Remembering the Extravagant MINI Cooper S XXL Limo With Functional Jacuzzi

Revealed in 2004, the MINI Cooper S XXL limousine was such an example that showed the world MINI’s versatility and the multiple facets of its personality. While most production MINI models are already head-turners with their unmistakable design, the MINI XXL is a car that took personalization to extreme lengths and left many in complete awe.

The MINI Cooper S XXL was a six-meter (20 feet) limousine that was essentially designed as a show car and was built by a specialist coach builder in Los Angeles. Though MINI doesn’t mention the name of the shop specifically, press coverage at the time reported the conversion was performed by Ultra, an LA limousine specialist that was famed for its radical designs.

The custom-made limo served as a promotional car for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. “The Olympics are a time for records to be broken, so it was only natural that we would present a unique car that would leave press and fans picking their jaws up off the floor,” MINI says about this unforgettable project.

It started life as a 2004 MINI Cooper S measuring the regular 3.6 meters (11.8 feet), and some mechanical magic turned it into a limousine of no less than 6.3 meters (20.7 feet) with a comfortable interior to allow passengers to travel in style.

More seats and more doors were needed to fill out its longer shape. So instead of the standard four seats and three doors, the elongated version has six seats and four doors. And to support the extra weight from its extravagant features, a third rear axle and two more wheels were added, basically turning it into a six-wheel limo.

If viewed from the front, the car preserves the iconic look that characterizes the brand. It’s vintage in appearance and maintains the red body paint of the original, but if you move just one inch left or right, you’ll immediately notice this is something else. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before - a stretched-out MINI Cooper S version that comes equipped with all the things you’d expect from a limousine.

The spacious interior boasts all-leather black seats and is fitted with a retractable flat-screen TV for passengers to enjoy movies or music, a DVD player, and a radio, which were in line with the entertainment demands of the time.

The TV also serves as a movable partition that ensures privacy from the front cabin. There was also a phone in the back for when passengers needed to communicate with the driver.

Since the MINI XXL was supposed to offer the real limo experience, for added comfort, both the passenger space and the driver’s cabin were fitted with air conditioning. Additionally, the passengers also enjoyed a separate sunroof, which is a must-have for any vibrant limousine.

The jewel on MINI XXL’s crown is the whirlpool Jacuzzi integrated into the rear section of the car. Yeah, you read that right. The limo features a hot tub in its truck bed. And it’s fully functional, too, so passengers didn’t even need to enter the limo to ride in style.

The Jacuzzi can accommodate two people and features a retractable roof meant to easily cover the tub when not in use. The water could be easily drained by simply pulling out the plug through the rear door, which was turned into a canopy.

Now, can you visualize two people being driven around while soaking in a hot tub? It might be difficult to imagine since it's not everyday that you see a car with an integrated whirlpool, but this is what this extravagant limo did almost twenty years ago.

For better handling dynamics, the design team decided to equip the limo with its John Cooper Works Tuning Kit, but we're not told how that modifies the engine's output. The standard version had an engine rated at 163 hp.

After fulfilling its Olympic duties, the custom MINI Cooper S XXL appeared at various locations during the summer of 2004, after which the company took it on a global tour and used it as a marketing tool for European and Asian markets.

This unique project car hasn’t been seen in public lately, so we’re not privy to its most recent whereabouts, but one thing’s for sure, the not-so-MINI XXL limousine stole the show at the 2004 Athens Olympics.