For decades, LEGO has shrunken big things into small building kits. At Ford, the Mustang and F-150 are big huge business. Now, the Mustang GT and Raptor LEGO sets are finally available for purchase from the LEGO store as part of the brand’s Speed Champions collection.
The 185-piece Mustang GT kit retails for $14.99, which buys you the V8-powered pony, its speed-hungry racing driver, and a timing board for displaying his lap times.
LEGO’s version of the Raptor goes for $49.99, but the set’s 664 pieces can be assembled into the off-roader, a garage with tools, an engine hoist, a drag racing light tree, a trailer, a Model A hot rod to carry on it, and workers to keep the EcoBoost-ed beast in tip-top shape…so it can tackle more of the sand dunes and mountains of LEGO Land.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
