The Italian Job - Vehicles

Vehicles

Roger Beckermann's Lamborghini Miura in the opening scene is actually two cars. The first was a Miura P400 that was sold as new afterwards. The car tumbled down the chasm by the Mafia bulldozer was another Miura that had been in a serious accident and was not roadworthy.

According to the director's commentary on the DVD, despite the publicity the film would give to the Mini, the car's maker, BMC, only provided a token fleet of Minis and the production company had to buy the rest at trade price. Fiat offered the production as many super-charged Fiat cars as they needed, several sports cars for the Mafia confrontation scene, plus $50,000, but the producers turned down the offer because it would have meant replacing the Minis with Fiats.

The Minis seen on screen carry registration numbers HMP 729G (Red), GPF 146G (White) and LGW 809G (Blue). As at July 2012, a DVLA query indicates that the first two of these may still be registered.

As Croker walks through the garage where the Minis are being prepared, we hear that "Rozzer's having trouble with his differential" and the back of the red Mini Cooper is jacked up and Rozzer is working. This is an inside joke since the Mini is a front-wheel drive and does not have a rear differential. In the early 1960s, front wheel drive cars were new and asking a car mechanic to repair a Mini's rear differential was a popular snipe hunt.

Gold cost $39 per troy ounce in 1968 so four million dollars in gold bars would have weighed about 3200 kg (7000 lb), requiring each of the three Minis to carry about 1070 kg (2300 lb) in addition to the driver and passenger. Since a 1968 Mini only weighs 630 kg (1400 lb), each of these vehicles would have had to carry 1½ times its own weight in gold.

The coach at the end of the film was a 1964 Bedford VAL with Harrington Legionnaire Body, distinctive for its twin front steering axles. Following the filming, the coach had its improvised rear doors welded and was used on a Scottish school bus route until the mid 1980s and was scrapped according to the Legionnaire register.

Charlie Croker picks up his Aston Martin DB4 convertible from a garage after release from prison. The scene was mostly improvised, which caused visible lighting irregularities since the crew didn't know where the actors would be. The original Aston belongs today to a private English collection.

According to several sources, the "Aston" pushed off the cliff was a Vignale Lancia Flaminia mocked up as an Aston. The two E-type Jaguars that suffered from the Mafia's revenge were restored to original condition. The black Fiat Dino coupé of Mafia boss Altabani was bought by Peter Collinson but became so rusty that only its doors remain.

The Italian police cars seen around Turin were Alfa Romeo Giulias.

A Land Rover Series IIa Station Wagon registration BKO 686C was used to get to the convoy before attacking and was modified with window bars and a 'Towbar'.

A Ford Thames 400E van was used for the football fans' decorated van; this was referred to as the Dormobile, the name of a common camper-van conversion coachbuilder.

The "Chinese" plane delivering the gold to Turin is a rare Douglas C-74 Globemaster, of which only 14 were built and only four passed into private ownership. It had been abandoned in Milan by its owners and was moved to Turin for filming. It was destroyed by fire in 1970.