Frequently asked questions
Please contact us if you have a question that isn’t answered below.
The per person entry fee includes return cross channel travel for your team (when the IJ is based in Italy), all hotels from the start to the end of the official dates, all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), participation in our navigational event, final gala dinner, door logos, event marshals, service van and fundraising support.
Sadly, no. A team is normally two people. For safety, given the distances that we will be driving during The Italian Job each team really needs a driver and a co-driver. Additional passengers are of course welcome.
We ask that the driver is at least 21 years of age and the co-driver 19.
For Italy based events we usually start in Italy and stagger our finish line between UK and Italy for other events it will vary but it is clearly detailed in the promotional information.
Don’t worry. We have a supplemental service van route from Calais to our start line in Italy with many other participating teams, event marshals and service crew. For many this structured route down helps allay any concerns about driving in Europe.
You need to budget for fuel and toll fees throughout plus any hotels you use on your way to the start if you don’t follow the service van supplemental route. You’ll also need to budget for the bar in the hotels we use.
No. You just need to hold a full valid UK driving licence. Depending on Brexit, you might also need an International Driving Licence.
Yes. We think this is essential just in case your car has a terminal mechanical failure. With breakdown cover you’ll be able to carry on with the event while your car is repatriated.
Yes. We think this is a very good thing to have just in case something happens and you need medical care.
Pretty much. All we ask is that you leave the driver’s and front passenger’s doors free for our official door logos which will be supplied by us. The rest of the car can be stickered up with sponsors’ messages. A highly-stickered car typically means a lot of money has been raised.
Our teams are legendary when it comes to fundraising for The Italian Job’s chosen charity. Many put up an online fundraising page via www.JustGiving.com or similar and share it across their connections on social media channels for instance. Others organise events from barbecues to dinner dances and get their friends, families and colleagues involved. We will give you plenty of ideas for fundraising in your welcome pack.
We ask you to try to raise at least £1,500 per team (at least £500 for the shorter The Yorkshire Job 2020). This might sound like a lot, but after 30 years of doing this we know it is achievable. Our aim is that teams exceed this target, and keep going, for every penny raised makes a huge difference.
We provide a range of materials from sponsorship forms to an A to Z of fundraising ideas. We will also connect you with our chosen charity who will send you collection boxes and other fundraising materials. Please see our Jobbers Guide which contains lots of information and suggestions for your fundraising effors.
We can also shout out about your fundraising event via our social media channels and our brilliant monthly E-Newsletter Job News.
We’ll send you our regular updates in our brilliant Job News and also email you directly with any additional information. If you prefer, we can still post letters to you too. Sign up to our newsletter here.
We ask all participants to bring one or two items for our very enjoyable auction which we hold during The Italian Job. The profits from the auction go to our chosen charity. 50% of the winning bid is allocated to the fundraising total of the team that donated the item and 50% is allocated to the winning bidder’s fundraising total. To give you an idea of the sort of thing we auction; one year we auctioned John Cooper’s Italian Job cap which went for £1,500 and another year a mug with a picture of a mini on it went for £80! Items vary enormously and needn’t be Mini or Italian Job related.
We have two mechanics and a fully equipped service van which follows the event. The service van is full of spare parts and tools so if your car breaks down and is reparable, the service crew will fix it.
Any Mini (old or new) can take part as well as any classic car featured in the film. We’ve had every kind of Mini / MINI imaginable as well as Aston Martins, E-Types, Lamborghini Miura, Thames Van/Dormobile, a London Black Cab, Fiat Dino Coupe and LWB Land Rovers. The organisers also reserve the right to invite, at their sole discretion, any special car that may not be connected to the 1969 film.
These vary year on year. They could be famous cities, small villages, museums, car manufacturers or local food producers. We always try to add variety to the places we visit but one thing we always try and do is ensure that all our pit stops add colour and flavour to our tour. Clues to our route and pit stops are given in our monthly E-newsletters plus are clearly detailed in our road book.