Now call me biased if you like, but even if I weren't a Brit, the original 1969 The Italian Job would still be one of my all-time favourite movies. If you've never seen the film, you owe it to yourselves to track it down because it's not only immense fun, but perfectly demonstrates all that is Mini Cooper.
The film opens with a drop-dead gorgeous Lamborghini Miura winding its way through the Italian Alps to the sound of Matt Monroe's "On days like these." Not that I want to spoil it for you, but the vehicle suddenly enters a tunnel, crashes and explodes and is then pushed off the road and down into a gorge by a humungous bulldozer.
If that scene doesn't make the car guy in you cry, the one which follows shortly thereafter should as it sees two Jaguar E-Types (XKEs) damaged and an Aston Martin DB4 totally demolished and sent off a cliff.
The storyline follows Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), a London villain recently released from prison who discovers a plan to rob the Fiat Car Company of $4 Million in gold bullion being transferred from China as a down payment for building a car plant.
The plan is to shut down Turin's computerised traffic system, steal the gold and make a quick getaway amidst the confusion. Sounds like a pretty good idea, but how does he hope to get the gold out of town with all the streets gridlocked? Enter the famous Mini Coopers and what is perhaps the best car chase adventure ever filmed!
Often hailed as a British comedy caper, the film boasts a surprising cast of stars. To give you an idea: Sir Michael Caine, Sir Noel Coward, John Le Mesurier, Irene Handl, Robert Powel and a whole host of others, including Benny Hill who plays Simon Peach, a somewhat crazy Professor with a compulsive attraction to large-sized women.
I won't comment on the car chase scenes other than to say you simply have to see them. I also won't spoil the ending for those who haven't yet seen the film, apart from saying that "it's a bit of a cliff-hanger".
The film opens with a drop-dead gorgeous Lamborghini Miura winding its way through the Italian Alps to the sound of Matt Monroe's "On days like these." Not that I want to spoil it for you, but the vehicle suddenly enters a tunnel, crashes and explodes and is then pushed off the road and down into a gorge by a humungous bulldozer.
If that scene doesn't make the car guy in you cry, the one which follows shortly thereafter should as it sees two Jaguar E-Types (XKEs) damaged and an Aston Martin DB4 totally demolished and sent off a cliff.
The storyline follows Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), a London villain recently released from prison who discovers a plan to rob the Fiat Car Company of $4 Million in gold bullion being transferred from China as a down payment for building a car plant.
The plan is to shut down Turin's computerised traffic system, steal the gold and make a quick getaway amidst the confusion. Sounds like a pretty good idea, but how does he hope to get the gold out of town with all the streets gridlocked? Enter the famous Mini Coopers and what is perhaps the best car chase adventure ever filmed!
Often hailed as a British comedy caper, the film boasts a surprising cast of stars. To give you an idea: Sir Michael Caine, Sir Noel Coward, John Le Mesurier, Irene Handl, Robert Powel and a whole host of others, including Benny Hill who plays Simon Peach, a somewhat crazy Professor with a compulsive attraction to large-sized women.
I won't comment on the car chase scenes other than to say you simply have to see them. I also won't spoil the ending for those who haven't yet seen the film, apart from saying that "it's a bit of a cliff-hanger".