MINI Aldridge Makes Debut at Design Museum

MINI Press Release: A unique MINI featuring a visually stunning exterior designed by legendary artist, illustrator and graphic designer Alan Aldridge, is now on show at the Design Museum in London. The MINI Aldridge Special is an exhibit in a retrospective display of Alan’s work, entitled ‘The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes’.
Alan Aldridge is known primarily for his creative work throughout the 1960s and 70s. Dubbed ‘The Graphic Entertainer’, Aldridge illustrated lyric books for the Beatles, album covers for The Rolling Stones, The Who and Elton John, was Art Director for Penguin Books and illustrated much-loved children’s books such as ‘The Butterfly Ball’.
Now working in Los Angeles, Alan Aldridge was keen to mark the opening of his exhibition by recreating an iconic cover of the Sunday Times Magazine, which in 1965 featured a classic Mini painted in his own, inimitable style. The updated interpretation of this image, using a new MINI One as the canvas for Alan’s design, featured in the 12 October 2008 edition of the publication. Again, warranting front cover status.
The MINI Aldridge Special is adorned with an array of images, shapes and patterns, each reflecting either a male or female theme, just as the 1965 car did. The design theme is split between each side of the car, the driver side being largely set on a blue background and masculine in appearance, with passenger near side artistry backed on pink.
MINI UK General Manager Andy Hearn said: “The work of Alan Aldridge is synonymous with some of the most important names in the history of British culture, so MINI is delighted to support this exhibition by offering Alan a car to work on’’.
“MINI will be celebrating its 50th birthday in 2009, so this is the perfect way to begin celebrating fifty years of the car in the UK.â€
‘The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes’ exhibition runs until 25 January 2009. MINI fans and the British public will get another chance to see the MINI Aldridge Special in the metal at MINI United next year, the global MINI event which will be staged at a renowned British race circuit between 22-24 May 2009. Further details will be announced by MINI UK in the near future.
7 Comments
…THAT is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Even with just one driving lamp.
Maybe MINI could introduce this as a color range option to brighten up the boring colors on offer.
Bellisimo!!!
jajajajaja
my first reaction was what a waste of a perfectly good Mini, and then I noticed it had the factory aero kit, and I thought eh, doesn’t matter…
I think its cool!! But i am an artist, so i guess i understand and appreciate it.
I think that the factory aero looks great on a justacooper, not the S. I think it was kinda designed that way, cause the grill slats on the aero kit match those found on the regular Cooper.
Why does it have the JCW side scuttles – where the indicators are – instead of the plain black ones?
Terrible. This thing reminds of the the 2002 “Britto” R50 MINI Cooper that currently sits as the centerpiece display in Braman MINI of Miami showroom.
By the way, this ’02 R50 Britto MINI only has 46 original miles and has never been registered. So if anyone wants a brand new 2002 R50 5-speed MC, give the Braman folks a holler.