I had a way cool surprise on Saturday, on my way to the L.A. Kings game at Staples Center in L.A. Transferring from the Red Line (subway) to the Blue Line (light rail) I came up the stairs from the 2nd level to 1st level underground, and was confronted with a line of 3 MCS's! They all had gear for holding cameras, etc. and some had doors completely off, backseats out, etc. Imagine my amazement!

I chatted up the guys who were working on them (2 mechanics and a supervisor) and found out that they were part of the remake of The Italian Job. (They were pretty surprised to talk to someone who had ever even heard of the film...) They were mechanics for Paramount Studios and couldn't say enough about how wonderful the cars are, safe and sturdy and fun... they've wrecked, so far, 12 out of the 32 they got from BMW (oh, the horror!) and are pretty impressed that it hasn't been more.

The MINIs that were there underground were modified to electric engines (so no exhaust fumes in the enclosed space) and they said they'd still gotten them up to 90 mph on the highway.

I really wish I could've stayed around and watched the filming later that night... but when I came back thru the station after the game (which the Kings won 6-5, hooray) that area was all blocked off and I just didn't have the guts to tell the security guard that Nacho, the mechanic, had told me to come back!

So anyway, it will be fun to see the underground scenes when the new flick comes out-- MINI's going down stairs, thru hallways, and around corners with the aplomb and excitement we all know they are capable of! REALLY wish I'd had a camera along a la Kensmini and the commercial in SF... guess I'll have to wait for the big screen!

Cheers,

Leslie

 

Rock ON! Any idea when it's supposed to hit theatres?

_________________
:smile:

 

everytime i watch that movie, i shed a tear, and think "one less mini in the world for me..."

 

Coohoohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

 

>>Rock ON! Any idea when it's supposed to hit theatres?

according to the Internet Movie database (imdb.com), the movie is slated for a release date of May 30th, 2003.

 

actually.... they aquired 30 MINI's for the production

 

Man, I'm jealous. But you should have used the Nacho pass. You might've been able to parlay it into more location visits. Oh, well. At least the MINI is coming out like a champ in the gags. Who's doing the driving? Anyone know? It would be neat if it was Remy Julienne's people.

BCNU,
Rob in dago

 

> actually.... they aquired 30 MINI's for the production


Fair enough... I got the idea that they might not be averse to exaggeration... first off they told me they'd gotten 40 MINI's.

It was interesting to see an S in plain white, btw. They are apparently keeping the red, white, blue color scheme of the 3 cars.

Cheers,

Leslie