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Aerial photograph of the long Lingotto factory roof with an oval test track and cars on it
The Lingotto roof and its test track from the air in 1966, three years before the Minis drove it. Archive of Fiat Historic Centre (Centro Storico Fiat) · Public domain

Turin · 1969Three Minis · one coach

The Italian Job

A city jammed solid, and three small cars escaping through everything that wasn’t a road. This roof, the stairs and the galleries are all still there.

Three Minis on the start line, engines off.

Dublin · London · before Turin

A cell, a park and a van.

A tall prison hall with three tiers of cell doors, iron walkways and a glass roof
The Victorian wing of Kilmainham Gaol, 2013. Velvet · CC BY-SA 3.0
Colour portrait of Noël Coward in a blue suit and purple tie, cigarette in hand
Noël Coward in 1972. Allan Warren · CC BY-SA 3.0

Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8

Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol is the inside of Mr Bridger’s prison. The outside is Wormwood Scrubs in west London. It opened in 1796 and closed as a prison in 1924. Leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were held and executed here. Volunteers began restoring it in 1958; it opened to the public in 1966 and is a museum run by the Office of Public Works. Entry is by pre-booked guided tour: adults €8, seniors €6, students €4, under-12s free with a ticket.

Guided tours only, about an hour; adults €8. Book on the museum’s own site: tickets from resellers are not valid.

Where we read it
Kilmainham Gaol Museum (OPW)

Kilmainham Gaol guided tour

Inchicore Road, Dublin 8 · Adults €8 · seniors €6 · students €4

The only way in: an hour’s guided tour of the prison that played Mr Bridger’s, then the museum. Book ahead on the official site; resold tickets are not valid.

Book a tour
A long glass-fronted 1960s sports building with a green band at ground level
The National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace Park, 2023. Doyle of London · CC BY-SA 4.0

Crystal Palace Park, south London

Crystal Palace Park circuit

The film used the circuit’s start line to test the Minis, and its paddock to blow up a van, with the Crystal Palace transmitter behind. The circuit raced from 1937 to 1939 and from 1953 to 1972. Its roads now mostly carry traffic to the National Sports Centre.

A free public park. The old circuit roads run past the National Sports Centre.

Where we read it

A van on the paddock. The brief is the back doors, nothing more.

Where we read it

  • Caine’s line about blowing only the doors off was voted favourite film one-liner in a 2003 poll. The door explosion was filmed at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre.

    Wikipedia: The Italian Job

Turin · Piazza Castello to the town hall

Gridlock, on purpose.

It started as an idea for a television play about a robbery in a traffic jam on Oxford Street. The film went to Turin instead, because the city had a computerised traffic control centre, one of the first in Europe. Take it over, and every junction stops.

Green all round. Traffic moving.

Black-and-white photograph of an arcaded town hall with a clock, small cars and tram rails in the square
Piazza Palazzo di Città and the town hall in 1973, four years after the film, with Fiats parked outside. Fortepan / Lencse Zoltán · CC BY-SA 3.0

Piazza Palazzo di Città, Quadrilatero Romano, Turin

Piazza Palazzo di Città

The gang ambushes the gold van in Piazza Palazzo di Città. It is draped in Italian flags for a national team match. The van is dragged inside the Municipio, the town hall, and the gold is taken off it there.

A public square in front of the town hall, a few minutes’ walk from Piazza Castello.

Where we read it

The control room you see in the film was not in Turin at all: it was Apex House in Hanworth, Middlesex, the head office of a television rental chain.

Where we read it

  • The story began as Ian Kennedy Martin’s idea for a television drama about a robbery in a traffic jam on Oxford Street. The Turin control centre scenes were filmed at Apex House in Hanworth, Middlesex, then head office of Thorn/DER.

    Wikipedia: The Italian Job

  • The production first planned Milan; permit problems for a big jam there sent it to Turin, chosen because it had a computerised traffic control centre, one of the first in Europe.

