MANILA, Philippines — Aston Martin can claim to be the go-to vehicle of James Bond, but there is no hardly any doubt that when it comes to Mini Coopers, Mr. Bean is the first person that comes to mind.
British car brand MINI is giving a better look at the green Mini Cooper used by comedian Rowan Atkinson's famous character for its rare One-Off Series.
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MINI acknowledged how iconic a character Mr. Bean was with his comedy, clothing, his teddy bear, and body language that it translated to the vehicle he drove onscreen.
Another factor was that Atkinson is a lover of cars, having raced on tracks and owning several luxury cars himself.
Apparently, Atkinson chose the car brand for Mr. Bean because of its "inherently funny nature" and the Austin Citron Green color with a matte black bonnet as he wanted Mr. Bean's car to have a color the comedian would never choose himself.
During the course of Mr. Bean's adventures onscreen, he drove at least six Minis, starting with the orange MK1 Austin Mini (with an installed MK2 grill and rear lights) from the pilot episode of the "Mr. Bean" series that aired on New Year's Day 1990.
The episode introduced the running gag of Mr. Bean antagonizing a blue Reliant Robin, which stemmed from Atkinson's lack of respect for the three-wheeled vehicle.
Viewers mostly associate Mr. Bean with the green 1977 Leyland Cars Mini 1000 Mark IV that uses a padlock and the license plate SLW 287R.
The most iconic scenes featuring the car include Mr. Bean exiting swimming pool car park, getting dressed and brushing his teeth en route to a dentist appointment, and mistakenly getting the vehicle crushed by a tank.
Perhaps the car's most famous scene is when Mr. Bean buys several items on sale at a department store and ends up driving the vehicle from his new armchair atop the car's roof — using paint cans, string, a mop, and a broomstick to maneuver.
Atkinson was safely seated on the armchair for the segment but the driving was done by a stunt driver lying on the car floor, navigating with a small screen.
"[People] would probably be able to recall a time when they laughed hysterically at the hijinks that Mr. Bean committed with his car," said MINI. "With that kind of recognition, history and character, who knows, we might not have seen the last of this little Mini on the screen."
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