Have you ever watched the film “The Italian Job”? The 1968 version (released in 1969) with Michael Caine and a host of other British and Italian film legends? Perhaps like some of the organisers of this event, you may have watched it over 100 times! Next year will be the 40th anniversary of the making of the film. 

This event is about taking a group of minis, and visiting a large number of the film locations which were used in the film. Most of you who know about the film will know that a substantial part of the film was shot in Italy, in the city of Turin, or Torino as it is called by the Italians. The event will take us all to Torino, a round trip of over 1700 miles in around nine days. We have provisional dates of 27 August to 4 September.

Because of the mileage, only minis which are considered by their owners to be in good mechanical working order, well serviced and reliable will be allowed to come on this event. In addition, this event is not for the faint hearted. Entrants will be required to drive fairly long distances each day for three days to get to Turin, and the same to return, so the drivers must be capable of driving these distances in small groups of minis and be confident in their abilities to either map read or use their sat nav systems to get them to their days-end destination if they get separated from their groups.

By now, many people will have thought to themselves that this event is not for them, but it is going to be a fantastic event! For those who have the right car and who are experienced drivers, this event will be one to remember. Turin will be very warm.

click here for climate chart

When we get there, we will be able to visit many of the film locations in the company of a very experienced guide, Steve Edmonds, who is one of our organisers, and the font of all knowledge in relation to the film and its locations.

Where will we visit? Remember the weir, where the minis drive through the water to get to the other side?

 The road alongside the river, leading to the weir

The church where the minis drive down the steps? The shopping arcade where the driver of one of the minis skids and another grabs a cooked chicken? 

 The minis drove down these steps!

The place where the gold was loaded? The piazza where the traffic jam occurred? You will visit all of these film locations. We are also trying to organise a drive onto the rooftop test track at Lingotto, where the minis jumped the gap in the buildings in the film.

On the way down to Italy, we will pass through some awesome scenery, driving over and through the Alps. We will stay in hotels as we drive down and back, and although this sounds expensive, if there are two people in the car, expenses can be halved, so it is quite reasonable on a per head basis.

How much will it cost? We are not sure yet, but in a car with two people, we expect that the ten day adventure will cost around £250 per person based on two in a car if you camp at Turin, or around £350 per person if you stay in a hotel in Turin. (Exact costs will be posted once we have a better estimate.). You will also have to budget for road tolls fuel and food. This is a great price for the most fantastic ten day adventure in Europe, and one you will remember and be able to talk with your friends about for a very long time afterwards!