Mini and Deus collaborate on next-gen tech
One of the world’s biggest car makers has reached deep down into Australian surfing culture for its latest eye-catching state-of-the-art model.
Australian surf culture could help cars become lighter, faster, and more interesting to look at.
Fibreglass used to make surfboards features heavily in a new collaboration between Mini and Aussie fashion brand Deus that is set to debut at the IAA motor show in Munich next week.
Mini built a pair of cars with Deus – an electric surf-inspired hatchback with 190kW of power, and a track-inspired petrol model with 170kW.
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The motorsport-themed car trades on Mini’s rally heritage with a low stance, fat wheels, race-inspired cockpit and four spotlights on the bonnet.
We reckon the surf-inspired “Skeg”, named after the dagger-like fins underneath a surfboard, is more interesting.
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The car pays tribute to Australian hand-made surfboards with carefully laid fibreglass that is so thin it allows light to flow through, giving glowing effect in direct sunlight.
It means the roof is almost transparent, and other items such as interior grab handles are thinner, lighter, and more interesting to look at.
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The technique could find its way into road cars as BMW, Mini’s parent company, continues its search for alternatives to carbon fibre, which has been singled out as a sustainably problematic material.
The brand’s collaboration with Deus will extend into a range of clothes set to debut next week.
For folks unfamiliar with Deus – pronounced Day Us – the brand is famous for blending surf and street culture, especially surrounding classic motorcycles.
As surf publication Wavelength puts it, Deus ex Machina, or “God in the Machine” was founded in Sydney in 2006 as “a creative space where folk could get catholic about their stoke”.
Which is to say it was a broad church for cool people to indulge in their hobbies.
Mini says both brands are “rolling expressions of a lifestyle where a love of speed meets creativity and considered design”.
“Built not just for performance, but for the people who live and breathe it,” it says.
Mini launched its latest-generation models in Australia in 2024 with entry-level Cooper and Cooper S versions, before unveiling spicier JCW versions this year.
The collaboration with Deus could open the door to even wilder models that deliver sharper looks and performance to Mini fans soon.
Originally published as Mini and Deus collaborate on next-gen tech
