Have you seen this on youtube ?!?!

[UHR850]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxFOhVq8dM

[pad4]

oh yes - had me swearing at the TV , what a load of utter bollocks and i think the owner believes his own utter bollocks as well.

pad

[Andrew1967]

I thought I read that he bought the registration numbers at a DVLA auction.

[Supersonic]

Lovely Flame Red Mk3 Cooper S in the garage as well?

[rich@minispares.com]

Its criminal that the owner of these cars can keep making these outlandish claims about these cars. The three plates, which where never issued in period , where sold at a dvla plate auction.

Everything else is pure fabrication, what's the betting that in a few years they will be sold as the real deal.

These TV companies and newspapers/magazines should really do the proper research before they pander to the rubbish that the owners tell them

[surfblue63]

The plates were sold by the DVLA in 2003 for a total of £9,400.

Then they were sold by Cheffins in 2006 for £19,800.

[Pete]

Its criminal that the owner of these cars can keep making these outlandish claims about these cars.

To be fair he does say he only bought paperwork, number plates and some rusty old bits. BUT the 'rusty old bits and a lamp bar' he describes in the sale surely is fiction, he bought three cherished number plates, nothing more. The producer of the show is bound to want a better story than that, as they always do, like the "racing engine" on For Love Of Cars etc, the press are no different, they make stuff up all the time to fluff up a story. SO it's no surprise that Brian Johnson describes the cars as real, that's showbiz folks! We've all seen this kind of fabrication happen with lots of other cars too, that don't appear on the telly.

I almost bought the red one, it was a ropey but original Mk2 998 Cooper in Red/Black. In fact they're all Mk2s aren't they.

What's that about Speedwell, can anyone verify that? Funnily enough I was talking with an ex member of staff from BVRT who said they'd done prep work on a few of the IJ cars, no tuning though.

[mk1]

TV companies are looking to tell an entertaining story, they are NEVER going to let facts get in the way of that. I cannot for the life of me understand why people get so worked up about it.

Just remember that 99.9% of all the stuff you see on the TV is uninformed bollocks written by someone who has no interest in the subject they are writing about, is presented by someone who would just as soon be talking about dog food & to a great extent is watched by people who would rather be staring glassy eyed at Gogglebox or Coronation Street & you may begin to appreciate that truth is a flexible concept for "media makers".

Just because you (we) are slightly more informed than the great British public when it comes to this particular subject, we recognise the glaring great stinkers that are being reported as fact. We will however watch something 30 minutes later about pig farming in the outer Hebrides & find it fascinating where as every Hebridean pig farmer is ready to chuck his TV out of the window.

Remember that "Top Gear" was the best selling FACTUAL PROGRAMME in the world, how much of that was a true reflection of reality?

[Pete]

By the way I've invited Brian to Blyton.

[rich@minispares.com]

By the way I've invited Brian to Blyton.

that the music sorted on Saturday night

I will bring my bongos

[Spitz]

I noticed no brake servo when he lifted the hood.

So....are these not the cars?

[Pete]

They're replicas. There's another set of replicas that were done quite a few years before David Morton's aswell that I seem to remember first seeing at Mini 30?

Sorry Rich, Brian Johnson can't make it due to er..his day job. You can still bring your bongos for a solo spot.

[fricsman]

"I almost bought the red one, it was a ropey but original Mk2 998 Cooper in Red/Black. In fact they're all Mk2s aren't they."
They had to be G plated cars to be able to carry the DVLA issued plates so they had to be built from Mk 2's. You can't put a later plate on an earlier car so the G plates can't go on a Mk1. There were probably some very late registered Mk1's with G plates but would be very had to find three to buy.
In the film they used Mk1's but made the plates up to suit.

[Ollie78]

I have to agree with Mark, I've had a few experiences with TV crews and the press and you have to so careful with what your saying, you can end up looking a right tool. At best they use content out of context but it seems making it all up afterwards with presenter takes in the editing office is ok too. This guy might just be a victim of the final edit.

[foxy52]

"I almost bought the red one, it was a ropey but original Mk2 998 Cooper in Red/Black. In fact they're all Mk2s aren't they."
They had to be G plated cars to be able to carry the DVLA issued plates so they had to be built from Mk 2's. You can't put a later plate on an earlier car so the G plates can't go on a Mk1. There were probably some very late registered Mk1's with G plates but would be very had to find three to buy.
In the film they used Mk1's but made the plates up to suit.

