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Easy to make conclusions 55 years later but BMC would have had no idea at the time just how successful that film would go on to be. You have to take into consideration aswell that the Cooper S was not quite the world beater it had been by 1969 and perhaps if the film had been made in 1970 BLMC would have been much keener to promote the new 1275GT and give some cars away. Nobody knew how iconic the Italian Job would go on to become , ditto Michael Caine! Glad they did use the Cooper S though!!

With enough money, then Mini as we know it would have been replaced by 1970.

I've always been wary of the usual story about how the Minis were obtained. I suspect BLMC just rented then a few ex fleet cars, took them back and sold them on for spares. I doubt the actual truth will never be known.

Given the amount of ringing, I'm amazed an 'original' with the GH Enid Blyton Jackanory style tale hasn't surfaced.

nick@dunsdale wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2024 1:04 pm BL missed a huge marketing chance to cash in after the films release
It just shows how out of touch they were with the real world

I am sure mini sales had slight surge but i bet they could have done a lot more with all the publicty

Fiat were apparently keen to supply as many cars as the film wanted....

Michael Deeley quote: "I fully presumed BMC would be thrilled that a Paramount picture, to be shown around the globe, was ready to offer such a wealth of free advertising: the dollar value of same would have been a phenomenal sum. Astonishingly, BMC could not have cared less.
Effectively Fiat told us, "Listen, we can be very helpful here if you switch the Minis to become Fiats." They were prepared to offer as many Fiats as we needed to crash and smash, as well as trained stunt drivers to pilot the vehicles, a 50,000 dollar cash bonus and the current top of the range Ferrari as a personal gift. This proposal was too good to be true. But after much reflection, I had to decline. The whole point of the movie was very clear in my mind at the time, it was a theme of "us against them". It had to be Minis."
Even after Deeley turned down Fiats offer they remained unbelievably co-operative, providing three Dinos and dozens of Fiats for the traffic jam sequences. Fiat even allowed us to use their test track and factory for the famous flying leap.

Michael Caine quote: "It was the greatest advert for Minis the world has ever see! No wonder BMC is out of business. What a dumb load of bastards they were."