Massimo Pini re-lives some classic Mini movie moments - and it's all in a good cause.
"You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" went the famous line from Michael Caine's character, Charlie Croker, in the 1969 film, 'The Italian Job' - one of a number of key sequences which have since gone down in British cinema history.
Possibly even more enduring than Caine's performance however, were those of three other leading cast members. No, not Noel Coward, Benny Hill and Robert Powell, but the show-stealing Mini Coopers used to spirit away the $4million in gold bullion through the gridlocked streets of Turin.
Combine this movie nostalgia with the enduring love which still abounds for the classic Issigonis Mini (out of production since late 2000) and a worthy objective of raising money for charity and you have the key ingredients of the Italian Job navigational rally.
Organiser Freddie St George came up with the idea of a tribute event whereby Minis would travel to Italy and 'steal' wine instead of gold. Having studied at the University of Trento in Northern Italy, he put his local knowledge to good use by staging the first Italian Job there, back in 1990.
"We placed a small advert in a 'Autocar & Motor' to appeal for sponsors and the phones began ringing off the hook. " recalled St George, "We ended up with 55 competitors in the very first event!"
The early events lasted only a couple of days whereas the 2003 Italian Job, which we were invited to cover, ran to a full eight days.
Following a last minute change of personnel, my wife joined me as co-driver and we set off for Imola in our black and white MINI UK-sponsored 2003 Cooper S to line up alongside the 80 other cars taking part.
The event is open to all vehicles featured prominently in the original film, so the classic Minis were joined by an Alfa Romeo, an Aston Martin, a London Taxi and 15 new MINIs. I asked St George whether it had been a difficult decision to allow the new MINIs to compete in the Italian Job alongside the classic Minis, since they had clearly played no part in the film.
"We discussed the matter at length with various Mini Owners Clubs and since they had decided to accept new MINIs into their clubs, the consensus was that we should also allow them to take part, " said St George, "We have seen participation from the new MINIs increase year on year since their first showing in 2001 and this is a trend we are happy to see continue."
