FAQ

In 2008, a contest was held to find a solution, and the winning entry was: Break and remove two large side windows just aft of the pivot point and let the glass fall outside to lose its weight. Break two windows over the two front axles; keep the broken glass on board to keep its weight for balance. Let a man out on a rope through the front broken windows (not to rest his weight on the ground) and he deflates all the bus's front tyres, to reduce the bus's rocking movement about its pivot point. Drain the fuel tank, which was aft of the pivot point; that changes the balance enough to let a man get out and gather heavy rocks to load the front of the bus. Unload the bus. Wait until a suitable vehicle passes on the road, and hijack it and carry the gold away in it.

It has been pointed out that the petrol tank of that model of bus is at the back, so allowing the engine to run in neutral will burn the petrol off, reducing the weight on the back part and rebalancing the bus back on the road.

The ending is actually (or seems to be) a moral dilemma in physical form and not just a setup for a sequel: They would have to back up and and then quickly jump out of the bus to save their lives, and lose the gold. Basically, it's their lives or their loot. And their freedom since they'd be on the road with no way to get anywhere. This goes back to what formed all crime movies, Film Noir. And provides a kind of "monkey grip" for the criminals which, in this case with no sequel, goes on for eternity.

Yes, but it was not made, mainly because the film flopped in the United States. According to a "Making Of" documentary, in the sequel, helicopters would save the bus seen on the cliff at the end of the first film. The grateful gang would soon discover that it is the Mafia that has saved them, and the sequel would have been about stealing the gold bullion back from them. In interviews in 2003 and 2008, Michael Caine revealed that the ending would have had Croker "crawl up, switch on the engine and stay there for four hours until all the petrol runs out... The van bounces back up so we can all get out, but then the gold goes over." The bus containing the gold would crash at the bottom of the hill where the Mafia would pick it up. The sequel would then have Croker and his men trying to get it back. A novel showing a possible sequel has just been published which starts with a bus balanced on the edge of a cliff. Don't Fear The Reaper is written by Garry Kay and is available online from Lulu.com.

An alternative source gives a sequel involving the British's eternal enemy - The French. The gold falls down the mountain and is recovered by French gangsters. Instead of mini coopers, there would be battles between Croker's team and the French involving hovercrafts (Britain's other great cool vehicle of the 60s)