I rushed to my local media shop and luckily, they had it in stock, so in the next scene I’m watching “The Italian Job” at home with a bucket of popcorn.

The Porters (Julie and Phillip), founders of the Club, had already put together a good briefing, and they were already in touch with Mathew Field, The world’s leading authority on The Italian Job. Mathew had just finished the book “The Self Preservation Society, 50 years of The Italian Job” (Porter Press) and was an endless source of information when we were designing the tour.

Philip Porter came to the tour driving his red E-Type with plate 848 CRY, one of the original cars that appear in the movie, which he keeps in an immaculate condition.

Most of the movie was filmed in Turin, which was of course our destination, but there were also scenes shoot at the Italian Alps, mainly at the beautiful Aosta Valley, so that was an obvious stage for the tour.

We selected a 4-stage drive to Turin, so the driving wouldn’t be to tiring for participants, and scheduled visits included the Vranken-Pommery Champagne cellars in Reims, the UNESCO protected saltworks of Arc-et-Senans and driving the beautiful Col de la Madeleine.

It was once in Turin that the real Italian Job content of the tour started. David Salamone, the stunt driver and actor driving the red Mini in the movie was there with us, and together with Mathew Field they hosted a guided tour of the most iconic filming locations. That was when the three minis made their appearance: wherever we stopped at a film location for an explanation of that particular spot, the red, blue and white minis where parked there to the joy of participants. Having David Salamone driving the Mini on the Factory Roof 50 years after he had done it for the first time was something to be remembered.

Our hotel in Turin was at the Lingotto building, the former Fiat factory, which was also one of the main filming locations of the Italian Job. The property granted our group a very special permission to drive the E-Types and Minis on the track where every Fiat coming out of the factory was tested at the building’s rooftop, which starred in the main chasing scene of the movie.

The visit to Turin finished with a great dinner held at the Turin Motor Museum, where an auction of original photographs taken during the shooting of the film took place during dinner. All the lots sold, and the proceeds went to the Turin Children Hospital.

The most iconic part of the tour was done, but the best driving was yet to come, with the amazing mountain roads of the Italian and French Alps ahead. The highlights included the St. Bernard Pass, scene of the film’s opening credits and where the Lamborghini Miura was blown up in a tunnel. The E-types and the Aston Martin DB4 driven by Michael Caine also met their fate here, unlike our participants, as everyone arrived safely to the last night at a French Chateau for a well-deserved farewell dinner.

Diego Sainz de la Maza