2005 MINI (Ex-Red Bull Pickup)

YEAR: 2005
MODEL: MINI (ex-Red Bull pickup) (R50)
VIN#: TJ70935
ENGINE: 1.6L Inline Four-Cylinder 
CURB WEIGHT: 2,524 LBS.
TOP SPEED: 124 MPH
PRICE WHEN NEW: $18,299
NUMBER BUILT: 500
BUILD DATE: May 23, 2005
COLOR: White and blue (Originally Silver)
OWNERS: Peggy Dyer (Since December 2009)
LOCATION: Charlotte, Michigan
NICKNAME: El Camini

The car is based on a standard 114 HP MINI Cooper with a CVT automatic transmission. Red Bull had a company called Custom CRS converted 500 MINI Coopers into traveling Red Bull advertisements. These cars were used to promote Red Bull and were driven all over by members of what the company called the Red Bull Wings Team.

They were converted to small pick-up trucks. The entire rear-end was modified to accommodate a giant Red Bull can. An additional feature was that the rear end also contained a cooler box.

From Peggy: “In 2009 my husband (now ex) told me that the auction site next door to his business had 3 MINI pickup trucks. I told him that I didn’t think that they made pickups. I visited the lot and there were 3 retired Red Bull MINIs. Red Bull only used plain MINIs back then, no superchargers, no cruise control, and all with automatic transmissions.”

They went to the live auction in December 2009 and Peggy won the last auction. Peggy worked for a local body shop and in May of 2010 she repainted it. She loves the car. The name came because the car looks like an El Camino. Her friend had the side badges made using the El Camino font.

In 2022 she decided to change to the “police” look. She had a police badge from 2020 that said, “MINI Security and Motor on Minions” and put it on an old Coke delivery driver hat. 

The car was wrapped in white and had the badge put on the sides. The stripes were added later. El Camini has been to several MINI events.