The original Mini, painted with a union flag is the perfect answer to the size of the Frankfurt motor show
People usually whinge about the heat in Frankfurt's dozen or so halls, arrayed either side of a lane that stretches a feet-busting kilometre.
This year it's different: there's a biting wind outside and people are glad to be inside, or to go from appointment to appointment in one of the many press shuttles - principally Volts, i3s, hybrid Citroen's and the odd new S-class.
Weirdest shuttles of all are a pair of original Minis, whose other role is to publicise an end-of-day party, being staged by (BMW) Mini.
This Union-flagged N-plater, snapped after disgorging three slim-hipped Eastern European hacks, is doing many miles up and down, its driver coping manfully with 'traditional' driving characteristics such as discreet clouds of oil smoke, intrusive timing chain rattle and no synchro on second.
Yet the car itself fits these crowded conditions amazingly well.