    Wikipedia (Italian): Un colpo all’italiana

A pale yellow villa among trees with terraced lawns and a balustrade below
Villa della Regina on the hill above the Po, 2020. Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

Strada Santa Margherita 79, Borgo Po, Turin

Villa della Regina

The gang makes its final preparations at Villa della Regina. The villa was begun in 1615 for Cardinal Maurice of Savoy and had its own vineyard. It passed to the state in 1994, is open as a museum, and has been on the UNESCO list of Savoy residences since 1997.

A state museum on the hill east of the Po. Opening days change with the season; check before you go.

Where we read it

Nine stops · the Minis’ run through Turin

Ride the profile.

With every road blocked, the Minis use everything else. Pick a stop and they run its real shape, side on. The order is the one Italy for Movies gives.

Down the palace stairs: Palazzo Madama. Built for feet, ridden by Minis: 1 of 8.

A pale baroque palace front with tall windows and statues along the roofline, on a wide square
Palazzo Madama on Piazza Castello, 2017. Federico Spadaro · CC BY-SA 4.0

Piazza Castello, Turin

Palazzo Madama

The Minis race down the stairs of Palazzo Madama. The traffic jam that covers the robbery starts by Palazzo Madama on Piazza Castello. The palace is now a museum, open 10am to 6pm every day except Tuesday.

A museum of ancient art. Open 10am to 6pm, closed on Tuesdays; the ticket office shuts an hour before closing. The square is free.

Where we read it

The drawings are our simplified elevations of each place, not survey plans. Via Roma is a street, so it does not count towards the tally.

Aosta Valley · Gran Paradiso

One road over the Alps, one going nowhere.

A green mountain lake below a road and a hospice building, with rocky peaks and blue sky
The Great St Bernard road at the top of the pass, August 2025. Olgierd Rudak · CC BY-SA 4.0

2,469 m

SS27 at San Leonardo, Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, Aosta Valley

The Great St Bernard road

The film opens with a Lamborghini Miura on the Great St Bernard Pass. The car crosses a viaduct at San Leonardo, in Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, before it crashes. The pass is 2,469 metres high, between Aosta and Martigny. The road over the top is open only from June to September; a tunnel has run beneath it since 1964.

A mountain road towards Switzerland. The top of the pass opens only in summer; stop only where it is safe.

Where we read it
A narrow road zigzagging up a bare mountainside under a cloudy sky
The road winding up towards the Colle del Nivolet, September 2021. Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dead end

SP50 from Ceresole Reale to the Colle del Nivolet, Gran Paradiso National Park

The Nivolet road

The final escape was shot on the road from Ceresole Reale past Lago Agnel to the Nivolet Pass. It is a dead end: it leads to neither France nor Switzerland. The coach ends up hanging over the edge on the Colle del Nivolet road. In summer the last stretch above Lago Serrù is limited to 350 vehicles a day, booked online. The road shuts for winter; in 2025 it closed on 15 October.

Closed in winter. In summer the top stretch above Lago Serrù must be booked online with the Gran Paradiso park.

Where we read it
A green alpine lake under steep rocky slopes
Lago Agnel, beside the Nivolet road, September 2021. Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

The road the film used for the escape leads to neither France nor Switzerland. It climbs into the Gran Paradiso and stops.

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Gran Paradiso National Park

Live marketplace results for days out to the Gran Paradiso National Park, where the Nivolet road ends. Check which valley each one visits; the road shuts in winter.

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Colle del Nivolet · the last shot

Keep very still.

The film ends here, with the coach rocking on the edge and no answer. The producer wanted a sequel. In 2008 the Royal Society of Chemistry asked for a real solution, and a man from Surrey won.

The coach hangs over the drop. The gold is at the back; the gang is at the front.

A toy, not physics: the steps are John Godwin’s; the tilt is ours.

Where we read it

  • The film ends on a cliffhanger that is never resolved. The producer, Michael Deeley, devised it to leave room for a sequel; Caine described an earlier plan in which Croker would run the engine until the fuel ran out.

