I remember seeing the 853 LEGO Technic Car Chassis (then called Expert Builder, the name Technic was not officially used yet) for the first time. It was set in a glass box on a rotating pedestal. The LEGO Technic 4.5 V motor was mounted to the front fender of the car, rotating the engine. The pistons were moving up and down, all the gears and the rear wheels were spinning. The whole car was rotating slowly on the pedestal. I was mesmerized. I had to have this. I stood there, wide eyed, my jaw dropped. My mom and dad were there. My mom tried to get me away from this awesome LEGO creation. No way. I must have this! I’m not going away without it! My dad was more understanding. He was probably as impressed as I was. Yes, I had LEGO at home, including DUPLO, but these were classic LEGO bricks, nothing even remotely like this. This Technic car was HUGE! And it was made of awesome, never seen before bricks! And it was moving! Did I mention it was huge?
Luckily, my dad was on my side. We left the shop with me clenching to the HUGE box, smiling ear to ear, happy as a boy could be.
The store was Kaufhof in Munich, Germany. We had just flown-in from our vacation in Gran Canaria, Spain. We continued our trip home by train. I remember holding the huge box in my lap on the night train to Ljubljana, Slovenia.
This was in December 1978. I was 6.
To this day I still vividly remember my first encounter with 853 like it was yesterday. Such is the power of LEGO and if we can recreate just a tiny part of this with BuWizz, we will all be able to congratulate ourselves.
Now my children play with the same LEGO technic model. And they loving it. They even said they like it more than the new models.
This has proven me that LEGO is really the best toy in the world.
