Italian Job Mini

Year - July 1979
Mileage - 22,234
Colour - White
Engine - 1275cc

The Italian Job Mini came about after obtaining the registration number MAN 146G and also I was planning to do the 2007 Italian Job charity run to Itlay with a pal of mine Michael Caine (well he had to do it with a name like that).

The car was purchased from Bradford and trailered back to the island. We then proceeded to complately strip it back to bare shell, make the necessary body repairs, respray it, and then rebuild it to be a lookalike Italian Job Mini. The fact we were going to be doing around 3,500 miles we wanted a flexible cruising engine which took the form of an A+ series 1275cc. A few modifications to it first, phase 2 Morspeed cam, duplex timing chain, centre oil pump pickup pipe, HIFF44 carb, large bore exhaust and an advanced curve modified distributor. The work took about 5 months to complete which gave us plenty of time for fund raising before the event. We have a dedicated website to the Italian Job 2007 at www.italianjob.info please take a look.

During our fund raising we wanted to get maximum exposure of the decalled vehicle, so when the opportunity came to be involved with the local TT 100th year celebration on the promenade in Douglas we jumped at the chance. Well known precision driving expert Russ Swift has been performing at the TT for many years, this particular year the organisers wanted an Italian Job theme as part of his show. So with three of my Minis and the white Italian Job one taking centre stage he put her through her paces, see Youtube video below.

With many other appearances alongside The Isle of Man Children's Centre one of the beneficiaries of our fund raising, and local media coverage the little Mini was gaining local celebrity status. We regularly updated the local newspapers whilst "on the job" and they consequently reported our progress in the newspapers.

Having had a brilliant time building the car and taking part in the Italian Job charity run when home the car needed some bodywork repairs to the rear where we got "rear ended" whilst on the run. This all done early 2008 Russ Swift invited us to join him on an Italian Job themed job he had on near his home town, we caught a ferry over and once again the magic little motor performed well. Our next little job was the wedding of a good friend of mine, we used the car to take the groom and best man to church, and as you can see he tried to escape in the car too. His new wife soon put a stop to that!

The next experience for MAN 146G was in October 2008 in taking part along with the two 500s in the film by Paramount of the book "The Making Of The Italian Job" by Matthew Fields. This was again done alongside Russ Swift who renewed his acquatance with the car and put her through her paces once again.

2008
The Making of, the making of, The Italian Job film.
Russ Swift once again showing his talents in MAN 146G!