The Italian Job Minis have become a symbol of classic cinema, but the story behind how they ended up in the 1969 heist film is as wild as the stunts they performed. The film's chase scenes—infamous for their daring Mini Cooper stunts—have left an indelible mark on movie history. However, the story behind the cars and their fate is much more complex than it first appears.
It all began when Michael Deeley, the producer of The Italian Job, tapped David Salamone, a skilled car supplier and stunt coordinator, to source the vehicles for the film. However, while Salamone had initially taken on a hands-on role in coordinating the cars, it was French stunt legend Rémy Julienne who took over the actual stunt driving. According to Salamone, Julienne's meticulous, scientific approach to stunts—calculating every move down to the mile-per-hour—was a game-changer. The daring driving, including handbrake turns and reverse manoeuvres, became central to the film’s high-octane chase scenes.
Finding the right cars was a challenge in itself. Six original Mk1 Mini Cooper S models, bought from BMC at trade prices, were used for the filming. These cars were heavily modified with 1800cc B-series engines and special modifications to handle the stunts. Another 25 second-hand Minis were sourced from Switzerland and hastily repainted to match the film's needs. But not all Minis were treated equally—many were destroyed during the wild stunts, particularly those in the infamous sewer scenes, leaving just a few survivors from the production.
As the filming wrapped up, the Minis were abandoned in Turin. According to Ken Morris, the last crew member to leave the production, six replicas and a stack of wheels were left behind in a garage, never to be collected by the production company. Some of the cars, including a Mk1 Cooper S, were left in a state of disrepair, locked away and forgotten.
In 2011, three of the original cars, or rather, remnants of them, surfaced from a lock-up in Turin. A Mini enthusiast from Newcastle reportedly paid £6,000 for boxes of parts, including lamp bars, bonnet straps, and crucially, the original number plates and logbooks from the movie. But as it turns out, these plates were never actually assigned to the real Italian Job cars. They had been faked for the movie, with HMP729G, LGW809G, and GPF146G appearing on Minis that were older than they were made to seem. The real cars had future-dated plates to make them appear younger, which made them impossible to legally register with the DVLA.
Despite this, the Mini enthusiasts who bought the plates and salvaged parts weren’t alone in their quest to uncover the original cars. A 2019 promotional film for Dunlop revealed a white Mk1 Mini Cooper S, NOC74F, in the background of a scene—a Mini loaned by BMC to the production. The real fate of this particular car remains a mystery, but its appearance in the film reignited the hunt for a genuine Italian Job Cooper S, sparking speculation that one of these cars might one day be unearthed.
The drivers who performed the daring stunts have their own stories to tell. According to Salamone, the trio of stunt drivers—himself, Barry Cox, and Richard Essame—raced the Minis back to London after filming, with a little mischievous behaviour along the way. However, one driver, Barry Cox, found himself in hot water after being caught speeding, only to have the authorities discover the car was loaded with fake gold bars, and the registration number and tax disc were also fakes—leading to his brief stint in jail.
In the years following filming, the Italian Job Minis faded from the public eye, with many thought to be lost or destroyed. However, their legacy endures, both through the cult classic film and through the ongoing search for the original cars. Whether hidden in some forgotten barn or waiting to be uncovered from a dusty warehouse, the original Italian Job Minis remain one of the most coveted cinematic artifacts, their fate still shrouded in mystery.
