building an actual luxury car from scratch. There’s a delightful feeling to slotting together so many Technic elements and discovering how they move and interact which, while present in smaller builds, feels like it is on a completely different level when dealing with a set this large and complex.

42172 McLaren P1 is currently the largest Technic set in the LEGO Group’s active catalogue by piece count, even surpassing 42115 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 and 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3 in its number of elements. The build, then, feels like a true premium experience; something that’s a cut above other Technic sets, even sets based on other iconic McLaren cars. This, though, is nothing new: all sets in the Ultimate Car Concept Series boast a similar level of polish. The real question is: what does 42172 McLaren P1 do to set itself apart from other offerings on the market?

An ambitious adaptation

If you’re considering dropping the money necessary to purchase 42172 McLaren P1, then there’s a good chance you’re a fan of supercars, and the source material for this set in particular. This being the case, your first instinct upon seeing the set – particularly from its front – might be to question whether this really is intended to be a McLaren P1 at all. While every effort has been made to (at times literally) bend the available catalogue of Technic elements to match the contours of a real P1, LEGO never has been particularly well suited to emulating curves.

This physical inaccuracy isn’t a problem for the entirety of the build. Many parts of the set’s shape line up perfectly with a real McLaren. The front of the build in particular, though, fails to really do the P1 justice, in particular when it comes to the bonnet and the headlights, which are arguably the most iconic and recognisable elements of the original car’s design.

In a set that’s this substantial and displayable, some may be willing to overlook the limitations of using Technic as a medium for a set like this. Meanwhile, others might simply not be able to let go of the nagging feeling that something just isn’t quite right about the design. This will be a personal issue, but one thing has to be said: taken in isolation, 42172 McLaren P1 is certainly one of if not the most impressive LEGO Technic supercar that we’ve seen on the market thus far.

A technological wonder

All of the Ultimate Car Concept Series sets have phenomenal functions, and 42172 McLaren P1 is no different. The standards of the series are all here: turn the steering wheel and the front wheels turn in unison; shift the clutch and the car moves up and down a gear; run the wheels across the ground and pistons can be seen moving within the engine. That said, the pistons are a little harder to spot than in some of these supercar sets, due to the design of the car, but that’s beside the point.

There’s also a little luggage bag, a staple of the series, as well as a display plate featuring details of the set. There’s a convenient storage space under the bonnet, which can be propped up for display purposes, and the rear spoiler can be raised and lowered by twisting a knob on the back. This time around, though, the real innovation can be seen in the doors. The mechanism by which they swing up was apparently a real challenge to design, but it’s a large part of communicating the iconic P1 functionality.

The mechanism is not without its flaws, though. The process by which the doors shift upwards never feels entirely smooth, and it’s easy to put the door back down and miss the convenient hole that’s left in the body to secure it in place. This is only really going to be a bother for anyone who’s going to repeatedly open and close the doors as fast as possible, and given that this set is intended for display rather than hard-wearing activity, it’s unlikely to be a huge issue.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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Our honest opinion: 42172 McLaren P1 is a tremendously beautiful set that feels satisfying to put together, but is compromised by a lack of fidelity to the source material, particularly around the front of the model.