Dad 3D Prints a Full-Size, Functional Lamborghini Aventador for 11-Year-Old Son

We have no doubt that you love your kids, but do you love them enough to buy them a Lamborghini supercar just because they drove one in a video game? What about if that kid was just 11 years old? Even if the answers to those questions are somehow “yes,” would you also put the time and effort in to build that Lamborghini yourself? Because that’s exactly what Sterling Backus did when he 3D-printed a full-size, functional Lamborghini Aventador for his son.

This project started after the young Backus drove a Lamborghini Aventador in a Forza video game on his Xbox, and asked his father if they could build one. You, along with every other parent on the planet, would have laughed and then promptly forgot about the request. But Sterling, a laser physicist in Boulder, Colorado, decided to actually give it a shot. And, unbelievably, he is close to actually finishing the build.

The budget for this car, dubbed “Interceptor,” was a mere $20,000. If you know anything about Lamborghinis, custom cars, or just cars in general, then you’re aware of how absurdly low that budget was. But thanks to 3D printing, Sterling has managed to pull it off. Every body panel on the car was 3D-printed on a simple $900 Creality CR-10 105 FFF (Fused-Filament Fabrication) 3D printer. That model is well-reviewed, but definitely isn’t a professional 3D printer.

Sterling found the 3D models for the Lamborghini Aventador on GrabCAD, and then modified them for 3D printing. That included breaking each panel into small pieces so that they would fit within the printer’s build area. Even so, the amount of time required just for printing is mind-boggling—easily many thousands of hours. To keep the plastic parts from melting, Sterling covered them in carbon fiber and epoxy.

Underneath all of that plastic and carbon fiber is a hand-built chassis made from welded steel tube. The powerplant is a LS1 V8 salvaged from a Chevy Corvette. That doesn’t produce nearly as much power as the 729hp Lamborghini Aventador—at least not stock—but the engine is known for being easy to modify for huge horsepower. That’s paired with a gated 6-speed manual transmission.

This might seem like an insane project to tackle at a child’s request, because it certainly is. But Sterling isn’t just doing this for his son. He also plans to use the Interceptor to help get kids interested in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) programs. According a Facebook page created for the project, “The intent is to take the car to local schools to show kids how cool technology can be.” We can’t argue with that logic, as this car would have certainly got us interested in 3D printing.