THE CAR PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Danny Hopkins heads for Italy, retracing Charlie’s footsteps in a classic Mini
It’s embedded in our national psyche, as instantly recognisable as a Supermarine Spitfire or a London bus and with good reason. The Mini is an engineering enigma, an era-defining, sub-zero-cool slice of inspiration that moved the concept of what a car could be forward decades in one simple package. In 2024 it turns 65 and the film that helped it on its way to permafrost levels of coolness, The Italian Job, celebrates 55 years.
Recognition for Alec Issigonis’s work of diminutive genius endures, but as he received his knighthood in 1969 you can’t help but think that he probably didn’t approve of a film that portrayed his creation as a getaway vehicle. This might be the reason why the British Motor Corporation was so reluctant to let the film company have a Mini to use in The Italian Job.
Fiat saw the opportunity and encouraged a swap from the scripted Minis to their own baby, the Fiat 500. Fiat would offer $50,000, an unlimited number of cars, stunt drivers and a Ferrari for producer Michael Deeley. He declined. Six last-of-the-line Mini Cooper S MkIs were eventually bought – with a trade discount from BMC, the cars being purchased retail. Looking back it is almost beyond belief that BMC could have been so short-sighted. As it was, one of the most catastrophic marketing mistakes in the history of motoring was avoided by the filmmaker’s belligerent insistence that they used a nation’s favourite. Michael Caine didn’t pull any punches: ‘This was the greatest advert for the Mini the world had ever seen. What a dumb load of bastards BMC were. That’s why the company no longer exists.’
Even after the knockback from the producers, Fiat still wanted ‘in’ on the movie, supplying the cars for the chase sequences and many of the motors seen in the traffic jam scenes in Turin… oh yes, and three Fiat Dinos. Fiat also let the filmmakers use the Lingotto Factory rooftop test track, despite the fact that, in the film, the Minis run rings around the Italian tin. So today, despite BMC’s foolishness, we have a Mini brand that continues to see worldwide success, a brand that was turbo-charged by a film that celebrated its clever, cheekiness as well as its engineering excellence over half a century ago. Without The Italian Job would the Mini have continued, in classic form, to be made for another 30 years? Would the brand have been picked up by BMW and would we still have cars being produced at Cowley today? That’s an interesting question, best answered over a bottle of Chianti… or maybe on a trip to the Italy itself?
Thought you’d never ask. I’ve always loved the film. Along with Bullitt, Genevieve and Chitty, it’s the ‘go to’ movie for a classic petrolhead. Even the 2003 remake, which used the
