An Australian entrepreneur and a teenage Romanian genius have come together to build a full-sized Lego hotrod, complete with air-powered Lego engine, that actually works.

It's not exactly a '69 Chevy with a 396 but this life-size Lego hotrod is every bit as awesome in its own right: a mean-looking black-and-yellow machine, air powered, low to the ground and completely drivable. It won't catch third gear rubber and it's not even clear whether it can actually be steered, but you can sit in it and it moves, to an estimated top speed of 20 to 30 km/h.

The Super Awesome Micro Project, as it's officially known, got started in February 2012 when Australian Steve Sammartino went to Twitter seeking investments of $500 to $1000 "in a project which is awesome & a world first." He said he needed about 20 people to kick in but ended up with 40, all of whom were informed by the prospectus that there would be no return on the investment and that the whole thing might be a bust.

Fortunately for the good of the world, it was not. The money was used to buy a half-million Lego bricks, which were then shipped off to Romania, where builder Raul Oaida went to work. The wheels, gauges and some "load bearing elements" aren't Lego but everything else, including the air-powered, 256-piston engine, is built out of tiny plastic bricks. And it works! Once completed, the car was shipped to an undisclosed location in suburban Melbourne, where it remains.

Oh, Lego. Is there anything you can't do?

Source: SuperAwesomeMicroProject