BrickJournal Review: 21307 Caterham Seven 620R

The Return of Model Team?
Review by Geoff Gray, Photo Editor for BrickJournal Magazine

The Caterham Seven is an iconic sports car that has a storied history and is well loved by the enthusiasts who are lucky enough to get their hands on one, but not nearly as well known to the general public as, say, a Porsche 911. However, that could start changing as The LEGO Group releases this beautiful set. The set was designed by Carl Greatrix, voted on by fans, and finally picked by The LEGO Group to become the 14th set released under the LEGO IDEAS branding. BrickJournal was fortunate enough to receive a pre-release copy to review, and what follows is our thoughts on the set.

I opened the box, dug into the manual and started reading the story of the car, the company and the designers thoughts on the first couple of pages. After reading a little more online, I started the build. The set is designed to be built in three parts, each adding to the previous. When I opened the first set of bags, I noticed that there weren’t a lot of TECHNIC elements (not sure why that struck me, but I should have guessed from the picture of the model). I started putting together the chassis. Again I noticed that the build was not quite like any of the typical car builds I am used to. However, it still felt “right.” When I completed the first section, I realized that this build was almost identical in form and process to some of the older sets LEGO had released in the “Model Team” series.

I love the Model Team sets and own quite a few of them, but since they stopped making them in 1999, it’s been a while since you could buy one new (and the prices for them on eBay and Bricklink are pretty steep). As I looked at the chassis for this model, I knew that the series was alive and well again (maybe without the name, but definitely with the feel and the attention to detail).

The engine is very well-detailed (especially for the size of the model), the cockpit contains all three pedals, a shifter and a hand brake, the engine compartment contains a starter block that is tied to the switch in the cockpit using one of the rubber Indiana Jones whips. The detail on the dashboard is equally impressive.

The cockpit showing the pedals and other details. The red TECHNIC axle is where the dashboard connects to the model.

The motor and transmission. I love the use of pistols to represent the manifold.

View of the engine compartment and cockpit, also showing how the exhaust system ties into the model.

Another view of the engine compartment.

The dashboard assembly showing three gauges, the air vents, the rear view mirror and the side mirrors.

There are a ton of little features throughout the build, and I ended up spending as much time trying to take pictures of things to write about as I did working on the build. As I finished the build, I realized that, while the final model is gorgeous, the build is just as gorgeous. Here’s an example. If you look at the picture above showing the exhaust system, you see four “elbow macaroni” pieces connecting to a 2x2 round dome piece. To get two of the macaroni pieces to connect, they decided to use rubber pieces that I believe are lipstick from a Friends set. There’s also a simple design for connecting the front grill assembly at a slight angle. There are many more things like this throughout the build. I really encourage you to enjoy the build as much as you enjoy the model.

Lipstick element used in the assembly of the exhaust.

Picture showing the hinge element used to mount the grill at the right angle.

Picture showing the detail of how the engine hood is built.

Details of the fenders and the lights. You can also see the jack stands that come with the car.

There are no stickers in this set- graphics are printed on the elements.

Completed model.

Reference Material:
Lotus Seven – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Seven
Caterham Seven – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_7
Caterham Cars UK Site - http://uk.caterhamcars.com/cars

You will be able to purchase this at the LEGO Brand Retail Stores on October 1, 2016.