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Jan pays extra £10,000 to be in the pink!

12/ 6/2004

FASHION victim Janette Benson paid an extra '10,000 for her new Mini - so it wouldn't clash with her favourite pink handbag.

The trendy housewife stunned salesmen at her local dealership in Wilmslow by saying she would buy a Mini Cooper S only if it was an exact colour match for her outfit.

She took her dazzling pink Kookai handbag off her shoulder and set the dealers the challenge of finding a car with the same colour shade.

Even though the bag itself cost only '20 from the high street fashion retailer, she was determined to spend whatever was necessary so that she would be colour co-ordinated when she was running about town in her new car.

Technicians at the Mini bodyshop spent weeks finding the matching paint for the bodywork. They also had to rip out the standard seats and find some pink leather to rebuild the luxurious interior. Transforming Janette's Mini into a pink palace on wheels cost '10,000 on top of the '14,500 price tag of the basic model.

For that finishing touch, Janette's husband Robert, a managing director, splashed out more money for a personalised numberplate - G3NET, for Janette - featuring a pink Playboy bunny and the words, "Think Pink, Think Bitch".

Janette, who usually dresses from head to toe in pink, has also added her own touch of pink glamour to her hot hatchback with a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs to hang on the rear view mirror.

The 39-year-old mum from Macclesfield said: "Most people know me for being pink. When I came to get a new car, it had to be pink, and it had to be a Mini - no other car would suit pink. I came in with my handbag to show the salesman, and left it with him.

"It had to be pink leather trim throughout, as well. They tried to get me to settle for white or cream, but it had to be pink leather.

"I spent about '10,000 on the colour, leather and extras, but it was money well spent - definitely.

"When I'm out on the road it's a traffic-stopper. Lots of people wave and beep at me - they must think there's a movie star inside."

Janette says she's now working on her 41-year-old husband to persuade him to allow her to paint their bedroom pink.

Robbie Woodward, sales executive for the Blue Bell Mini dealership in Wilmslow, said: "It was a bit of a shock when Janette came in and asked for the car to match her bag.

"But I think we've got pretty much a perfect match."

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