When BMW bought and revived MINI, it also gained the famous British brand’s heritage. It’s why BMW shows off classic Minis at its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina sometimes, and why there are classic Minis at various BMW facilities in Germany at times. The iconic Mini heritage is alive and well within the BMW Group. Also, how does anyone not love a proper Mini? However, what if it was shaped like a giant orange?
Back in the ’70s, a fruit distribution company called Outspan had a few custom Minis built to represent oranges. They were called, predictably, Outspan Oranges and they’re still quite hilarious. However, they’re also extremely rare. Thankfully, Edd China bought one and shows it off in this video.
In the video, China explains how he was able to buy the Outspan Orang Mini and he shows off a lot of its quirky features. As usual with an Edd China video, he works on the car and fixes some of its issues. What’s cool is that the engine is accessible from inside the car. In fact, you can work on its engine while sitting in the driver’s seat. It also features the smallest pedal box area of any car ever, which means you actually have to drive it with one foot in the pedal area and one foot out. Though, it has an automatic transmission, so that’s not really a problem.
The car has quite a few issues, which China attempts to sort out in subsequent videos, but there’s no denying how silly and fun the Outspan Orange Mini looks. It’s literally a gigantic orange sitting on four wheels. Even funnier is that its wheelbase is even shorter than the standard Minis, which I didn’t know was possible, and that makes it look even funnier.
China claims it’s a ton of fun to drive and, with a bit of hooning, it could probably get a wheel or two off the ground in corners. Though, one would be careful not to roll it, as its spherical shape would cause it to just keep rolling.
The Outspan Orange Mini is a hilariously absurd Frankenstein car that seems to just make people smile. It’s silly and ridiculous in the best of ways and is well worth watching in this video.