Review: LEGO Technic 42111 Dom's Dodge Charger

Today we take a quick look at the LEGO Technic set 42111 Dom's Dodge Charger (109.99 €), a vehicle of 1077 parts under official Dodge license whose box is also flanked by the logo of the cinematographic saga Fast & Furious.

Of the license Fast & Furious, there is not much left on the product itself apart from the license plate which directly refers to the first film of the saga, and possibly the extinguisher placed in the passenger compartment and the two bottles of NOS slipped into the trunk.

The vehicle frame is built around the new frame Technic 11x15 first seen in the LEGO Education set 45678 SPIKE Prime, delivered here in Dark Bluish Gray. The rear axle incorporates a classic differential that returns the drive shaft to the front, it is in line with the reference rear-wheel drive vehicle that inspired this LEGO version, the 1970 Dodge Charger R / T offered to Dominic Torreto by his dad.

The wheel visible at the rear on the trunk will be used to act on the direction of the front wheels, the front and rear axles are both equipped with suspensions and the center stand is connected to an interior lever a little difficult to access which will be used to deploy it to obtain a nose-up effect or an exposure dynamic.

The pistons of the V8 engine and the belt (here a chain) for driving the compressor are set in motion when moving the vehicle and this is a detail that will not completely disappear under the body parts but will remain partially visible through opening in the front cover.

About the engine of this Dodge Charger R / T in the LEGO version: I'm not a mechanic, but it seems to me that the compressor itself is missing under the air intakes, however, and one can also wonder why the gear on which the chain runs is red whereas on the reference vehicle this part is chrome or gray.

Do not try to steer the front wheels by turning the steering wheel, the latter turns in a vacuum, the designer not having seen fit to connect it to the steering. The interior finish is quite rustic: no floor for the passenger compartment or the trunk, you can see through. We will say that it is to stick to the spirit of the "modified" vehicle of the film. Fortunately, a large handful of classic parts reinforce the Technic elements to significantly improve the aesthetic appearance of the vehicle.

I believe it can even be said that the appearance of this Dodge Charger R / T is saved by the sub-assembly attached to the front face which makes the machine immediately recognizable, even if this gray outline is in my opinion too thick. .

Everything else is way too rough compared to the benchmark vehicle with overly sharp curves on the fenders giving the whole thing a Cadillac look from the 60s, wheel arches lacking a bit of finishing and the use of gray tubes loosely curved around the doors to try to make the thing look a bit. Suddenly, the Technic axles which protrude from the rims, which are themselves aesthetically irrelevant, become almost secondary ...

I quickly spruce it up on the exposed blue pines, I know some of you consider this the hallmark of the LEGO Technic range and others see it as a visual distraction without interest. I am one of those who would have preferred black pines to obtain a more homogeneous body and headlights. And I'm not even talking about scratches on parts or injection points that remain too visible on some smooth elements anymore.

No chrome on this Dodge Charger LEGO, you have to be content with gray parts for the bumpers, the windshield pillars, the side windows, the two interior reinforcement arches which also support the roof and the rods which circulate from each side of the passenger compartment. These different elements bring a little contrast to the whole but all that remains visually a little sad and the finish of the windshield really has a "tinkered" side. You will also have noticed that since the windows are "figured", the rear window is vaguely symbolized by two side fins.

It is possible to play with this product a bit, the steering being deported to the trunk via a small black dial. You can also have fun opening the doors, the front hood and the trunk. And make the vehicle pitch up by trying to reach the lever placed in the passenger compartment. I am not sure that "... the fun ramps up as fans recreate scenes from the Fast and Furious saga and bring adrenaline-fueled street races to life ..."as the official description indicates, but hey ...

We talked a lot about this set 42111 Dom's Dodge Charger in recent weeks, LEGO having unveiled it with great fanfare with an "official announcement" that highlighted the license agreement in force here. Without the logo Fast & Furious On the box of this Dodge Charger R / T, I think this aesthetically very average set with relatively limited functionality would in fact have been just another reference in the soft underbelly of the LEGO Technic range.

A product advertised and sold as under official license, in this precise case both of the vehicle brand and of a cinematographic saga in which it is present, must in my opinion be a little more successful than the proposed version here. The pretext of a variation in the Technic range is not enough to excuse the many aesthetic approximations which are not really compensated by the few functions offered. At the price of 79 € without the license Fast & Furious, I would have thought. At 110 €, it's seen everything.

As you can imagine, I also think that the product we are talking about here would rather have deserved its place in the LEGO Creator Expert range to obtain a model more respectful of the reference vehicle as is the case with the set 10265 Ford Mustang.

Note: The product shown here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 12th May 2020 next at 23pm. the shipment of the prize to the winner will only take place when the sanitary situation allows it.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.