2004 Hollywood On Wheels Mini Cooper S Red #01 The Italian Job

Mini Cooper S Red-The first Mini to appear in the movie is a 1997 Mini Cooper Mk VII, driven by Charlize Theron.

The car is reminiscent of and thus a homage to one of the cars of the original The Italian Job.

Interestingly, it’s Charlize Theron’s character who drives the first new MINI in the movie too.

And it’s a great introduction, as she does a reverse 180° turn in a cramped warehouse. It immediately shows off

the MINI’s agility and handling, and the car’s action star status just grows as the movie goes on.

Among other things, the MINIs drive through a Los Angeles canal, descend a flight of stairs into the Metro,

navigate the narrow underground maze, get into a shootout with motorcycle riding baddies, and play chicken

with a helicopter under an actual freeway overpass. All in a day’s work.

While audiences only ever see three MINIs do the stunts Mini Cooper S Red, Mini Cooper Blue,

and Mini Cooper White, there were actually 32 vehicles used during production. There was also a

repair crew always on hand to fix injured MINIs ASAP, as the MINIs tended to get damaged doing the stunts.

Interestingly, most of the time any of them were seen on screen, they were actually being driven by

the actors themselves. Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham and Charlize Theron spent multiple weeks in

driving school so they could do most of their own stunts. According to the producers and the other actors,

the best driver among them was Charlize Theron, who was pretty happy with her abilities,

saying about that first reverse 180° turn, “That was the one I was most proud of, because I nailed it

every single time, and I didn’t kill anybody. So, I was very happy about that.”

A sentiment probably shared among everyone else who was on set that day. Mark Wahlberg’s experiences

were less victorious as he admitted that after the first 10 minutes of driving the “intensely-powered

Go-Kart” which was incredibly fun, he did throw up in it. He didn’t fare too well in the passenger seat either.

The filmmakers actually had to get rid of a scene where he was sitting next to Charlize Theron,

as he kept getting sick from all the sudden movements. Mini’s origins began in the late

1950s as a new type of car designed to combat the Suez fuel crisis.

The Classic Mini continues to be Britain’s best-selling car ever.

With over 5 million sold in the UK alone, the car remains a cultural icon around the world,

driven by everyone from The Beatles to British Royalty.

The Classic version was sold in the U.S from 1960-1967 and still enjoys a cult following to this day.

*This Blister Card contains the following Authentic Replicas: