Behind the scenes with LEGO Speed Champions custom builders
LEGO Speed Champions has a thriving community of custom and alternative builders; here’s what goes into making alt builds, behind the scenes.
For every LEGO Speed Champions car on the market, you can quickly expect to see alternate versions of it pop up on social media. If you’re in luck, you’ll also be able to find instructions for how to build it yourself, thanks to creators on Rebrickable.
While we’ve been tracking the history of LEGO Speed Champions in a wide range of articles for the theme’s tenth anniversary, today we’re going behind the scenes with two Rebrickable creators, KMPMOCS and ilyabuilder724, to learn what goes into an original creation and what they look for in potential sets to rebuild.
LEGO Speed Champions offers a challenge
First off: why Speed Champions? What attracts so many builders to the theme when it comes to creating alternative builds?
“In the last five years, the community have grown a lot, there are now thousands of MOCs posted everyday posted by hundreds of different designers,” ilyabuilder724 told Brick Fanatics. “Sometimes it’s hard to follow what’s going on; I don’t even have time to see what others have built.
“I think the trend will continue, as the LEGO Group introduces more interesting car-themed sets.”
2025 has been a year of extremes for LEGO Speed Champions, going all in on a ten-strong Formula 1 wave and returning to Fast & Furious in the summer with the newly-revealed 77241 2 Fast 2 Furious Honda S2000.
“It’s a lot of fun and challenging too, as we’re restricted by the limited amount of pieces each set has,” explained KMPMOCS. “I started out redesigning Speed Champion sets after I found out about Rebrickable. Seeing how the community rebuild sets into something else was inspiring.”
The community feel is something noted by both creators, with ilyabuilder724 also being inspired by Nkubate (Nathanaël Kuipers) and Turbo8702. There’s plenty enough room for everybody, especially as every builder has their own unique style.
MOCs require creative thinking
“Each new alternative automatically comes with a new challenge,” explained ilyabuilder724. “You create one for yourself while trying to make a certain real-life car with just the parts you have in one set. This often makes me find unusual uses for parts to recreate certain details of cars, or find unusual connections to save more parts for said details.”
That can mean that you need to compromise in certain areas. For KMPMOCS, it’s all about the final look, even if that compromises on structural integrity. While official LEGO products always keep structure and fragility in mind, their approach, particularly as it’s limited to specific pieces, places faithfulness to the original car over all else.
“What I want from a Speed Champions build is the accuracy of the final build relative to the real vehicle,” said KMPMOCS. “That’s why some builders, including myself, don’t mind if the final build is a little fragile.”
For others, like ilyabuilder724, rebuilding cars mean changing the DNA of them. For example, you might combine two cars to make one large one, or change the silhouette to create a whole new model.
“The bare minimum I want to implement in a build is that it must fit at least two minifigures, no matter the size is,” said ilyabuilder724. “In that way, the cars will be equal in functionality with Speed Champions sets. It is always a fun challenge that I usually implement in my Kei-car builds. Other functions are always welcome, but I try to find a good balance between a functional and a sturdy build.”
The different focuses from the two different builders show just what’s possible when it comes to rebuilding: which is to say, practically anything. Whether you’re a Speed Champions fan who wants to do something new with their current sets, or a creative builder who might want to dabble themselves, alternative builds are a great way to get more from your favourite sets.
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