Mini, in collaboration with Australian fashion label Deus Ex Machina, and via its sports car subsidiary John Cooper Works, unveiled two crazy concepts at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, called The Skeg and The Machina. The Skeg and The Machina are electric bombshells and thermal powerhouses that bridge the gap between two worlds that sometimes struggle to understand each other.
At first glance, nothing seems to compare The Skeg and The Machina. The first is a revisit of the beastly electric Mini JCW and its 258 bhp. Its surfboard-like fin and yellow straps on the roof are all calls for adventure, a characteristic trait of the Deus universe that The Skeg transcribes to perfection.
Its companion, The Machina, as its name might suggest in Italian, prefers petrol to watts. It’s powered by a 231bhp turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, and it’s not hard to imagine the symphony that is the hallmark of John Cooper Works cars. Its livery is also a tribute to sportiness. It wears the colours of Monaco and bears the number 37, which Paddy Hopkirk wore when he won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964. Mini and Deus have also paid homage to the sporty interior, with bucket seats, a racing steering wheel, extra headlights and, the detail that really gets us going, a hydraulic handbrake.
Not the same engine, but the same passion
In other words, you get both the smell of petrol and the ugly back of electric power. Unfortunately, this will remain at the concept stage… Indeed, Mini and Deus Ex Machina have no plans to offer the two cars for sale, even in limited editions. So what’s the point? These show cars will certainly play a role in the communication of the two companies, but they also demonstrate the versatility of this iconic little city car. Above all, and this is what interests us here: The Skeg and The Machina show that a car can still be a subject of creativity and sportiness, whether it’s electric or combustion-powered.
This ‘reconciliation’, even if symbolic, is worth highlighting at a time when the car industry is undergoing a transition that can sometimes be divisive (we know something about this, we read all the comments on our social networks…). In 2025, a decisive year for the future of mobility, Mini has chosen to tell two seemingly parallel stories that ultimately come together around the same conclusion: when you love the car, you love the pistons and the oil as much as all the memories you create behind the wheel.
And while the cars aren’t for sale, you can still get a little piece of the partnership… To mark the occasion (and do a bit of business), a capsule collection of clothes inspired by the collab is available on the Deus Ex Machina website.