    Wikipedia: The Italian Job

  • In 2008 the Royal Society of Chemistry ran a contest for a scientific solution taking under 30 minutes without a helicopter. John Godwin of Surrey won: remove the glass to shed weight, deflate the tyres, drain the fuel, unload the gold and hijack a passing vehicle.

    Wikipedia: The Italian Job

Plaza Cinema, London · 5 June 1969

Croker, Bridger and the cars.

Black-and-white photograph of Michael Caine in a dark suit and glasses, one hand raised as he talks
Michael Caine in Finland, 6 February 1967. Finnish Heritage Agency (via Finna) · CC BY 4.0

Michael CaineCharlie Croker

Colour portrait of Noël Coward in a blue suit and purple tie, cigarette in hand
Noël Coward in 1972, three years after his last film role as Mr Bridger. Allan Warren · CC BY-SA 3.0

Noël CowardMr Bridger · his last film

Benny Hill played Professor Simon Peach, the computer man. Quincy Jones wrote the score; Matt Monro sang the opening song, and the cast, Caine among them, sang the closing number.

The film opened at the Plaza in London on 5 June 1969. The BFI ranked it 36th of the hundred best British films in 1999.

  • 6new Minis supplied by BMC
  • 25more bought second-hand
  • 16genuine Coopers wrecked or left unroadworthy
  • 6replicas left in a Turin store
Aerial photograph of the long Lingotto factory roof with an oval test track and cars on it
The Lingotto roof from the air in 1966, three years before the film, with cars on the test track. Archive of Fiat Historic Centre (Centro Storico Fiat) · Public domain
Black-and-white photograph of a building with a huge curved sail-shaped concrete roof and a walkway in front
The Palazzo a Vela new for Italia ’61, photographed by Paolo Monti. Paolo Monti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Where we read it

  • Cast and roles; Coward’s last film before he retired from acting; the Plaza opening on 5 June 1969; Quincy Jones’s score with Matt Monro’s opening song and the cast’s closing number; the BFI ranking; the Mini numbers.

    Wikipedia: The Italian Job

Park up here.

Where it is now

15 places you can visit, from the Lingotto roof to Kilmainham Gaol. Every one is public; check opening days and the mountain roads before you go.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public square in front of the town hall, a few minutes’ walk from Piazza Castello.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A museum of ancient art. Open 10am to 6pm, closed on Tuesdays; the ticket office shuts an hour before closing. The square is free.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A covered arcade of shops and cafés. Walk through from Piazza Castello.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A huge open square by the Po. The arcades are public walkways lined with cafés.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A pedestrian square on Via Roma, with arcades on both long sides.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A covered arcade off Via Roma, open to walk through.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working church across the Po from Piazza Vittorio. Walk up the steps; keep quiet inside during services.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A riverside promenade under the embankment walls, busy with bars at night. Keep off the weir.

  1. Black-and-white photograph of an arcaded town hall with a clock, small cars and tram rails in the square
    Piazza Palazzo di Città and the town hall in 1973, four years after the film, with Fiats parked outside. Fortepan / Lencse Zoltán · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Piazza Palazzo di Città, Quadrilatero Romano, Turin

    Piazza Palazzo di Città

    The gang ambushes the gold van in Piazza Palazzo di Città. It is draped in Italian flags for a national team match.

    A public square in front of the town hall, a few minutes’ walk from Piazza Castello.

    Where we read it
  2. A pale baroque palace front with tall windows and statues along the roofline, on a wide square
    Palazzo Madama on Piazza Castello, 2017. Federico Spadaro · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Piazza Castello, Turin

    Palazzo Madama

    The Minis race down the stairs of Palazzo Madama.

    A museum of ancient art. Open 10am to 6pm, closed on Tuesdays; the ticket office shuts an hour before closing. The square is free.

