Published:
Readtime: 7 min
Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here.
- MINI and Deus craft two one-off JCW cars blending style and speed
- “The Skeg” and “The Machina” embody surf minimalism and motorsport heritage.
- Bespoke interiors, raw finishes, and authentic details celebrate imperfection in design.
- Collaboration extends beyond cars with a capsule apparel collection launching September 8.
Car manufacturer marketing departments are desperate for a slice of the fashion world, but few can pull off a collaboration as authentic as MINI JCW and Deus Ex Machina.
Carby Tuckwell, co-founder and creative director at Deus Ex Machina, and Holger Hampf, Head of MINI Design, have blended two worlds over their brand’s love of motorsport by creating two one-off cars (“The Skeg” and “The Machina”) and a collection of apparel, set to launch on September 8, 2025 at IAA in Munich, before becoming available globally via Deus Ex Machina’s e-commerce and retail network.
The first is a vivid yellow and silver MINI JCW Electric inspired by fibreglass surfboards, and the second is a combustion engine-powered MINI JCW that channels motorsport. This is not your average automotive and fashion collaboration. Both cars have custom details that make them show cars, not wraps. Bespoke interiors, exteriors, and a handful of physical controls have been added, so it’s about time we take a closer look.
“The Skeg”: MINI Cooper JCW Electric
The first of the two cars is a vivid yellow and silver-finished MINI JCW Electric inspired by surfboard design. Carby Tuckwell, Deus Co-Founder and Creative Director, tells Man of Many that the collaboration was a natural fit because of MINI’s excitement surrounding the project.
MOM: What was the biggest surprise in working with MINI’s design team?
“It’s been beautifully sympatico and incredible to see how passionate and reverent they were about their role as custodians of a design icon. You’d expect a company of that size to be guarded or corporate, but what came through most was their genuine excitement and deep respect for MINI’s heritage. Between our creative team at Deus, the MINI and Designworks teams, and our creative partner Matt Willey, the dialogue was fluid, instinctive, and full of mutual respect. A rare kind of magic.”
MOM: How do you keep collaborations with global brands authentic to Deus?
“Deus is a broad church. Keeping collaborations authentic is really about working with brands, and more importantly, with people who inspire us. With outposts in 15+ markets, thinking globally is second nature, but the core remains the same: align with those who share our spirit, and the authenticity tends to follow.”
Speaking to the car, the powertrain under “The Skeg” remains unchanged, sending 190 kW (258 HP) of power through the front wheels. However, the plethora of custom-made fibreglass elements on the roof, front, rear, and interior transform the vehicle. Weight is down 15%, which surely makes for a pretty fun drive, and the list of details from there is lengthy.
Wide fenders, an illuminated front grille, and a flex-tip surf spoiler at the rear help sharpen the silhouette and refine its aerodynamic performance.
Those who have spent time inside a new MINI would notice the correlation between the tension straps across the roof, which reference the familiar ritual of tying down a surfboard and complement those usually found inside a modern MINI. Meanwhile, the interior resembles a mobile surf shop with fibreglass trays for wetsuits, neoprene upholstery in the lightweight racing bucket seats, a fibreglass dashboard, and the oversized ‘X’ returns as a visual anchor with Deus Collection badges and 3D-printed details in the console.
“The Machina”: MINI Cooper JCW
“The Machina” is a stark contrast to “The Skeg,” with a low, loud, and combustion-fed character who is wholeheartedly Deus. It’s the car that best speaks to the “beauty of imperfection,” and the one that best blends motorsport nostalgia with modern relevance.
MOM: What does “beauty of imperfection” mean to you in design today?
Carby: “Imperfection, and the willingness to show it, feels like the last wall to fall in our big, long smudge into an AI-decorated world. It’s amusing, then, how AI’s (temporary) deficits make it look clumsy, and we see these faults as ugliness. But when a human hand leaves behind a trace of error, more often than not, it carries a kind of beauty. That’s the charm: the beauty of imperfection is where the soul sneaks in.”
MOM: How do you balance motorsport nostalgia with modern relevance?
Carby: “In many ways, it mirrors how AI trains itself on archives of the past. Modern aesthetics lean into nostalgia because those markers – all of the icons, the colours, the silhouettes of motorsport – still resonate. When you reframe those historical references in a contemporary context, they lose their heaviness, becoming springboards for a certain freshness.”
We love the red, white, and black paintwork. The large Deus signature on the rear end complements the diffuser, which draws inspiration from the MINI JCW race car, and four additional headlights mounted on the bonnet above the bespoke grille and perforated headlights that pay tribute to rally sport roots with additional Deus branding.
The interior of the petrol-powered car is equally savage. It has stripped-back door panels marked with bold white ‘X’ motifs next to a waxed fabric dashboard with a lived-in patina and an exposed roll cage, which gives you a proper racecar feel every time you get into those bucket seats, grab the hydraulic handbrake, or flick the toggle switches.
Deus’ Creative Director, Carby Tuckwell, Matt Willey, and Designworks designed the exterior graphics on both cars. “Deus has had a longstanding creative partnership with Matt—one powered by a true respect for the power of design and art. Having him involved in this project, for us, was a no-brainer—he worked closely with myself and the Deus team on our first creative project that was splashed across a MINI car in 2024.”
The Apparel
Next to the automotive collaboration, a line of apparel is set to launch on September 8, 2025, at IAA in Munich before becoming available globally via Deus Ex Machina’s e-commerce and retail network.
Carby says that designing clothes and cars is rooted in the same principles. “Apparel is apparel. What shifts is the context, with the cars becoming part of the narrative, but the process of designing clothes remains rooted in all the same principles.”
The highlight of the MINI JCW x DEUS project’s communication campaign will be the world premiere at IAA Mobility 2025 with the exclusive MINI JCW x DEUS Night on 6 September at the MINI Pavilion. The
MINI JCW x DEUS collaboration will be displayed at the MINI Pavilion until 14th of September.
Comments
We love hearing from you. or to leave a comment.