Special display of vehicles which featured in iconic British film "The Italian Job" on display at the 2019 London Classic Car Show
Roger Beckermann's orange Lamborghini Miura in the opening scene is actually two cars. The first was a Miura P400 that was sold as new afterwards. In 2015 it was unearthed by Iain Tyrrell, one of the world's foremost classic car experts and Lamborghini aficionado. The second car, tumbled down the chasm by the Mafia bulldozer, was another Miura that had previously 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 $40,000, 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 two of these plates may still be registered; these, however, are not the cars used in the film as the film cars had "future dated" plates to make them current with the release date of the film, and as such would not be road legal. There were also numerous detail differences between the Minis used during filming and the launch of the "G" year suffix. According to the "making of" DVD extra, the Minis used in the chase scenes were all destroyed in accidents while filming the sewer sequence. As Croker walks through the garage where the Minis are being prepared, viewers hear that "Rozzer's having trouble with his differential", and the back of the red Mini Cooper is jacked up where Rozzer is working. This is an inside joke since the Mini has 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.
Size: 5534px × 3619px
Location: ExCel London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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