    Where we read it
  3. A long shopping arcade with a glass vaulted roof, balconies and potted plants down the middle
    Galleria Subalpina, under its glass and iron roof, 2023. Jorge Franganillo · CC BY 2.0

    Between Piazza Castello and Piazza Carlo Alberto, Turin

    Galleria Subalpina

    The Minis’ run down the stairs ends in the Galleria Subalpina, a historic arcade of shops.

    A covered arcade of shops and cafés. Walk through from Piazza Castello.

    Where we read it
  4. A vast square edged by arcaded buildings, an orange tram crossing in front
    Piazza Vittorio Veneto and its arcades, with an orange tram, 2023. Jorge Franganillo · CC BY 2.0

    Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Turin

    The arcades of Piazza Vittorio Veneto

    The Minis drive through the arcades of Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

    A huge open square by the Po. The arcades are public walkways lined with cafés.

    Where we read it
  5. A grand square with twin baroque churches and an equestrian statue, people walking
    Piazza San Carlo, at the end of Via Roma, 2025. Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Piazza San Carlo, Turin

    Via Roma at Piazza San Carlo

    The Minis come out at the end of Via Roma, by Piazza San Carlo.

    A pedestrian square on Via Roma, with arcades on both long sides.

    Where we read it
  6. A tall arcade with a curved glass ceiling, polished floor and shop fronts
    Galleria San Federico, off Via Roma, 2020. Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Off Via Roma, Turin

    Galleria San Federico

    In the Galleria San Federico a motorcycle policeman comes off his bike.

    A covered arcade off Via Roma, open to walk through.

    Where we read it
  7. A domed neoclassical church with a columned portico above a broad flight of steps, seen across a bridge
    Gran Madre di Dio from the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele I, 2020. Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Piazza Gran Madre di Dio, Borgo Po, Turin

    Gran Madre di Dio

    The Minis drive down the church steps and race past a wedding.

    A working church across the Po from Piazza Vittorio. Walk up the steps; keep quiet inside during services.

    Where we read it
  8. A stone river embankment with arches at water level and lamplit buildings above, at dusk
    The Murazzi embankment on the Po at dusk, 2023. Jorge Franganillo · CC BY 2.0

    Murazzi del Po, Turin

    The Murazzi and the Po weir

    Near the Murazzi the Minis cross the weir on the Po, then leave the city through a sewage tunnel.

    A riverside promenade under the embankment walls, busy with bars at night. Keep off the weir.

    Where we read it

Stay

Sleep in the factory.

A hotel inside the Lingotto building, under the roof track.

NH Hotels

NH Torino Lingotto Congress

Via Nizza 262, Lingotto, Turin

A 240-room hotel inside the old Fiat factory at Lingotto, Via Nizza 262. The roof track from the film is upstairs, through the shopping centre.

Check rooms

Go there

Up on the roof, inside the gaol.

A private Lingotto tour, Kilmainham’s guided tour, and marketplace walks in Turin and the Gran Paradiso.

Turismo Torino · Somewhere

The Lingotto district: a private tour

Lingotto, Turin · From €90

A guided visit of Renzo Piano’s Lingotto, the national car museum MAUTO, the Pinacoteca Agnelli and the original rooftop test track and garden, ending with a glass of wine. Booking required.

See the tour
Kilmainham Gaol Museum (OPW)

Kilmainham Gaol guided tour

Inchicore Road, Dublin 8 · Adults €8 · seniors €6 · students €4

The only way in: an hour’s guided tour of the prison that played Mr Bridger’s, then the museum. Book ahead on the official site; resold tickets are not valid.

Book a tour
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Turin

Live marketplace results for walking tours of central Turin. None follows the Minis; most pass Piazza Castello, Via Roma and the arcades.

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Gran Paradiso National Park

Live marketplace results for days out to the Gran Paradiso National Park, where the Nivolet road ends. Check which valley each one visits; the road shuts in winter.

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What’s on

Nothing dated yet.

