A Lamborghini Miura drives through the Italian Alps, enters a tunnel, crashes and explodes. A bulldozer pulls the remains from the tunnel and dumps them down a steep alpine gorge. Some time later dapper mobster Charlie Croker (Caine) is released from prison. He soon meets with the widow (Goldoni) of his friend and fellow thief Roger Beckermann (Brazzi), victim of the Miura crash. She gives Croker her husband's plans for the robbery that attracted the attention of the Italian Mafia. The plans outline a way to rob the payroll of Turin-based automaker Fiat, and spirit it out of Italy.