Porsche Gold Rush: Special operation for Porsche on the streets of London

EXCLUSIVE: Porsche supercar convoy carries £10m of gold bars across London under police guard as bullion dealers open new Hatton Garden vault

Even though my £118,000 Porsche was faster than a Ferrari F40 – and capable of accelerating from rest to 62mph in just 3.6 seconds – police closed off roads, supplied squad car protection with their ‘blues and twos’, and there was even a helicopter keeping the whole event – dubbed ‘Operation Gold Rush’ – under surveillance. Just in case I and my co-driver took a right when I should have made a left. The Brinks-Mat security man in the back seat was an added disincentive.

Fittingly, given the operation was taking place 50 years after the filming of the classic crime caper movie ‘The Italian Job’ starring Sir Michael Caine, Benny Hill, Robert Powell and Sir Noel Coward – which hit the screen the following year in 1969 – each of the three Porsches was painted either red, white or blue: the same colours of the Union Flag used to adorn the MINIs used in the big screen outing. But this was ‘The London Job.’

Gold refiners Baird &Co, which operates the UK’s largest gold refinery from a 30,0000 square foot high-security premises at a discreet address in London’s Docklands, recently celebrated its own 50th anniversary after being founded in 1967. The company, which refines gold for clients around the world, completed what is currently the single biggest collection of gold bars in London after inviting Porsche to assist with the daunting job of transporting the shipment.

Police closed off roads, supplied squad car protection with their ‘blues and twos’, and there was even a helicopter keeping the whole event under surveillance

One of the Porsches is pictured crossing Tower Bridge as it makes its way from the Docklands to Hatton Garden in Holborn.

Excerpt from exclusive article published in The Daily Mail

EXCLUSIVE: Porsche supercar convoy carries £10m of gold bars across London under police guard as bullion dealers open new Hatton Garden vault

• Three Porsche Panamera hatchbacks drove with police outriders across the city
• They carried 24 gold bars which together could buy 84 of the Porsche cars
• The gold bars were delivered to a state-of-the art underground vault on Sunday 

By Ray Massey Motoring Editor For The Daily Mail

PUBLISHED: 02:47 AEDT, 22 January 2018 | UPDATED: 21:41 AEDT, 22 January 2018