The Italian Job Mini

Don’t ask me about the remake. I’m not going to talk about it.

There’s perhaps not that many people reading this that can say they remember 1969, however anyone who’s seen that year’s standout movie, ‘The Italian Job’ will, in all likelihood suddenly go all cockney-geezer with their best ‘you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off’- one of the most famous film quotes of all time.

The star of that movie though is neither Noel Coward, nor Michael Caine, but the mischievous little Mini Cooper S, originally a speculative collaboration between the BMC and the Cooper company, who could see racing potential in the little beastie as early as 1961. This hunch proved correct and the Cooper S, with a larger 1275cc engine, upgraded suspension and brakes, proved dominant for much of the ‘60’s, most notably in the Monte Carlo Rally.

On the back of this pride and optimism in what it meant to be British through the Sixties in fashion, design and manufacture, Troy Kennedy Martin moved on from the lumbering Zephyrs of TV’s Police drama ‘Z Cars’ to the nimble Mini’s of ‘The Italian Job’. What it did not only for the British car industry but British industry as a whole can only be guessed at.

Although a movie about cars and driving, the lead, Michael Caine couldn’t actually drive. Indeed, the film was originally offered to Robert Redford. What a mortal sin that would have been…

In true English fashion, with the director anxious for Minis, the production was originally turned down for any help by the British Motor Corporation, whilst the boss of Fiat offered to donate all the cars needed for the shoot, plus a £50K incentive if they used Italian cars.

Thankfully, the production stuck to their guns, wanting the iconic Mini as quintessentially English, but having in the end to purchase them out of the budget. They still got a huge amount of help from Fiat for the shoot though, not only cars, but also filming at the Fiat factory in Turin.

During the chase, the Minis always stay in Union Jack order - red, white and blue. There was a fair amount of shenanigans negotiating the shoot, for instance, director did not explain completely what he had in mind for the sequence where the cars drive down the steps of the Palazzo, instead telling the relevant authorities only that he would be using "machinery" in the sequence.

After Turin officials refused to close roads for the famous chase sequence, the Italian Mafia stepped in and caused the requisite traffic jams, which are all real!

The Minis in the film are registered HMP 729G (Red), GPF 146G (White) and LGW 809G (Blue). As at July 2012, Wikipedia indicates that two of these plates may still be registered, but it’s all a bit of a mystery. The cars used in the film had "future dated" plates to make them current by the time the film was eventually released, so weren’t actually technically road legal plates. 

There were also numerous detail differences between the Minis used during filming and the launch of the "G" year suffix, as the Mini parent company underwent massive changes. According to the "making of" DVD extra, the Minis used were all written off in accidents while filming the sewer sequences, in sunny Coventry...

However, there is also tale that two were sold to avid fans in the states. There now exists a company that put together three Mark II’s and sell themselves as the Italian Job Minis and can be hired for appearances or stunts.

Whatever the real answer, the iconic remains. The mini is still the best selling British car of all time. Makes you proud to be British!

Even if it did end up being owned by the Germans…