One of the more recent surprise announcements for 2026 was for the LEGO Speed Champions Lightning McQueen (77255). Releasing on January 1 (pre-order today), the set has 270 pieces and will retail for $27.99.
The Speed Champions theme usually comes with lots of stickers to bring out the details of the respective cars and this one is no different. There are 22 for Lightning McQueen with one of them being the windshield eyes.
The car itself has a very curvy design that is sort of unusual with the theme as it is mainly based on real life cars but it does match up with the source material fairly well.
I will give LEGO credit for trying to make a smooth bodywork but due to how the parts are, it does have a slightly blocky design, especially in the front. I do like how the mouth is brick-built and shows Lightning with his smile by using the curved plate. The headlights are stickers as well as the sponsor decal on the hood. The hood can open up slightly as it is connected on a hinge plate next to the windshield.
The sides of the car have the most detailing but also use a lot of stickers for it. You have his iconic lightning symbol that goes across the door towards the back and that uses stickers spanning four pieces. Of course we also have another sticker for his 95 number. One nice thing is that the back fender is printed.
Under the 95 panel, we have a couple of side exhausts that are connected with the underside of the car. Here we also have some details that you don’t really see with the drive shaft.
At the top of the car, we have a large sticker for the 95 also with a couple more for his name.
Behind the hood is a little section with brick-built stripes which actually look pretty good and is also connected to the spoiler.
The back of the car has a few more stickers for the rear lights as well as more of the Rust-eze sponsor stickers.
Results
Overall the LEGO Speed Champions Lightning McQueen (77255) is a fun little set that both kids and adults of the Cars movie can enjoy. It does continue the line of movie themed cars although this is the first one for an animated movie.
Yes it does utilize a lot of stickers but you could argue that some pieces could be printed since we don’t have an actual minifigure with the set like with other Speed Champions sets, mainly the windshield eyes.
The set has also increased in price by $1 compared this year’s wave so I would suggest waiting for a sale on it as we’re slowly inching toward the $30 mark for a single car.
Thank you to LEGO for sending in this set for me to review. The content above represents my own opinion and not the company. Review sets sent in does not guarantee a positive review.
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