Prompted by Paul Smith's use of a Mini on a skirt for his Paul Smith Women collection, Rover offered Paul his own Mini.
Paul decided that he would like to have one custom made and so the artcar was born.
Inspired by the various stripes used in his Spring/Summer 1997 collection the car sports 84 stripes in 26 colours and was sprayed by TWR Tom Walkenshaw Racing.
The car went on display at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1997

Having seen and been delighted with the result, Paul and Rover decided to take the car a stage further produce a limited edition production car, available from April 1998. The car is available in 'Paul Smith Blue' in the UK and additionally in 'Old English White and Black' in Japan. All cars feature exclusive bonnet, boot and grille badges and the glovebox lining, engine bay and boot liner are finished in a vibrant citrus green. The interior of each car comes in polished black leather with the dash matching the colour of the car - just the sort of subtle touches, which have become the Paul Smith trademark. They retailed at approx £10,000 and were available in the UK and Japan.