David Bowie’s Art Mini Is A Subversive Kind Of Awesome

The mirror plated supercar is a quintessential part of Gulf Arab car culture, along with the Transformers Camry and the fetishistic application of negative camber. When applied by Britain’s eternal and chamaeleonic rock star David Bowie to a plain old Mini, including all its windows, it becomes something else entirely.

(This post originally appeared on Jalopnik on the 31st of May, 2011. Today’s sad news made it relevant again. - Ed.)

Is it about the vanity of trick cars? The vanity of rock stars? The vanity of yours truly contemplating the car with his wife? Only Bowie knows and he’s not telling.

But it’s certainly the most interesting of the celebrity-designed Minis made in 1999 for the Mini’s 40th birthday.