LEGO® Technic™ – Koenigsegg Sadair’s
Spear Megacar

There are cars. There are supercars. And then, in a category almost entirely of its own, there is Koenigsegg. The Swedish manufacturer has spent decades pushing the boundaries of what a road-legal car can do and the Sadair's Spear is its most impressive creation yet. A final, thunderous full stop on the Jesko series. Just 30 will ever be made. 

We talked with Kasper René Hansen, the Senior Model Designer (LEGO Technic Design Team) responsible for this set. 

A car with a story worth telling

The Sadair’s Spear isn’t just a fast car, it’s a tribute. The car is a tribute to the legendary racehorse called 'Sadair's Spear'" Kasper explains. “It is only fitting that a car bearing the name of a legendary racehorse is uncompromisingly engineered for peak performance on the track." 

Translating that spirit and its mechanical complexity into LEGO Technic, turned out to be one of their most ambitious challenges yet. 

Building from the inside out

Instead of starting with the easy part (the exterior), Kasper and his team decided to tackle the biggest challenges first. “The design process started with the development of new elements for the 9-speed gearbox and the Triplex suspension," he says. "A 9-speed gearbox is a challenge to make in the LEGO Technic building system and we needed to figure out which new elements would be needed to make it." 

Research was essential throughout the design process. Beyond technical drawings and videos of the real car in operation, the team made multiple trips to Sweden. "During the model development, we visited Koenigsegg in Sweden a couple of times. This was a very important part of the research. There we could see the cars, how they work and the production, which gave us a lot of understanding and technical knowledge of how it could be translated into LEGO Technic," he mentions. 

Ghost Mode: the feature that steals the show

If there is one feature that makes every person reach for their phone to film it, it’s Ghost Mode. The LEGO Technic model does the same as the real car. Once you lift the rear clam to see the doors sweep open, the front hood rise and the side mirrors fold inward. All of this in one fluid, choreographed movement. 

"Everything opens by lifting the rear clam first and this represents the 'Ghost Mode' function in the real car," he says. "When the rear clam is closed, you can still open the doors and front hood independently of each other. We think that people will enjoy that you can lock the rear clam underneath, to make the model stand with everything open for display. There are some advanced and complex building techniques used to build the 'Ghost Mode' mechanisms inside the car." 

It's a mechanism you'll want to trigger again and again. When you're done showing off, lock it open and leave it on display. 

Details that will make any engine fan smile

Ghost Mode gets the gasps, but the engineering beneath it earns the respect. The 9-speed gearbox is operated via paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, with a gear indicator disc visible behind the driver’s seat showing exactly which gear you're in(easy to spot when you open the driver’s side door). The Triplex suspension (where a third spring element links left and right wheels at both axles) is faithfully recreated with newly designed wishbones and shock absorbers built specifically for this set.  
"It was a huge and great challenge to capture the engineering details with the LEGO Technic elements," he explains. The front-wheel steering connects directly to the steering wheel, the spoiler wing tips to adjustable angles and the roof lifts clean off. 

A build worth every brick

The finished model is black with a dark orange interior and stripe details. There’s a dark tan mid-stripe running its length, just like the real one.
"We think people are going to love mostly the 'Ghost Mode' function. The possibility of displaying the model with the rear clam, doors and front hood open. But also the 9-speed gearbox with the gear indicator and in general the full building experience from beginning to the end, resulting in a stunning display model."
With 4,104 pieces and measuring over 23 in. (59 cm) long, if you think that sounds like a challenge… you're absolutely right!