Review: 75908 458 Italia GT2
Posted by Huw,
75908 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 is the fourth of the small Speed Champions sets that we've reviewed.
Unlike the other three this model is based on a racing car, one used in LeMans races, rather than a 'hypercar'. There are plenty of images of car 51 on Google image search although few of it in this exact livery, which appears to be that used at the 2013 race.
Have we left the best 'til last? Read on to find out...
Box
Like the other sets the front of the box shows the car on the racing track, although this time it doesn't appear to be moving.
Unlike the other three sets it doesn't come with a 'trackside accessory' like a piece of kerb, cones, or starting lights; instead we are provided with a winner's cup.
More action shots grace the back; once again the driver is wrestling with a spanner to change the wheel.
The prototype car 51 is shown on the back, too.
Minifig
The driver is kitted out in Ferrari racing overalls which are different to those the driver of LaFerrari is wearing, which is good.
His name is printed, illegibly, under the Ferrari badge, A F~~~~~.
The back also sports a badge and his name.
Construction
Once again construction is pretty unremarkable, apart from the sides which use SNOT brackets to give the required contours. There are no new parts in this set that we haven't mentioned in other Speed Champions reviews.
This set has the most stickers of the four: some 22 of them!
The Finished model
Once fully stickered up and complete it looks fantastic. The stickers are all relatively easy to apply but care does need to be taken to ensure they are straight and, often, centered on the part as well. Tweezers definitely come in handy. If you are not an expert at applying stickers you will be after building this set!
From the side, you can appreciate the nice curve that's been achieved from bonnet to back although overall it looks too high.
From the top you can see that it suffers from the same proportional width:length deficiencies as the others in the series: it's far too narrow. However it doesn't look as bad as the McLaren for example; the stickers probably help.
As you may recall reading in other reviews these sets come with eight 'alloy wheel' inserts of which four are used. Those that come with this and the Porsche are different to those in the P1 and the LaFerrari; this uses a seven 'double-spoke' design.
Verdict
In my view this is the best of the four. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why but I suspect the mass of stickers helps, even though I don't normally apply them. Whether I'll have this view in two years time when they may have peeled and left the model in a mess remains to be seen.
The designers have done a pretty good job of replicating the look of the real car and it's recognisable as what it's supposed to be which, at this scale, is an achievement in itself.
If you buy just one Speed Champions set make it this one, but be prepared to apply the stickers to have it look its best.
Order it today from shop.LEGO.com:
USA $14.99 | UK £12.99 | Canada $17.99 | Germany €14.99 | France €14.99
3 likes
24 comments on this article
Great review! I really do like the look of this one compared to the others.
@Huw: Is the windscreen printed or is it just a sticker?
Printed, it's printed on all four.
The writing on his overalls is actually "AF corse" which is the name of the particular team that runs this Ferrari. It looks like a fairly good approximation of their logo.
I purchased this and the P1 as a birthday present for my nephew at the weekend (and the Ferrari Truck for myself which I've not started yet). The box for this and the P1 seem to be quite different in terms of what is shown on the sides/bottom/top. Thought it was a bit strange! Looks like a great model though.
You have better eyesight than me then if you can make that out!
Honestly, this is the only one of the four that I don't want to buy at all. Those stickers are just so off-putting. And in a few years when they all start peeling? Yikes. I can't bring myself to do it.
Someone should set up "sticker watch", a time lapse camera that watches the stickers peel and degrade over time :)
I agree with the author!
Very nicely dine set!
@omnium Haha, that is a genius idea!
Well certainly I will report back this time next year and tell you the state of them.
Stickers may be a pain, and no one in their right mind like 'em, but here you see the difference they can make. Build this model without them and you will see it's also terribly out of proportions like the others - it's too darn straight.
Still, this is a must buy for me, and without a doubt, the best so far. I'm anxiously waiting to see a review of the Porsche race set, which I suspect will be just as good because of the stickers.
It's not as bad a reproduction of the real thing as the other Ferrari, and the decals give it a good racing look, but it's still out of proportion. All of these cars are too high. I can forgive the P1 quite a lot because of that gorgeous colour, but in terms of look, none of these are a patch on the orange and white Porsche 911 Hybrid in set 75912.
I agree with Lordboy, the stickers are so off putting. I would have loved to see how the set would have looked in just red.
^ LOL, last time I posted pictures without stickers applied (in the PI review) I was chastised!
There were several of us that much preferred the non stickers ones and stood up for you, more so because the pro-sticker side people were crazy. lol Stickered pictures are all over the internet, plain car pictures are not.
Or as Tomoonn said, take some of both. :-p
(You can't win with LEGO fans Huw. Watch me make them made... LEGOs!!!!)
So it seems... :-)
Like the others it's a nice Lego race car.
Just a pity it looks nothing like the real thing...
See, I think the stickers make this set. I haven't had sticker rot problems since the early 2000's (I'm looking at you, 3451), so I'm going to trust these will last. This was my favorite of the four and I just ordered it yesterday for my son. Who's only 1 year old, so dad will just have to be custodian of it until he comes of age. ;)
I still haven't gotten all of the stickers off of 3451 pieces! That was epic fail on LEGO's part. Nothing that bad, but I had peeling off some small stickers from random sets about 5 years ago. I have a feeling this will be the same but lost stickers everywhere from play.
Just watch for the inevitable UPS MOC's now that the logo is on an official LEGO sticker sheet.
Just put this set together last night and I have to say, I like it. I'm not sure about the 1x1 red plates on the sides (in front of the rear wheels); I may replace them with 1x1 tiles. I also wonder why the brackets that are visible on the sides were done in white and not black, when comparing the LEGO model to the real car.
One thing I noticed is that the stickers seem to be of a thicker material than your average sticker set LEGO is producing these days. I wonder if it's the same for the other Speed Champions sets. The stickers on the 458 feel a little more like the stickers LEGO used to make in the past that were printed on clear plastic sheets. I hope I'm right, because that means they will last longer. :)
These sets look pretty cool, definitely looking forward to pick them up. I believe the name on both the front and back of the minifig is AF Corse, one of the bigger Werks Factory Race teams.
With 22 stickers, you must have had an unpleasant time, Huw - I know you aren't a fan of them.
And now, I have no idea what to do - buy this, or the McLaran P1 - or both? :-\
I love all of these Speed Champion cars equally. I like the 6 wide format. These will all be sitting on display in Bruce Wayne's garage which is just above Le Batcave.....but don't tell anybody that, it's a secret.
The stickers are applied to every car and everything. The ONLY sticker that doesn't get apply goes to this set, that being the windshield itself since its printed within the item. This one to me is perfect if someone wants a car to compete against the Octan Race Car from last year. I think they need to take the past big size model sets like the Lamborghini's and downsize them to this. it would be a great add with these cars too.