20 Jun 01
The Radford Mini is perhaps the ultimate miniature limo. Favoured by the '60s in-crowd, it was built by Harold Radford (of coachbuilding fame) in his Hammersmith workshops and featured electric windows, soundproofing, wood and leather trim and lambswool carpets. All Radford Minis were based on Coopers because the standard car couldn't cope with the extra weight. In the mid 1960s all four Beatles owned one. The one in the photo belonged to George Harrison and featured in the Magical Mystery Tour film. But perhaps the most famous was the Radford Mini Deville GT given by Peter Sellers to his wife Britt Ekland in October 1965. It featured a lift-up tailgate, the whole of the rear of the body being a special glassfibre panel with a steel hoop to add rigidity. Surely the coolest Mini of them all?
