Counterfeit MINIs
But not like you have ever seen before. There is a Japanese company that makes a Kei car, as well as the newly introduced Suzuki MR Wagon, look like a MINI or VW Beetle.
>Blog Auto already leaned on several occasions on this strange propensity of the Japanese to disguise their cars in the other cars. A recent mania which must be connected in the psyché national one with this other hobby popular, the cosplay, which a pleasure will be made of explaining you in detail the amateur of mangas of your entourage. Always it is that the discovery of today is a new manifestion of this phenomenon, with the company ESB STYLE which claims this time to graft an air of BMW Mini to various kei, of which the news Suzuki MR. Wagon and Mitsubishi older.
You can read the rest of the poorly translated post below.
Thanks to MF reader Pierre-Laurent for sending this in.
[ mini MINI – Translated ] Leblogauto.com
[ mini MINI – French ] Leblogauto.com
[ Counterfeit MINIs and Beetles ] esb-style.com
Wow. I’m totally speechless.
i read somewhere thats what the new traveler is gonna look like…… just kidding
Just another Japanese CARtoon – but aren’t they all? Well why not? When you can start with a car that is selling on a used car lot for just 43Â¥ (about US 37¢) (<a href="http://www.leblogauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/plr/minica.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.leblogauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/plr/minica.jpg</a>) You can have a car that looks pretty decent for under, maybe $25 US when you’re done – LOL!
Hmmm… and here we thought it was just an advertising campaign by MINI!!! Counterfeit MINIs are real!!! You had better check your VINs if you bought your MINI used. It my be a Suzuki in disguise. 😉
Checks calendar. Nope. Not April 1st.
I actually thought the VW Beetle treatment was particularly ridiculous.
Looks nicer the the R56….. 🙂
what’s astonishing to me is the complete effort the Japanese have put into designing and the development of the material resources to “copy” the MINI design concept and the VW Beetle design, produce it, and then sell it. I mean watches and small electronics, appliance, etc. I can see them copying…but whole size cars and marketing it as something like the MINI…wow.
the Japanese never cease to amaze me. : )
To each his own, I guess, but if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, these aren’t very complimentary. 😉
The translation is interesting enough in its own way – very entertaining….uhhhh.
I’ve a deep respect for the Japanese motor culture, and their amazing ability to fab up just about any combination of bad, good, or indifferent tastes into some sort of vehicle that actual gets sold, for real money, regardless of cost. Now they’re convinced that someone, somewhere, wants to dress up their car real purty, like them rich folks up the hill, and damned if there aren’t enough lop-heads laying down ready money for the privilege of looking like the ultimate poseur that it’s actually a paying proposition. Dang!
That cosplay is actually some sort of cultural reference point that’s easily recognized there is remarkable enough, but to have it conjoined to the car culture over there is frightening – Sailor Moon jumpin’ out of a pseudo-MINI-Kei to meet some Gundam-dressed boy-toy on the Ginza, for real, is almost too horrifying to contemplate. Unless you’re into that school-girl plushie-kinda stuff – just spank me on the way out to your Fakee-Beetle, eh, honey? Brrrr.
BCNU,
Rob in Dago
Just proves that the Japanese have no real creativity and must copy someone else. Yes they may do things no other country does but if you look at it deep enough you will find the seed of the technology was imported