Lego's new Technic Land Rover Defender set is even better for rainy days than the real thing

Lego's penchant for recreating classic car designs is showing no sign of stopping, and the latest to the line-up is this Technic Land Rover Defender, which was created in conjunction with Land Rover to make sure all the details are perfect.

We're talking authentic body panels, the car's original rim design, a four-wheel drive system, independent suspension, and Lego's most complex gearbox to date. The last of those is really saying something – we've built the Lego Bugatti Chiron, with its eight-speed gearbox, and that was more complex than if MC Escher did a Where's Wally? puzzle.

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On top of all that, there's working steering, control of the four-speed sequential gearbox in the cockpit, and a recreation of the six-cylinder engine, complete with moving pistons. There's even a working winch, because why not.

The end result is finished in authentic olive green, grey and black, and is made from 2,573 pieces. It's about 16 inches long when complete, and 12.5 inches wide.

This makes it one of the easier big Technic models to display – it's a good six inches shorter than the Bugatti, which is quite a beast when built.

Lego Technic Land Rover Discovery | £159.99 at the Lego Store
Build your own piece of car history with this Technic recreation of the classic Defender, complete with sequential gearbox, independent suspension, working steering and loads more functions.

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While we're talking Technic, there's a new top-of-line giant model worth salivating over, too. The Lego Technic Liebherr R 9800 Excavator is a 4,108-piece monolith, and ends up 25 inches long and 15 inches high when it's complete (which could take a while). 

It has seven motors to drive its functions, which include rotating the top, extending and lowering the boom, opening and tilting the bucket, plus – and we cannot stress this enough – driving the whole thing around on its awesome Lego caterpillar tracks.

And this is all controlled through an app on your phone, which connects to two Bluetooth control units within the model. You can move it with taps and swipes, and even record a series to actions to repeat later, smartly.

Lego Technic Liebherr R 9800 | £399 at the Lego Store
You'll be busy for days with this 4,000 -piece giant replica of an even gianter excavator. It's packed with authentic detail, and full motor control via a phone means you can drive it around, rotate the top structure and dig with the arm.

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