Magical Mystery Tour MINI

It's not George Harrison's original 1966 MINI, but the psychedelic paint job is...

They're having a big three-day event to celebrate MINI's 50th birthday in the UK at Silverstone on May 22. There's going to be singing, dancing, racing, merry-making and one Fab Mini.

The one-off George Harrison MINI - a modern interpretation of the original car owned by the famous Beatle - features the exact same psychedelic images he sported on his 1966 car. Maybe you remember how Brian Epstein, the Beatle's manager, got each of the Beatles a MINI as a gift. And if so, then you probably also remember how the MINI was featured in the Beatles' 1967 movie: Magical Mystery Tour. (If you're old enough - and don't remember this - the 60's were a little too good to you, perhaps.) Anyway, Harrison had his MINI painted in these psychedelic images in reflection of the zeitgeist of the 60's, which is ironic in that on May 22 the car will be given to his widow Olivia Harrison who will accept it on behalf of his Material World Charitable Foundation. (She was involved in bringing the look back to life.)

“George was a huge MINI fan,” said Mrs. Harrison, ”and he would have enjoyed creating this new version. The fact that MINI‘s anniversary celebrations will also benefit our Foundation has made it an enjoyable as well as meaningful collaboration.”

Zeitgeist aside, there were a lot of good things that did come out of that tumultuous decade. This one just took nearly half a century to happen, that's all.