Mini Remastered gets amped up

Tuesday, 5 April 2022

David Brown Automotive has teamed up with Marshall Amplification to celebrate '60 years of loud' with a very special Mini.

Normally when you read a headline like “Mini Remastered gets amped up” you expect it to be a clichéd reference to something going electric, but that’s not the case here. Well, not entirely, at least.

David Brown Automotive is teaming up with legendary guitar amplifier-builder Marshall to build a special and very limited edition version of its fantastic (and fantastically expensive) Mini Remastered to celebrate 60th anniversary of Marshall Amplification, or “60 years of loud” as they are calling it.

The Mini Remastered Marshall Edition takes the traditional David Brown Automotive recipe of an essentially all-new and extensively modernised hand-built classic Mini and wraps it in plenty of rock ‘n roll excess, with lots of Marshall touches and, of course, a thumping audio system for good measure.

The Mini Remastered Marshall Edition comes with a unique look with plenty of Marshall cues.

Based on the ‘standard’ Mini Remastered model that already packs a sumptuous interior and comprehensively remastered mechanicals featuring a 1330cc A-series engine and a 5-speed manual gearbox, the Marshall Edition gets a unique colour, as well as unique materials and finishes that are “inspired by the styling of Marshall’s iconic products”, and will also be fitted with a number of unique touches “that reflect the rich heritage of the iconic audio brand.”

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There are plenty of Marshal gold highlights everywhere too.

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The door cards even use the same material on that covers the speakers on Marshall amps.

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Of course the pedals are going to be ‘skip track’ (clutch), ‘play’ (accelerator) and ‘pause’ (brake) not stop, mind, only pause...

The cars will be finished in an exclusive ‘Marshall Black’ paint, complemented by dark-chrome exterior brightwork. The darker features are offset by contrasting ‘Marshall Gold’ painted accents: a coachline to the roof, as well as a hand-painted coachline, pinstripes and Marshall logos to the side doors.

And of course there is a Marshall amplifier – complete with its own power supply – in the boot. You don’t need space for the groceries when you are only here to rock.

The use of the Marshall signature colours is continued around the car; ‘Marshall Gold’ brake calipers, classic 12-inch wheels, capped off with Marshall ‘M’ logo centres, and wheel rims finished in the same gold - a colour long synonymous with the Marshall brand.

One particularly nice touch on the outside is the mesh grille that has been designed to look like the front of a Marshall amp.

On the inside, the Marshall Edition’s interior sports many unique features specifically developed for the car, with gold finishes to the dashboard centre, switchgear, and control panel, as well as the handbrake grip, sculptural side door panel blades and gleaming door releases.

Even the pedals get the gold treatment, and come specially engraved with ‘skip track’, ‘pause’ and ‘play’ symbols, another nod to the Marshall’s musical heritage. The door cards are also unique to the limited run specials – with a specially-sourced fabric that pays homage to the speaker covers on Marshall amplifiers.

Then there are those compulsory audio upgrades – a bespoke audio system was developed in partnership between David Brown Automotive and the engineers at Marshall.

The audio system features new dash-mounted tweeters, additional speakers in the doors, and upgraded equipment fitted to the rear parcel shelf, while the glove box also features an induction charging point for Marshall’s just-launched Motif A.N.C wireless headphones.

Of course, they couldn’t stop with just the in-car audio system, so in addition to the cockpit’s audio upgrades, the full noise of rock properly comes to life in the leather-lined boot, where the space has been specially engineered to house a fully-integrated Marshall DSL1 Combo electric guitar amplifier that slides out for access, linked up to an independent power supply, so you can rock out without running down the car’s battery. There is also a Marshall wireless bluetooth speaker in there for good measure too.

It doesn’t leave much luggage space though, but rock ‘n roll has always been about travelling light anyway.

The Mini Remastered Marshall Edition joins David Brown Automotive’s growing stable of desirable vehicles, which now includes the original Mini Remastered and Mini Remastered Oselli Edition, as well as the Speedback GT and Silverstone Edition luxury high-performance GTs.

The Mini Remastered Marshall Edition is available in both right and left-hand drive configurations and is available to order now directly through David Brown Automotive. Only 60 will be built and pricing is available on application.

Given that the original Mini Remastered takes around 1400 hours to hand-built and costs NZ$145,000 for an entry-level model to nearly NZ$200,000 for the most luxurious, we wouldn’t expect the Marshall Edition to be cheap.

Marshall and David Brown Automotive will each donate a portion of the proceeds from each sale to the Music Venue Trust, a charity that supports independent concert venues throughout the UK, helping them withstand the damage caused by of the coronavirus pandemic.