We’ve been trying out the new Meccano Rally Racer set here recently.  It’s aimed at anyone over the age of eight years of age and you’ve got the opportunity to build ten different vehicles with the set.

The Meccano Rally Racer set is part of their Engineering and Robotics range and helps with STEM learning. You will need 3 x AAA batteries to power the racing models but otherwise everything is included.  The instruction booklet guides you through three of the vehicle builds, and the rest can be downloaded from the Meccano website.

Not all of the vehicles use a motor for movement and so far we’ve built one that does and one that doesn’t.  The Meccano Rally Racer is a level 2 build so a good set for a first time Meccano builder and the instructions are really easy to follow.

Whilst I think my eight year is more than capable of building the vehicles in the Meccano Rally Racer set himself, he currently sees himself as the team manager rather than the mechanic.  He picks the vehicle he wants building, oversees my work and then tests the finished article.  Cheeky but part of me is just enjoying this stage.  I know it will all change, just like his Lego building and one day, he will just disappear with the box and come back with his latest creation.

I was instructed to build the third vehicle in the instruction leaflet, which is also motorised.  Each step of the build is easy to follow and the scale for the different screws is shown so it’s easier for the builder to identify the correct parts required.

Build time takes between 1-3 hours and as you become more familiar with the different parts it’s easy to build these vehicles within the hour.  you do need to make sure that the various nuts are screws are secured tightly.  We’ve learned from experience that if they aren’t, they will work themselves free when you start playing with the finished vehicles.

Before you know it the vehicle really comes together.

The finished Meccano Rally Racer was soon ready to complete its first race.

My team manager approved and was soon putting the Meccano Rally Racer to work.  The Meccablock motor that is fitted to this vehicle has a lever – push forward and a green light will come on and the Rally Racer will go forward, push back and the light turns red and the vehicle will go in reverse.

We’ve also built one of the non-mechanised vehicles which s just as much fun to construct and race with.

For £19.99 we both think the Meccano Rally Racer is a great set, and one that will keep my son occupied for a long time to come.  I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link below for your reference.

disclosure:  we were sent the item mentioned in exchange for an honest review