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We received an email about a unique charity auction from a man named Clive (aka Grum) with the incredible story he shares below. Hopefully we’ll be able to link to the Catawiki auction once it goes live and people can support what sounds like a truly worthy cause.
In 1983 at the age of 19 I had a motorcycle accident in which my neck was broken leaving me a C4/5 Tetraplegic. I was completely paralysed from the upper chest down with no use of my hands and very impaired movement of my arms.
About 8yrs ago my Grandson Jake, who was 3 years old at the time, was playing with a little LEGO police car which he dropped on the floor, breaking into lots of pieces. He was so upset & asked if I’d put it back together for him. I told him I couldn’t do it but he kept asking so, not wanting to disappoint him, I said “OK, I’ll try” and, after nearly a week, I’d done it. All 23 pieces put together by mouth. I had such a feeling of achievement and found the concentration needed really helped my tinnitus. Since then I’ve built Jake, and now his younger Brother & Sister, many more models.
I now build Lego Technic, the more advanced LEGO theme, by mouth for myself with the biggest being almost 4300 parts. When building I post photographs of my progress on the Eurobricks Technic forum along with a few words about the build process. My topic, Grums Shed, has been viewed over 60,000 times. Over the years I’ve received a great deal of support and much kindness from my fellow members
One such act of kindness came from Jeroen Ottens who contacted me a few months ago with an extraordinary offer. To design and build a model of my choosing. To say I was blown away is an understatement. As it came completely out of the blue and because for the life of me I couldn’t think what I’d done to warrant such an offer and I dismissed it as a hoax but after an exchange of messages Jeroen convinced me the offer was indeed genuine.
After a great deal of thought and knowing the enormous amount of time & effort that would be involved, I declined the offer. It was simply too much. Jeroen however, wouldn’t take no for an answer so I decided that this most unexpected offer, so very generous in its giving, should be made to benefit more than just myself so I said yes but on condition that the completed model be auctioned and 100% of the proceeds be given to the Fairy Bricks charity. For those that don’t know, Fairy Bricks is a wonderful charity that raises money to enable them to buy LEGO sets and donate them to children’s hospices and hospitals. You can find out more about this them here: www.fairybricks.org
The model I chose is the last word in dream cars, the stunning Huayra BC. I can think of no other vehicle as much at home in an art gallery as on the open road. It’s an automotive masterpiece.
It’s taken several months but I’m pleased to say the design & build of the model is now complete and has the following functioning features.
* Independent cantilevered suspension on all wheels
* Working steering, with working steering wheel
* 8 speed sequential gearbox with D-N-R switch
* Working gear lever to switch between D-N-R and up/down when in Drive
* Adjustable ride height on the front axle (operated via a knob in the dashboard)
* Opening boot, bonnet and gull-wing doors.
* Fully adjustable seats
* Fake V12 engine
* Aeroflaps on the front and rear that move with the steering
Furthermore the interior, the engine and the engine bay are replicated in great detail.
I’ve attached some pictures and a link to a short video to show the model and some of these features.
Pagani have endorsed our project and have been very supportive. They’ve very generously donated two 2×1 meter computer line drawings of the Huayra, hand signed by Horacio Pagani himself, to help increase the total raised.
The auction is being hosted by Catawiki and will go live on the 19th April and will run for 5 days. They’ve very kindly agreed to waive all their usual fees so Fairy Bricks will get 100% of the selling price.
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