Evolution of LEGO Cars

Introduction

• LEGO: The biggest toy company globally
• Notable for also being the largest tire producer (318 million tires per year)
• Historical milestone: First LEGO wheels introduced 60 years ago

Early LEGO Vehicle Sets

1950s-1960s

• 1956: First LEGO set with a vehicle: Esso Filling Station
  • Contained Esso Bedford tank truck
  • Now a valuable collector's item ($750)
• Early 1960s: Introduction of independent wheels
  • Set 4002: Small Wheels with Axles
  • Enabled creation of working vehicles
• 1964: LEGO's train set included wheels, marking the company's foray into more complex vehicles

Expansion in LEGO Vehicle Types

1970s-1980s

• Focused on town-related vehicles: ambulances, fire trucks, police cars
• Issues with minifigures fitting into vehicles
• 1979: Introduction of wheel transport in Classic Space line
  • Sets include: Mobile Ground Tracking Station, Mobile Rocket Launcher
• 1985: Family car set could hold only one minifigure

1990s

• Most experimental decade for LEGO
• Notable sets: Ice Planet line and the failed Zap product line (1998)
• Introduction of LEGO Technic (1982)
  • Set 8880: Supercar (1994)
  • 1997: Technic