No screenings or rallies were announced for the coming months when we checked.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Take it home

The posters, the making of, the score.

Original posters from our store, two books and Quincy Jones’s score.

Printed Originals · Our poster store

The Italian Job (1969) — US one-sheet

An original 1969 US one-sheet, 27 × 40 inches, rolled after being folded. Very good condition.

In stock

View poster
Printed Originals · Our poster store

The Italian Job (1969) — US one-sheet, second copy

Another original 1969 US one-sheet, 27 × 41 inches, rolled after being folded. Very good condition.

In stock

View poster
Printed Originals · Our poster store

The Italian Job — 1999 UK quad

An original UK quad from the film’s 1999 re-release, 40 × 30 inches, rolled. Mint.

In stock

View poster
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

The Making of The Italian Job

Matthew Field · Batsford

Matthew Field’s history of how the film was made.

Find the book
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Blowing the Bloody Doors Off

Michael Caine · Hodder & Stoughton

Michael Caine’s own book of lessons from a life in films.

Find the book
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The Italian Job: original soundtrack

Quincy Jones · CD, MCA Records, 2000

Quincy Jones’s score for the film, on a 2000 UK CD from MCA.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The strongroom

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

15 of 15 places · 16 of 16 Moments

  • Piazza Palazzo di Città

    Piazza Palazzo di Città, Quadrilatero Romano, Turin

    • The ambush

      The gold van is ambushed in Piazza Palazzo di Città and dragged into the town hall.

  • Palazzo Madama

    Piazza Castello, Turin

    • The jam

      Turin seizes up, starting by Palazzo Madama on Piazza Castello.

    • Down the palace stairs

      The Minis race down the stairs of Palazzo Madama.

  • Galleria Subalpina

    Between Piazza Castello and Piazza Carlo Alberto, Turin

    • Through the gallery

      The stairs end in the Galleria Subalpina.

  • The arcades of Piazza Vittorio Veneto

    Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Turin

    • Under the arcades

      The Minis drive through the arcades of Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

  • Via Roma at Piazza San Carlo

    Piazza San Carlo, Turin

    • Out onto Via Roma

      The Minis come out at the end of Via Roma by Piazza San Carlo.

  • Galleria San Federico

    Off Via Roma, Turin

    • The policeman

      A motorcycle policeman comes off his bike in the Galleria San Federico.

  • Gran Madre di Dio

    Piazza Gran Madre di Dio, Borgo Po, Turin

    • The wedding

      The Minis drive down the Gran Madre steps past a wedding.

  • The Murazzi and the Po weir

    Murazzi del Po, Turin

    • Across the weir

      The Minis cross the Po weir by the Murazzi and drop into a sewage tunnel.

  • Villa della Regina

    Strada Santa Margherita 79, Borgo Po, Turin

    • The hideout

      The gang makes its final preparations at Villa della Regina.

  • The Palavela roof

    Via Ventimiglia 145, Italia ’61, Turin

    • Over the sail

      The Minis drive up onto the Palavela roof and over it.

  • The Lingotto roof track

    Via Nizza 230, Lingotto, Turin

    • The rooftop track

      The Minis run the test track on the Lingotto roof.

  • The Great St Bernard road

    SS27 at San Leonardo, Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, Aosta Valley

    • The Miura in the mountains

      A Lamborghini Miura crosses the Great St Bernard road at San Leonardo, then crashes.

  • The Nivolet road

    SP50 from Ceresole Reale to the Colle del Nivolet, Gran Paradiso National Park

    • On the edge

      The coach ends up hanging over the edge of the road, and the film stops there.

  • Kilmainham Gaol

    Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8

    • Mr Bridger’s prison

      Inside Mr Bridger’s prison, where he masterminds the heist and Croker says his farewells.

  • Crystal Palace Park circuit

    Crystal Palace Park, south London

    • Just the doors

      The gang tests the Minis on the track, and Croker’s team blows up a van in the paddock.

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