The ‘what’ is simple: two versions of the Mini Countryman S outfitted by an Austrian design studio inspired by music festivals that turn both cars into, essentially, giant mobile speakers.
The ‘why’ is trickier: According to Mini, “a long-standing tradition and core value of the brand is individual vehicle customization.” So, that naturally evolves into: mobile 215hp speakers for music festivals.
Said Austrian design studio is Vagabund, and together with Mini, it has fattened out the already rather fat Countryman with wider arches, fitted new bumpers, aprons, and bigger wheels, and raised the ride height. It’s also added a roof rack to both cars with a design that references speaker covers.
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Ah, yes, speakers. The rear side windows were binned, and in their place come units specifically designed to ruin your neighbors’ peaceful evenings and weekends. Or pump out some choons at an outdoor space.
Tweeters and midrange units are built directly into the body, while subwoofers—not a pair of small dogs, sadly—have been snuggled into the rear. Time was, this sort of thing used to be standard practice for any budding ’90s car enthusiast. Mini hasn’t specified whether the number plate rattles upon the beat dropping.
To really hammer home the point—and to age the car’s target demographic—there’s also an old Sony Walkman glued into a special housing. It’s supposed to be Mini’s ‘sense of humor,’ but in fact just makes us pine for cassettes.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
