Beatlemania at MINI United 2009

Sections: 50th Anniversary | Official News May 14th, 2009 11 Comments

Official Release: MINI has come up with a fresh interpretation of George Harrisonâ€™s extravagant original Mini to coincide with the brandâ€™s 50th birthday. The one-off model will be handed over to Olivia Harrison at the MINI United event. Olivia will accept the MINI on behalf of the Material World Charitable Foundation, a charity set up by George Harrison in 1973. The car will be auctioned in aid of the Foundation later in the year.

MINI United â€“ the worldâ€™s biggest fan event â€“ will take place at Silverstone in the UK on 22 â€“ 24 May 2009. The festival delivers three days of non-stop entertainment for the brandâ€™s large fan community. MINI United is all about concerts, shows, car races etc., and provides the perfect stage on which to showcase the unique new MINI inspired by George Harrison.

Georgeâ€™s psychedelic MINI in a new look.

Back in 1966 The Beatlesâ€™ manager Brian Epstein gave each of the Fab Four a Mini Cooper S as a gift. In keeping with the zeitgeist of the time, lead guitarist George had his car painted with psychedelic images such as yantras and Sanskrit mantras. In 1967 this legendary Mini starred in The Beatlesâ€™ film Magical Mystery Tour. And now, to coincide with its latest landmark anniversary, MINI is dedicating a modern interpretation of Georgeâ€™s car to the man himself. The MINI has been designed according to the wishes of Olivia Harrison and rekindles the look of Georgeâ€™s famous original.

â€œGeorge was a huge MINI fan and he would have enjoyed creating this new version. The fact that MINIâ€™s anniversary celebrations will also benefit our Foundation has made it an enjoyable as well as meaningful collaboration.â€ says Olivia Harrison.

Replay signs up as MINI United partner.

The denim specialist congratulates MINI on its latest landmark birthday and presents an anniversary jeans model, which will be available exclusively and in a limited edition from the Replay stand at the MINI United event. To mark the anniversary, the used-look jeans sport a circular â€œ50 Years of MINIâ€ sew-on badge on the front left pocket. Added to which, all the MINI staff at the festival will be kitted out in Replay jeans. Selected Replay stores are promoting the event in special window displays.

Written By: Gabe

alpinamike

solid gold rims and trim, wow
robble

alpinamike May 14th, 2009 Link Reply to this comment solid gold rims and trim, wow

bleh – solid gold would be too heavy and not strong enough for my type of driving LoL
alpinamike

They used the solid gold paint from 2003, 2006. It looks more like brownish gold.
Aaron

Am I to assume it will be RHD? Too bad cause that car could cause a stir out here in the Bay Area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMK6lzmSk2o Mannew

I would love to there as MINI hand over the keys to that beautiful MINI S to Mr. Harrison’s Widow.
SFRedMCc

Cirque du Soleil should bid on it for their Beatles LOVE Show in Las Vegas. They currently include an old VW Beetle with a psychedelic paint job in a couple of the acts, and I kept thinking it should have been a classic Mini.
GregW

You are right SFRedMCc, why this myth about the Beatles and Volkswagens? The only connection I can make is with the name in different spelling. OK San Francisco, Flower Power, Hippies are associated with VW Beetles and Kombi vans. More like Jefferson Starship than the Fab four. Cirque du Soleil got it wrong – but remember the living Beatles and late Beatles families turned up at the opening show and must have approved of it. By the way how is that new VW Beetle (Golf in different clothes) selling now? OR have they stopped making them?
Minipuma

Of course they are still making the New Beetle. It sells quite well considering it is an 11-year-old car design. (Who else sells the same car for 11 years?). In April VW of America sold 1,846 Beetles (379 of which were convertibles). In the same period they sold 1,091 Rabbits/GTIs/R32s, and 6,021 Jettas (incl. wagons). Year to Date, even though, like most manufacturers, VW sales are down dramatically, the hardtop New Beetle @ -26.5% compared to 2008 numbers is actually one of VW’s two most resilient models.

Calling the Beetle a “Golf in different clothes” is about as accurate as calling a chicken a “dinosaur with feathers.” While it might be technically accurate from a certain pedantic perspective, it expresses very little about the object as we experience it in the real world. The two vehicles certainly have far less in common than a Cooper and a Clubman — different form factors, different interiors, different hp engines, and they drive very differently (much moreso than the Cooper and the Clubman).
GregW

Woah – down Rover! Golf shares the same platform and engine as the Beetle. The only big difference is the shape.

“A Beetle appears on the cover of The Beatles’ iconic album Abbey Road. The Volkswagen Beetle parked next to the zebra crossing belonged to one of the people living in the apartment across from the recording studio. After the album came out, the number plate was stolen repeatedly from the car. In 1986, the car was sold at an auction for $23,000 and is currently on display at the Volkswagen museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.”

“Like its contemporaries, the Mini and the CitroÃ«n 2CV, the Beetle has been regarded as something of a “cult” car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement and surf culture; and the obvious attributes of its unique and quirky design. For example, the Beetle could float on water thanks to its sealed floor pans and overall tight construction. Much like their above mentioned counterparts, Beetles were psychedelically painted and considered an ancestor of art cars. One of the logos used by the Houston Art Car Klub incorporated a Beetle with a cowboy hat.”
Minipuma

The Rabbit (mk V Golf) engine produces 170 hp. The Beetle produces 150 hp. The fact that they are both 5-cylinder 2.5 litre engines doesn’t make them the same car — by a long shot — even if they were built on the same platform. (Which they are not).

The Beetle is still produced on the platform of the discontinued Mk IV Golf. Even then, the Beetle was not a Mk IV Golf “in different clothing.” The Audi TT and the Audi A3 (previous generations) also shared this platform. Why not say that the Beetle is an Audi TT in different clothing? Obviously not true in so many ways, but it’s no more wrong than calling it a Golf. At least they were both round on top.
GregW

I wish I had never made the comment about VW Beetles and Golfs in the first place.

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