Review: LEGO 42196 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica Orange

March 25, 2024 | 2

A recent trend has seen LEGO begin to rerelease certain past sets in new colour variants, with several examples in the Creator, City, and Technic themes.

The latest set as part of this trend is 42196 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica Orange, an orange recolour of 2023’s lime green 42161 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica set. Both these sets are now available, so if you like having options for your Lambo, LEGO has you covered!

With an identical part count and price point, is this set worth adding to your collection, and can it stand on its own two feet (or four wheels)? Let’s take a closer look!

This is a guest review from Vaderfan who covers Star Wars, Technic, Speed Champions and Marvel sets for the blog!

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set over for review!

42196 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica Orange Set Details

Set Name: Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica Orange
Set Number: 42196
Pieces: 806
Minifigures: 0
Theme: Technic
Release Date: 1 April 2024
Exclusive to: N/A
Retail Price: US$49.99 / AU$84.99 / £46.99 / €52.99 / CAD$64.99

Unboxing

The front of the box shows the orange Huracán speeding along a track, with a city skyline in the back.

This is a different design from last year’s lime green box art, which had a more simple highway background, speeding in a blur.

The back of the box shows the rear of the model, the steering and engine functions, along with a comparison to the real car.

This part of the box is pretty much identical to last year’s box art, with the only difference being the car colour.

Inside the box are seven numbered bags, an instruction manual, a sticker sheet, and two rubbery hose pieces.

Unfortunately my instruction manual was slightly damaged in the box, I would really like LEGO to start packing the manuals in a cardboard sleeve like they do for bigger sets.

Here’s a look at the sticker sheet, which is reasonably sized for a Technic car set at this price point.

Build Process

Bag 1 begins work on the chassis, with some gears for the car’s two key functions.

Bag 2 adds the car’s V10 engine.

Bag 3 adds the steering section and some additional structure.

Bag 4 adds a roof over the driver’s cabin, along with the dashboard in front.

Bag 5 starts fleshing out the complex shapes of the car’s front fascia.

Bag 6 completes the front and adds the rear mudguards.

Finally, bag 7 completes the model and adds the two rubber hose elements for the windscreen outline.

Design and Functions

The completed Huracan measures around 28cm (11″) in length, and the orange colour scheme is certainly striking.

As far as Technic cars go, the design is reasonably sleek, and the gentle sloping bodywork does look pretty good from a side angle – with the exception of the noticeably oversized front and rear fenders.

The rear view makes some effort to replicate the Lamborghini’s aggressive design, using a pair of stickers for the brake lights.

There’s also a spoiler mounted at the top built with some simple Technic panels, unfortunately its angle is fixed.

The design of the front is a little more lacking, though.

While the designers were given the nearly impossible task of replicating the complex angles of the Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica, the end result of the LEGO model leaves a lot to be desired.

Certain key elements and shapes are kind of there, but the limited Technic parts palette means the proportions are out of scale.

This is especially apparent from a lower angle, which reveal that the headlights and bonnet are simply too high up, exaggerating the size of the bumper. In fact, I think the front from this angle looks similar to the Lotus Eletre SUV!

Stickers are used for both the headlights and the Lamborghini logo on the bonnet.

The V10 engine is present and can be viewed through a gap in the bodywork at the rear of the car. There is a stickered 2×6 tile with “V10” and “Lamborghini” labels for extra detail.

A gear on the top of the knob acts as hand-of-god steering, which is fairly standard for most realism-oriented Technic cars.

The steering angle isn’t particularly impressive and the steering wheel does not turn along with the wheels, but the gear can be removed easily if you wish to improve the display value.

The aforementioned V10 engine is connected to the right rear wheel; pushing the car along will make the pistons of the engines bump up and down.

The pistons themselves are made of 3L Technic axles and yellow Technic half-bushes. Unfortunately their movement is fairly minimal, making this working engine feature slightly underwhelming.

The Lamborghini’s doors can also be opened outwards, which is unfortunately inaccurate to the real Lamborghini’s gullwing door, which swivel upwards to open!

Still, this is a nice feature that gives you a better view of the interior.

A pair of stickered seats are included inside the car for a driver and passenger, though no figures are included (as this is a Technic set).

The car’s steering wheel has a printed 1×1 tile with the Lamborghini logo, and a spare is included in this set. A 1×3 sticker forms the car’s digital speedometer display, and there are a pair of stickers mounted towards the outer edges that represent the car’s climate control vents.

The front of the car can be hinged open like a bonnet, but I do not think this was an intended feature as there isn’t anything to see underneath.

Final Thoughts

While this set meets the minimum requirements for a modern Technic car set, it still leaves much to be desired.

In terms of display value and realism, the clunky front fascia and the oversized fenders hamper the overall appearance, and even the rear view is arguably misshapen.

The hand-of-god steering and working engine functions work smoothly, but are pretty standard and unimaginative as far as LEGO Technic functions go. The piece count of 806 is rather impressive considering the price – and indeed this may interest Technic fans looking to collect bulk parts – but the size of the final model is pretty average for a US$50 Technic set.

Adults will probably be letdown by the inaccurate, awkward external design, while younger fans likely would have preferred flashier play functions – perhaps a working suspension or even synchronised gull-wing doors?

Frankly, I’m not too sure why LEGO chose to rerelease this model in particular, as the aforementioned issues were also present on the lime green variant. Perhaps this specific car sold well among the target demographic, but in my opinion, I think there are much better sets available around this price point.

Build [2] – Harsh, but the model does not really achieve success in either the display or play aspect; it ends up stuck in an awkward middle ground.
Playability [2] – The included functions work well, but are fairly underwhelming by Technic standards.
Real Value [3] – Decent value considering the piece count and size of the model, but let down by the set’s quality.
Innovation [2] – This is a straight-up rerelease of an already ordinary Technic set, although some specific panels are mounted at nifty angles.
Keepability [1] – I don’t expect these recoloured rerelease sets to be particularly iconic long-term, unless the original set was something truly special. This set is no exception.

Rating and Score: 2/5 ★★✰✰✰

Thanks for reading! 42196 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica Orange is available from LEGO.com, or your local LEGO retailer.

To get the latest LEGO news and LEGO Reviews straight in your inbox, subscribe via email, or you can also follow on Google News, or socials on Facebook, Instagram (@jayong28), Twitter or subscribe to the Jay’s Brick Blog Youtube channel.