Mini Remastered Marshall Edition – A Classic, Amplified
April 8, 2022
There’s a new band in town and it goes by the name of the Mini Remastered Marshall Edition. For decades cars and music have gone hand in hand and there have been myriad songs written about beloved classics, from The Beach Boys’ Little Deuce Coup to Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac and Prince’s Little Red Corvette. All connotations aside, musicians have always had an affinity for four-wheels. Then there are the crazy rock and roll stories too. How can we forget about Keith Moon plunging his Rolls Royce into a swimming pool? And what with Billy Gibbons’ ‘Cadzzilla’ and Janis Joplin’s psychedelic Porsche 356 there have been some legendary motors in the world of music.
Corvettes and Cadillacs aside, however, there’s another name that is synonymous with that most exciting of musical genres – Marshall. Go to any live gig in a dingy London venue or watch any big production stadium tour footage and you’re bound to see at least one Marshall amplifier on stage, blasting out guitar power chords with aplomb. Ever omnipresent, Marshall have been providing amplification for your favourite bands for decades and now they’ve teamed up with David Brown Automotive to produce the Mini Remastered Marshall Edition.
The humble Mini has had its fair share of rock and roll endorsees too. From the Beatles to Marc Bolan the Mini has been a favourite of the musically gifted for as long as we can remember and so it would seem rather fitting that these two icons of their respective worlds should join forces to produce something truly unique in order to commemorate Marshall Amplification’s 60th anniversary. And that’s where David Brown Automotive comes in. For those of you that don’t know, David Brown Automotive is a British company that specialises in building iconic classics in a wholly modern way using state-of-the-art technology and engineering, along with traditional handcraftsmanship and British materials to create a bespoke re-imagining of legendary cars, all from it’s facilities in Silverstone.
Just 60 examples of these ultra-exclusive Mini Remastered models will be built in a nod to Marshall’s tenth decade in business. With a whole host of features unique to the model the car really is an exclusive version of the perennially popular, diminutive classic. The car sports those unmistakeable Marshall colours with pride. From the deep black paintwork to the ‘Marshall Gold’ trim, badges wheels and brake calipers the car certainly looks the part, even down to the mesh grille that echos the look of the famous amplifiers.
The interior has received similar treatment too with hand-stitched black leather and gold detailing, including a set of bespoke pedals engraved with ‘skip track’, ‘pause’ and ‘play’. It’s a nice touch and very much in keeping with the overall theme but it’s the in-car audio enhancements where the car really stands out, as you would expect from such a collaboration.
Every one of the 60 cars produced includes numerous Marshall products and enhancements. There’s a Marshall 8-speaker surround-sound system, a Marshall ‘Emberton’ portable Bluetooth speaker enclosed in the luggage compartment and an induction charging point for Marshall’s Motif A.N.C wireless Bluetooth headphones which are included with the car. The pièce de résistance, however, is the fully-integrated Marshall DSL1 Combo amplifier in the boot. Perfect for when you need to go full beans and bust out a fret-melting solo in Sainsbury’s car park.
In true David Brown Automotive style the mechanicals have also been completely overhauled. Much like its previous Remastered Mini offerings the Marshall Edition features a fully overhauled ‘ultimate-road spec’ 1330cc, fuel injected A-series engine producing 83bhp and 98lb ft of torque. That means a top speed of over 90mph and a 0-60 dash under 9 seconds. Plenty fast enough to get you to the venue in time for soundcheck. A modern five-speed gearbox and electrics, including full LED lights, complete the package.
It’s a fitting homage to Marshall Amplification and it looks bloody brilliant to boot. A truly unique re-imagining of the classic Mini, with modern tech and a whole host of audio goodies, the Mini Remastered Marshall Edition is an audiophile’s dream. With reservations being taken now for deliveries later this year you can order yours in either right or left hand-drive and for each car sold Marshall and David Brown Automotive will make a donation to the Music Venue Trust – a charity intent on restoring the UK’s independent live-music scene. So get your name down for your very own Mini Remastered Marshall Edition now, plug in and crank it.
