Issigonis returned to BMC to design a range of family vehicles. Alec Issigonis, or more formally Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis CBE FRS RDI* (1906 1988), is best known as the creator of the Mini, but he also designed two other cars that have featured on CC and that are amongst the best-selling cars in British motoring history the Morris Minor and the Austin-Morris 1100 (ADO16). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. For his accomplishments, Queen Elizabeth knighted Issigonis in 1969. The closure of the Suez canal created . In August 1959 the car was launched as the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Seven, which soon became known as the Austin Mini. His father Constantine Issigonis was a successful shipbuilding engineer, whose own father was from Paros. The end of the agreement came in 1986, when Issigonis wrote directly to Graham Day, BLs then new Chairman. This car basically took the Mini concept and enlarged it by 20%, adding some experience, and ambition, at the same time. Ruling Planet: Alec Issigonis had a ruling planet of Pluto and has a ruling planet of Pluto. The key point to the genesis of the Minor is that Issigonis owned the whole design, including the exterior style, the interior,which had some of the starkness and simple functionality familiar from Issigoniss later designs. Despite its stated mission being to provide basic transport, this level of driving enjoyment, and capability, was like a non stop Christmas present. Issigonis spent his early years as an engineer with Morris Motors working on steering and suspension. It really showed up typical RWD cars of the time as being great space-wasters. We will continue to update information on Alec Issigoniss parents. His iconoclasm ensured that, despite the constraints of working in an industry where the size and complexity of the process meant that even the most forceful of designers was only one member of a large team, Issigonis cars bore his own stamp from the 1948 Morris Minor to the 1969 Maxi. At this time, he was working for Maurice Olley. Giving the Mini, ADO16 and ADO17 were all designed well before hatchbacks were popular, the beancounters no doubt would be up in arms at the thought of spending more money on tooling for an already old design. This strong streak of fierce independence and lack of compromise hid his lateral approach to the design and engineering of cars. The car, as developed in a prototype form, showed potential as well as technical ambition the cars unitary construction made it relatively light and strong, it offered 6 seats, had a rear mounted transaxle, including the clutch, inboard rear brakes, long wheelbase configuration so typical of Issigonis and a modern, sophisticated 3.5 litre V8 engine. [], By Clifford Webb British Leyland are selling the Mini at a loss despite the latest price increase and the fact that after 14 years it is still their top export [], Lord Stokes writes to Sir Alec Issigonis on this day. Day terminated the consultancy agreement, without any more consultation. [3] Whilst he is most famous for his creation of the Mini, he was most proud of his participation in the design of the Morris Minor. Get In Touch Call or Email. The Boudjah - Smyrna born Alec Issigonis was an engineering genius and even after his death there is a fan base for his cars. The cars design with its front wheel drive and independent suspension provided good road handling, but Issigonis had scant regard for passenger comfort. Getting a guy like Issigonis to design a V8 saloon and just chucking it in the bin. I was mesmerized and I saw my schoolmate being dropped off by his older brother who was on his way to high school. Generation. [3][6] His father died shortly after and Issigonis and his mother moved to the United Kingdom in 1923. SOL 258H is the oldest surviving gearless car and was the preferred transport of Sir Alex Issigonis. Noch ein Mini! He did not want more conventional answers, without at least exploring some technical advances. Not something one would anticipate until it is experienced. But this also reflects Issigoniss personal characteristics he was a strong minded, stubborn and arrogant man who did did not always have a lot of respect for others opinions and suggestions. Oxbotica Toronto Office. In many ways, this car was a clear, but simpler, derivative of the work Issigonis had been doing at Alvis, and Issigonis recruited some former colleagues from Alvis to BMC to develop V6 and V4 engines for the projected BMC cars, possibly using the aborted work at Alvis as a basis. Alecs father, Constantine Issigonis, who was born in Smyrna in 1872, studied in England, and subsequently returned to Smyrna, keeping the engineering business going through the First World War and maintaining his British citizenship. He was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. After briefly working elsewhere in the early 1950s, Issigonis returned to what had become the British Motor Corp., where in 1959, in response to the Suez energy crisis (1956) and the popularity of Germanys Volkswagen Beetle, he introduced the Mini. Sir Alec Issigonis celebrates one of the many milestones of the Mini dynasty. The Mini went on to become the best selling British car in history with a production run of 5.3million cars. The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "an alec issigonis family car launched in 1969 (6,4)", 10 letters crossword clue. Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. THE CREATOR OF AN ICONIC CAR: ALEC ISSIGONIS. FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. Striving to ensure that as much space as possible was allocated to the passengers, Issigonis used Moultons compact rubber suspension and had Dunlop build 10 inch wheels and tyres just for the Mini purely for reasons of space efficiency. Apparently Walter Chrysler could also be difficult to work with. Great write about a very clever guy, but he was wrong an uncomfortable driver is an irritable driver who fatigues rather more quickly, The Landcrab while being comfortable to ride in as a passenger is not so nice to drive nor are the smaller cars from BMC, there are many surviving ADO16s here and NZ is still the Morris Minor capital of the world they will never become rare here and for that matter neither will real Minis but 1800s and Maxis are quite thin on the ground already yet were popular new they werent very durable though, and the last Princess Ive seen is a rusty example outside the British car museum at Te Awanga, Personally having driven all his ideas the Morris Minor was his best one that saw production, I got my first car licence in a Morry Thou. After returning to England in 1922, he enrolled in engineering school, failing mathematics at every turn. Thanks for a wonderfully researched article! Issigonis who designed the Mini auto Crossword Clue The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "Issigonis who designed the Mini auto", 4 letters crossword clue. Issigonis went into the motor industry as an engineer and designer working for Humber and competed successfully in motor racing during the 1930s and 1940s. Given his disrupted education, unusual background and the tough economic times that were the late 1920s, finding a job was not easy, but in 1928, and by now a British citizen in his own right, Issigonis took his first job in the motor industry, for Edward Gillett in London, through a networking contact he had made at Battersea. Alec is also well known as, British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. You probably know the part about Alec Issigonis being born in the Greek city of Smyrna in 1906, being evacuated to Malta in 1922 following the Turkish invasion, and how he moved to London in 1923 to study engineering. That's exactly what he did. Its entirely believable that Issigonis would have been prosecuted if hed had gay sex. Young Alec grew up in a very affluent environment, with influences from Germany and Greece (he grew up speaking German and Greek), rather than Turkey and Britain. In 1969, in recognition of his engineering genius, Queen Elizabeth granted him Knighthood. In 1934 Issigonis was invited to join the drawing office at Humber Ltd in Coventry. A truly fascinating man he was. The third front wheel drive car from BMC was the 1964 ADO17 Austin 1800 (or Landcrab), a car which Issigonis has been quoted as identifying as the design he was most proud of, and then the Austin Maxi in 1969 with less successful results. It did not have everything Issigonis wanted, as he originally planned this car to have a V4 engine rather than the BMC A series. The XC (experimental car) code names assigned for the new cars were XC/9001, for a large comfortable car, XC/9002, for a medium-sized family car, and XC/9003, for a small town car. * Commander of the British Empire (1964), Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (1967), Royal Designer for Industry (1964). To get to this point wasnt easy. The AROnline development story tells the tale of how this small car changed the way we looked at economy cars almost overnight. So in here in the U.S. the ADO16 went down in obscurity, while its far less sophisticated but more reliable competition built by the Axis powers took over the small car market. He excelled in mechanical drawing, but failed his mathematics exams three times. It was a very ambitious intention, which Alvis were not capable of delivering on without importing a lot of engineering talent. He would instead research work on his Mini replacement the 9X with its compact transverse engine. The above photo is a publicity shot with the first produced Mini, at his retirement in 1972. Indeed gay sex was illegal in the UK until 1968 and for many years after prejudice was rife. The Morris Minor was an immediate success, selling over 11 million