Mini Taps Deus X Machina For Custom One-Off Coopers And A New Clothing Line
Back in 2022, artist Matt Willey teamed up with the Deus X Machina lifestyle brand to design a customized livery for a 1998 Mini Cooper mock-up racer, which was inspired by the classic Minis that had won the Monte Carlo Rally back in the 1960s. It was mostly painted black with a ton of lettered references to locations and events, with white doors and white roof that featured a large black X, as well as orange touches on the mirrors and fuel cap.
Now, Deus X Machina and Mini have tapped Willey again for a pair of one-off Mini Coopers to help advertise a new partnered clothing line.
The two new Mini cars are meant to represent a blend of creative design and motorsport dynamics, with that philosophy applied through custom designs of a 258-horsepower Mini John Cooper Works Electric and a gas-powered, 231-horsepower Mini JCW. Both cars are to be shown off at the IAA Mobility 2025 auto show in Munich, along with the new branded apparel, on September 8.
The Machina Rally Mini
The exterior design of the gas JCW, called “the Machina” here, echoes the familiar black, white, and orange touches of the 2022 Mini livery from Willey, though it’s a little different. Now, orange prominently plasters the hood and front fenders, as well as the rear bumper. The front grille has been completely blacked out, with custom headlights in a perforated housing for improved cooling.
The fenders have been widened at each corner, and there’s more dramatic body sculpting around the base of the vehicle. The hood also sports a four-unit rally light setup, and at the rear is a center-mounted exhaust and a large diffuser, as well as a new “Can-Am-style” rear spoiler.
Inside the Machina, things have been stripped back and simplified. There’s exposed aluminum floor panels, a minimized dashboard in waxed fabric finish with racing-style flip switches, simple door panels, a racing wheel with no buttons, an exposed safety roll cage, and a five-point seat harness.
The Electric Skeg Mini
The second one-off car, the electric Cooper, is called “the Skeg,” and it’s heavily inspired by the culture of beach surfing. Its exterior paintwork is a little more dramatic than the gas Mini, with a gray, white, and yellow setup here. The front end paneling has been completely reshaped by an exposed fiberglass piece, with a row of circular cutouts in the bottom and black paintwork stretching up from the lower bumper into a stripe down the center of the hood.
In the middle of all of this remains the lit-up shape of the modern Mini “grille.” The rear fenders have also been heavily modified and are fiberglass. Overall, Mini says this electric Cooper sheds 15 percent of the weight of the unmodified car. There’s a clear roof panel that lets you see the strapped surfboard, which is designed to fit around a large roof spoiler, though it does seem like it’s resting directly against the paint job.
Inside, the so-called Skeg offers bucket seating with water-repellent neoprene upholstery, with a fiberglass dashboard, and there’s also a unique fiberglass shelving setup that allows for two wetsuits to dry. This one keeps its technical steering wheel, but the rest of the interior does also get a minimalist makeover, with toggle switches and simplified door paneling.
The way the painted effect helps reshape the electric Mini’s design is interesting, but nothing beats a rally-fitted Mini Cooper, and the gas one-off here does a lot right. It doesn’t sound like these will be auctioned off or sold, which is a shame, and we hope that at least some of these design features could make it into a future Mini product, but we’re doubtful.
This is, after all, the modern Mini brand that got rid of manuals and even paddle shifters, leaving new owners with no way to manually change gears. They don’t seem as concerned about enthusiasts as this partnership makes it seem in practice, but the new clothes should be cool at least.
Source: Mini
