Italian Job 2006 - Lauren's 1275cc mini

It's our car of the week again! The mini we mentioned several weeks ago is now back from Italy - so well done to the mini for completing a round trip of several thousand miles with only minimal break-down-time. Also congratulations to Lauren and Carey who came 10th, despite this being Lauren's first Road Rally.
The Italian job is of course based on the (original 1969) Italian Job motion picture staring Michael Caine, Noel Coward and Benny Hill and soundtrack by Quincy Jones, about a gold bullion hiest in Turin, the getaway cars being three Mini Coopers which escape the city through a traffic jam - without a doubt one of the best car chase sequences in cinema history featuring some classic stunt driving.

Every year 'the Jobbers' embark on an epic road rally in order to raise money for children's charity NCH, the rally part of the journey involves timed stages following written instructions in order to find the way. Being late on any stage incurs penalty points which counts against your final score (and there are larger points for being caught using Sat-Nav! Not that any cheats would try to game the system.). Along the way, this year there was a spin around Monza and the Fiat test track which is located on the roof of their factory and featured in the Italian Job film ("Look for the exit, we can't go around here all day!"). There is also visit to Venice, museums and castles and a chance to check out the culture (booze and food).

Carey Moldon shared the driving with Lauren.

The problem with this long-distance racing malarky is that when you do get a chance to take photos, mostly it's of other cars taken while you are going along... so while Lauren and Carey brought back several hundred photos, few were of them doing their stuff. Luckily there were plenty of other people taking photos and they are all busy emailing these photos to each other as soon as we have a few more photos in, we can do a full write up - so stay tuned.

UPDATE: Read the Full Article Here

I'm pleased to report that the Supagard, the wheel protector, and the glass coating all performed as expected, and most important of all, Lauren and Carey raised over £500 for charity - it's not too late to make a donation!

Related:
Car of the week 21st October
Our Italian Job Page

www.italianjob.com - website for the Italian Job Rally
www.theitalianjobminicoopers.com - project to restore the origional mini coopers from the film.
www.theitalianjob.com - fan site for the film, packed full of useful information.

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