This was the final film directed by Massimo Dallamano, who died on November 4, 1976, in a car accident at age 59, shortly after the film's release.

Unlike many famous poliziotteschi films shot in Rome, Milan or Naples, this movie was filmed mainly in Turin and in Piedmont locations, including the Palazzina di Stupinigi, with interiors shot at Cinestudi Dear in Rome.

The final chase sequence featuring a lobster-colored Fiat 127 racing on a dirt road and then on a car-transport train was actually recycled footage from a 1971 commercial for the same car, performed by stuntman Rémy Julienne. The car in the original footage lacks a license plate, unlike the one seen in the film, though it shares the same body color.

The same commercial footage of the Fiat 127 stunt had already been used in the 1973 film Un tipo con una faccia strana ti cerca per ucciderti and would be reused again in 1979 in I contrabbandieri di Santa Lucia.

The film grossed a total of 1,285,707,500 Italian lira during its theatrical release in Italy after opening on July 24, 1976.

The film's success led to an in-name-only sequel titled Ritornano quelli della calibro 38 (Return of the 38 Gang), directed by Giuseppe Vari in 1977, which despite the shared title has no plot connection to Dallamano's original film.

The cast included singer and future actress Grace Jones in the role of a club singer.

NoShame Films released a DVD edition of the film in 2006 that also included the Luciano Ercoli film La Bidonata.