You might remember a couple of weeks back we told you about the special MINI designed for this year’s Life Ball by Canadian designers DSQUARED² . Well, here it is in the flesh.

Dean and Dan Caten managed to totally revamp a MINI Cooper S by adding lots of off road bits  to it, such as the front guard, rally headlamps, tinted side windows with grilles and the spare tyre on the tailgate. The idea apparently was to make it look kinda like the original MINI rally car.

But this one’s been raised and fitted with deep-tread all-terrain tyres. It is all about outdoor fun his car. Inside the cabin there’s a compass to help you head in the right direction, while floormats made of structured aluminium sheeting protect the inside from dirt.

The highlight of the design is of course trademark DSQUARED² maple leaf on the leather head restraints and the side doors rounds off the cabin of this robust MINI.

Dean and Dan are delighted with the result: “Our MINI ‘Red Mudder’ is 100 per cent DSQUARED².” Tonight this one-off will be gliding along the red carpet at the legendary Life Ball.This year sees carmaker MINI supporting Europe’s biggest AIDS charity event for the 11th time. Each year a one-off MINI is created for the Life Ball, the proceeds of which support projects combating HIV/AIDS. Since 2001 more than half a million euros has been generated by these specially styled Life Ball MINI models on behalf of Aids Life. Gery Keszler, the founder and organiser of the Life Ball, is impressed by this longstanding collaboration: “MINI has been a partner of the Life Ball for 11 years and each year it demonstrates anew its creativity, enthusiasm and passion for this good cause. This year’s Life Ball MINI designed by DSQUARED² provides further persuasive evidence of this.” In previous years, designers such as Agent Provocateur, Donatella Versace, Diesel, Missoni and Gianfranco Ferré obliged with their own designs for a Life Ball MINI.