Mr Bean BL Mini 1000 added to mpec poster range
It’s new poster time again in this latest edition of your blog.
When it comes to iconic cars, the Austin Citron Green BL Mini 1000 is arguably one of the most recognisable vehicles from the screen and was famously driven by Mr Bean. This new poster shows a scene from the ‘Do-It-Yourself’ episode, which features Mr Bean transporting a new armchair on the roof of his Mini. After attending the January sales, he has to improvise to get all his purchases home. Boxes fill the inside of his car, so he and his new armchair drive home on the roof, using an improvised rope and pulley system. A fun journey home then ensues.
Rowan Atkinson, who plays Mr Bean, is a well-known car fanatic. He has owned many supercars (including the McLaren F1, of which we have also created a poster), participated in original races, and also has a truck driving licence. It comes as no surprise then, that he wanted to make Mr. Bean’s car an important part of the show. Apparently, Atkinson chose the Mini and the colours himself, because of the car’s inherently funny nature, and a colour that he would never choose himself.
Mr Bean and his Mini have been through many memorable adventures together on screen. But did you know that Mr. Bean has had more than one Mini? Or that his first was orange?
Today, everybody associates Mr. Bean with the Austin Citron Yellow Mini with a black bonnet, but this car, with the number plate SLW 287 didn’t appear until the third episode. It will also come as no surprise to know that Mr Bean has had at least six Minis over the course of the series and movies, primarily due to the sorry treatment that his adventures put them through. Though some of the original orange Mini parts were transferred to these newer green models, namely the steering wheel cover, seats and carpet.
The Mini was central to several other antics, such as Mr. Bean getting dressed in it while driving or carrying a TV on the roof, leaving him unable to open the car doors. It also had a number of innovative security measures, including a padlock on the driver door handle. His car was also once crushed by a tank, when it was mistaken for a demonstration car of the exact same model (registration ACW 497V), but returned in later episodes.
The Mini is often seen in conflict with a light blue Reliant Regal Supervan III, (registration GRA 26K), which will usually get tipped over, crashed into, bumped out of its parking space and so forth. This conflict originated in the first episode, when the three-wheeler held his Mini up on the way to a mathematics exam, and subsequently became a running joke throughout the series.
One of the original Mr. Bean Minis is on display at the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick. Both the Mini and the Reliant re-appeared as characters in the animated Mr. Bean cartoons, and in the film Mr. Bean’s Holiday yet another Mini appears, a lighter yellow/green than the original, registration YGL 572T. Also seen is a French version of his Mini, owned by the character Sabine which wears a Paris registration and is left hand drive. In the animated series his Mini’s registration plate number is STE 952R.
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The mpec Team