In 2003 Paramount premiered a remake of the iconic Italian Job film. An all-star cast was tasked with bringing a reinvented modern-day plot to life, but one thing stayed the same… The centrepiece of the film remained a trio of Minis. Love or hate the modern film that doesn’t actually involve a heist in Italy beyond its opening segment, these little cars remained the stars.
Here’s 5 things you probably didn’t know about the BMW Minis that made the movie.
A total of 32 cars were used for filming
While BMC had no real interest in supplying cars at any sort of discount to the original makes of The Italian Job, Mini’s new owners knew what a valuable marketing opportunity a blockbuster could be. BMW happily supplied 32 new Minis for the film, each given dedicated roles as stunt vehicles or unblemished hero cars.
Was 32 overkill? Apparently not as each car was used and abused to its full potential. In fact, BMW helped run a 24/7 bodyshop for the cars that met unfortunate ends during the chase sequence.
The Minis used in the subway scene were the world’s first electric Minis
The Mini electric recently went on sale as the brand’s first all-electric offering, and it’s a great car that you can find out more about here, but it’s actually not the first electric Mini ever made. During the chase sequence, the three Minis charge down into the LA subway and boldly jump infant of a metro train. However, safety requirements meant that no combustion engined vehicles were allowed in the subway.
A trio of all-electric Minis were fashioned with batteries in their boot for the stunt. All of the engine noises you hear are dubbed, and everything from the stairs to the jump was powered purely by electricity. It would be another 17 years until Mini sold an EV to the public.
Throwback
It wouldn’t have escaped the attention of car enthusiast that the lead female character, Stella, initially drives a classic Mini Cooper as a daily – this was no accident. While this movie is a total reinterpretation of the original, the iconic car was cast as a throwback to the 1969 caper.
This classic Mini actually needed to be customised as Charlize Theron was too tall for the car. A bespoke seat mounted was required.
Custom cars
If you wanted to buy a Mini featured in The Italian Job, you were more than welcome. Mini would happily sell you a blue or white Cooper, even red Cooper S if that’s what you desired, but you couldn’t have them exactly as they were in the movie.
The ‘Pepper White’ Cooper couldn’t be ordered with a white roof from the factory, nor could a blue or red Mini with a white roof feature black door mirrors. These tweaks were specified by the director and weren’t available to customers of R50 and R53 cars.
A sequel?
The original 1969 film never got a sequel, although some ideas were floated by studio executives as to how the plot could continue. It was a similar story with the remake, except a full script already exists along with the necessary financial documentation. For better or worse, it still hasn’t happened yet.
Dubbed ‘The Brazilian Job’, the film would see the team reunite for a diamond heist. According to reports, it was the studio itself that kept putting the new picture on hold with there now being little chance of it being made at all. However, new Italian Job series has recently been announced for Paramount’s streaming service.
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Keyword: 5 things you didn't know about 2003's The Italian Job