The Garage That Lego Built

An heir to the mega toy brand has elevated the concept of an auto park to an entire elaborate ecosystem. And he's not finished yet.

- Ben Oliver

Denmark is not the friendliest nation to the car enthusiast. The highway that leads you away from Billund Airport toward the small city of Vejle runs through vast fields of piercingly bright, sharp-yellow rapeseed flowers broken only by occasional wooden farm buildings painted in the distinctive, flat red so redolent of southern Scandinavia. The road is pan-flat, arrow-straight, perfectly surfaced and largely empty, but if you’re tempted to indulge in a harmless burst of acceleration, remember that Denmark’s relatively low speed limits are ruthlessly enforced. If you’re caught doing twice the maximum, or over 200km/h, or if your driving is considered reckless, your car can be confiscated and sold, the loss made all the more galling by the fact that, if you’re a Danish resident, you’ll already have paid the eyewatering 150 per cent luxury-vehicle-registration duty that turns even an entry-level Porsche 911 into a US$300,000 transaction. If the state auctions your car, you don’t even get a refund on that tax.