..Can someone enlighten me ??.. the film was made in 68 and released in 69.. F plates were on mk2,s in later 67/68..many mk 1 types were left unsold its said after mk 2,s came out or so we are lead to believe ??...did they just use mk1,s that no one wanted ?? as opposed to mk 2,s ??where they cheaper I wonder ??...anyone know the answer ??...tks foxy52

[Pete]

That's a good question. You'd expect a car company to want to advertise their latest product so why didn't BMC sell the production company a heap of Mk2 S's instead? Is the reason that BMC weren't interested in the film (which I have read) and only gave them a small bulk discount (typical BMC!) suspecting the film could be a flop anyway and sell them the remnants of Mk1 stock as Foxy suggests or did the film company plan the film and purchase the stock just before the Mk2 was released (maybe BMC did discount them because they knew a revamped model was about to be launched and saw a good way of shifting stock) ? This is all assuming the film was produced in 1968, could they have actually begun in mid '67? I must admit I've not got the 'Making Of The Italian Job' book or DVD, are the answers there?

In the absence of a really well researched website about the film, there's this one (which is very well researched) on the locations :

http://mitteleuropa.x10.mx/filmlocation ... n_job.html

As I remember rightly when the cars were built/restored by Mini machine the website dedicated to their build did request donations and sponsorship to aid completion, there were quite a number of sponsors listed. So what are the cars used for (other than the odd Mini show I've seen them at), are they hired out?

[mab01uk]

Some interesting details on the Mini's and BMC below from the book about the making of the film:-




offer, they still lent them three Ferrari Dinos for the Mafia to drive in the film.

[mab01uk]

"I almost bought the red one, it was a ropey but original Mk2 998 Cooper in Red/Black. In fact they're all Mk2s aren't they."
They had to be G plated cars to be able to carry the DVLA issued plates so they had to be built from Mk 2's. You can't put a later plate on an earlier car so the G plates can't go on a Mk1. There were probably some very late registered Mk1's with G plates but would be very had to find three to buy.
In the film they used Mk1's but made the plates up to suit.

..Can someone enlighten me ??.. the film was made in 68 and released in 69.. F plates were on mk2,s in later 67/68..many mk 1 types were left unsold its said after mk 2,s came out or so we are lead to believe ??...did they just use mk1,s that no one wanted ?? as opposed to mk 2,s ??where they cheaper I wonder ??...anyone know the answer ??...tks foxy52

It could be that with BMC being reluctant to supply the cars (see above book extract) it would have mean't that if the later Mk2 had been used all the cheap old banger stunt double Mk1 Mini's (like those that went over the cliff) would have looked more obviously different without an upgrade of rear lights and grille. Although if you look carefully at those Mini's pushed out the coach at the end of the film, they did not go to great efforts to make them look authentic (no windows or numberplates, etc)!

[foxy52]

"I almost bought the red one, it was a ropey but original Mk2 998 Cooper in Red/Black. In fact they're all Mk2s aren't they."
They had to be G plated cars to be able to carry the DVLA issued plates so they had to be built from Mk 2's. You can't put a later plate on an earlier car so the G plates can't go on a Mk1. There were probably some very late registered Mk1's with G plates but would be very had to find three to buy.
In the film they used Mk1's but made the plates up to suit.

..Can someone enlighten me ??.. the film was made in 68 and released in 69.. F plates were on mk2,s in later 67/68..many mk 1 types were left unsold its said after mk 2,s came out or so we are lead to believe ??...did they just use mk1,s that no one wanted ?? as opposed to mk 2,s ??where they cheaper I wonder ??...anyone know the answer ??...tks foxy52

It could be that with BMC being reluctant to supply the cars (see above book extract) it would have mean't that if the later Mk2 had been used all the cheap old banger stunt double Mk1 Mini's (like those that went over the cliff) would have looked more obviously different without an upgrade of rear lights and grille. Although if you look carefully at those Mini's pushed out the coach at the end of the film, they did not go to great efforts to make them look authentic (no windows or numberplates, etc)!

...very interesting stuff !! tks Pete and Mab for following up my post...we all know that a number of shells/non Coopers were used in various stunt scenes in the film in any event...think u have a point there Mab re the use of Mk 1 types so the actual Mk 1 S. cars were sought for continuity...looking similar...I never thought much about it before but the MK 1 Cooper S,s must have been 2 years old approx. when u think about it ?? further I have never seen a mk 1 on a G plate in existence today ?? so if any exists they must be very rare !!!!....foxy52

[rich@minispares.com]

I have never seen a mk 1 on a G plate in existence today ?? so if any exists they must be very rare !!!!....foxy52

any 'G' plate mk1's are normally autos

I guess they didn't sell as fast as normal minis, so there was a few floating around when the mk2 came in