The Mirow II, also referred to as Mirov II, was a British-built concept vehicle created as a fictional Soviet supercar for a television advertisement produced by the Norwich Union insurance group. It first appeared toward the end of 1990, presented in the commercial as a mysterious red sports coupe that even car enthusiasts could not place, styled to suggest a Russian-built exotic despite being an entirely fabricated design by Western designers. Its shape carried some resemblance to an earlier racing Ferrari while remaining visually distinct.
The advertisement concept came from British arts director Ray Barrett, with filming handled by director Richard Loncraine, known for the film The Mission, and actor Peter Czajkowski appearing in the spot. The Mirow II combined an aggressive, racing-inspired exterior with a futuristic cockpit. As built for the commercial it was propelled only by a small auxiliary motor that needed 10 seconds to reach 25 km/h, before its body was later mounted onto a Volkswagen Beetle platform chassis for a livelier appearance.
Two life-size examples were built by Jon Bunker using the British UVA M6 GTR kit car as their base. One of the mock-ups was later acquired by Brian Thompson, who spent nine years converting it into a genuine driveable road car fitted with a mid-mounted Renault 2.6-litre V6 engine.
