Four million dollars through a traffic jam!

Roger says, "To reach its destination the convoy has to travel through one of the busiest traffic systems in Europe, a system controlled by television cameras and by the computer in this building, the Turin Traffic Control Centre."

I have seen and photographed "Traff-O-Matic" controllo del traffico (traffic control) boxes, made by Compagnia Generale Automazione, in the narrow streets of Turin, and maybe it was true that Turin had the most modern traffic control system in the whole of Europe at that time. It is a small cast metal box with a lockable door, and what appears to be a bell on top, which presumably rings! Can't imagine how that would work. This box is installed on the corner of a crossroads in my town of Novara, which is not far from Turin, and it seems to be the only one in the town. Maybe this junction was used as a test for the bigger, famous system subsequently installed in Turin? I suspect that the writer of The Italian Job read a report on this system and came up with an idea for the film. Anyway, here's a piece of hardware which surely has a place on this Blip!
The jumpsuits and helmets were also used by real Italian criminals in the 1960s, news reports state, and the smash and grab technique was also common. There's a famous example involving an OM Tigrotto flat bed truck as the "assault" vehicle. More about that another day.