mania

The team of designers working on the 2001 MINI had finished the full-sized clay mock-up of the MINI in plenty of time for a presentation for the board of directors. Chief designer Frank Stephenson realized that the model did not have an exhaust pipe. His short-term solution was to pick up an empty beer can, punch a hole in it, strip off the paint and pushed it into the clay at the back of the car, which took just a few minutes. The overall design for the mock-up was so good that the board members told him not to change a thing, resulting in the distinctive exhaust tip seen in production cars.