units, and was the first characterization of Issigoniss philosophy of maximizing interior space while shrinking all other components. Issigonis was a remarkable engineer and obviously made his mark. He still worked to his consultancy agreement but did so almost exclusively from home, briefing and debriefing nominated BL engineers each morning. The Minor was, of course, a huge success, for Nuffield and for Issigonis. This was to be an advanced saloon with all aluminium V-8 engine, and the original plan was for Alvis to produce 5,000 cars a year, or ten times Alviss current production rate, to compete with Riley (not then a badge engineered BMC product), Rover, Sunbeam-Talbot and Jaguar. The big steering wheels angle was a bit bus-like though. He despised such luxuries as radios and comfortable seats, once stating I would like people to sit on nails to be extremely uncomfortable all the time. and declaring that an uncomfortable driver is an alert driver. Designer Alec Issigonis was born in the southern Anatolian city of Smyrna in 1906. [], BMC changed the world with the launch of the Mini in 1959. XC/9001 became ADO17 and was launched, also with the Hydrolastic suspension system, as the Austin 1800 in October 1964.The same principle was carried over for his next production car the Austin Maxi, However, by then he had become more aware of the cost considerations of vehicle manufacture and in service warranty costs which were crippling BMC. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Updates? Morris Minor 1000s , Dropheads, Travelers , Panel Van, and Pick up trucks. However, there was more to his life than just one car. But there were other 20th century cataclysms that he lived and worked through as a designer - including the Suez crisis of 1956. Sir Alec Issigonis. 1925 . Im sure the Renault 4, 5, 6, and 16 had longitudinal engines. Having been a passenger in an early Austin Landcrab on several occasions I can confirm they are amazingly spacious inside, front and rear. I hope he knew that he changed the Automobile World for the better. John Sheppard spent 20 years working with [], Richard Aucock 40 years ago this month, Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of Britains best-selling motoring icons, retired The creator of the original Mini, the Morris Minor, the Austin Maxi and [], Motor magazine, August 1962 WHY IS THE ADO16? I appreciate the research the depth and the smooth writing style to present it all in a gripping way. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. At some point in the mid-60s they ran an After the New Wears Off feature by an MG 1100 owner in Los Angeles. The task: a car with lots of space inside with minimum dimensions outside, seats for four passengers, impeccable driving characteristics, superior fuel economy, and a very affordable price. All Rights Reserved. Road & Tracks test of the Austin America included the line, Superb four-speed fully automatic transmission makes more difference than youd believe possible. But they also noted that with just a few thousand miles on their test car, there was some issue (I forget what) with the trunk lock, and the outside of the engine was covered with oily black grime. The inability of these cars to withstand business case scrutiny crucial in the companys decline, and others must also stand up for that -Issigonis didnt claim to be a product planner in the sense Ford would recognise but saw all his cars as separate entities. The challenge of designing the Mini was engineering a car that would seat four passengers and their luggage in a package not to exceed ten feet in length. When he turned his attention to the ADO16, Issigonis continued his obsession with the maximisation of passenger space combined with the best possible road holding. That name was now engraved in my mind and as I got older I was drawn to LBCs (Little British Cars.) Moulton was a scion of the family behind the Avon tyres company and a respected suspension system engineer in his own right who had worked extensively on the concept of rubber as a suspension medium, before working on the hydrolastic and later still the hydragas systems. Alec Issigonis An expert is someone who tells you why you can't do something. It was as modern and progressive in 1948 as the ADO16 Morris 1100 was in 1962, and let down only by the relatively weak and old side valve engine. [4] His maternal ancestors originated in the Kingdom of Wrttemberg. (The Maxi, by comparison, was a bland lump.). Maybe it takes that sort of single-mindedness, bordering on obsession, to create something different, get it into production in spite of obstacles and naysayers, and make it a success. As a young man, Constantine was sent to England to study, and he later married Hulda Prokopp, the daughter of a wealthy German brewer in Smyrna. Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. This prototype never saw the light of day mores the pity. Great article there should be a movie about Issigonis! He was known for being a Entrepreneur. His motor industry career at Humber, and during his time there, he competed in motor racing notably designing his own lightweight version of a supercharged Ulster Austin Seven with his own front axle. Starting around 1930, he raced a supercharged "Ulster" Austin Seven, later fitting it with a front axle of his own design, leading to employment at Austin. The original Minor design was so narrow they had to chop it lengthways and widen it. When Morris and Austin merged to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952, Issigonis decided to leave the company. George Harriman, Leonard Lord and Alec Issogonis. By 1939, Issigonis had replaced his modified Austin Seven with a more radical car of his own design, constructed of plywood laminated in aluminium sheeting, in what we would now call a composite construction. ALEC ISSIGONIS Automotive Designer (1906-1988) One of the most original car designers of the modern era, ALEC ISSIGONIS (1906-1988) is best known as the creator of the Mini, but also designed two more of the five best-selling cars in British motoring history - the Morris Minor and the Austin 1100. . Well, he went down in history as the father of the Mini and was even raised to nobility for his services. I wouldnt say Day was offended but took it as evidence that Issigoniss time has passed and that the value Rover were getting from the consultancy was minimal, and it was effectively indulging Issigonis, something Turnbull and Donald Stokes could afford t0 do (and knew looked rational) in 1970. He didnt give a damn about the poor sods who had to work on his cars. Alec Issigonis. He attended Londons Battersea Polytechnic before entering the University of London External Programme. Issigonis did observe and try to improve on what he saw, but always challenged himself to be original and better. I thought I knew everything about Issigonis already, but there were some fascinating insights here. Sir Alec Issigonis ( 1906-1988 ) was an exceptional car designer who is best known for his development of the Mini.He was born in Smyrna ( Izmir ) in Turkey, the son of British-Greek parents. He often had to be discreetly talked through financial documents when he was in the board meetings. By October 1957, Issigonis had shown Lord a working prototype and the decision had been made to manufacture the car, using the existing BMC A series engine. He then moved on to Alvis, where he worked on the development of a luxury saloon, but the project had to be discontinued for cost reasons. . Alec Issigonis - Etsy Check out our alec issigonis selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Been a fan of Alec Issigonis since I was 8 years old. Alec Issigonis and Dr Alex Moulton, the creator of Hydrolastic and Hydragas suspension, with a Morris 1100, circa 1962. [12], In 1964 Issigonis was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI). Upon meeting Alec, she is shy and ashamed . In conjunction with Issigonis work, Lord contracted Pininfarina to lead the styling of BMCs new cars, starting with the conventionally engineered Austin A40 Farina in 1958. If (and I have no evidence and make no suggestions) a young Issigonis had been outed in, say, the early 1950s, his career progression would likely have been ended even, without any prosecution. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in 0 Cart Cyber Sales Event Jewelry & Accessories Clothing & Shoes Ford clinging to the T too long was the same sort of corporate inertia that had VW clinging to the Bug too long. Alec Issigonis was already known for his popular and respected Morris Minor. He showed that cars could be practical and pleasant to ride in and drive, and that size was not everything; he defined the template for the small petrol engined car for 50 years, maybe longer, and showed how modest cars could become wish list items, attracting customer such as Enzo Ferrari. In 1961, with the Mini gaining popularity, Issigonis was promoted to Technical Director of BMC. ), British automobile designer who created the best-selling, economical Mini and the perennially popular Morris Minor. Im sure this was never part of Issigoniss plan, as he was anti-style, but only the 1100 benefited from external help. His father was a successful shipbuilding engineer, whose own father was from the Greek island, Paros. To achieve this feat, Issigonis utilized a front wheel drive layout with a transverse-mounted engine, the first modern application of this concept. He [], DAILY EXPRESS By David Benson Harry Webster is a quiet, unassuming, generous man of 54. In 1952, just as the British Motor Corporation (BMC) was formed by the merger of Morris and Austin, he moved to Alvis Cars where he designed an advanced saloon with all-aluminium V-8 engine, and experimented with interconnected independent suspension systems. Lord (later Lord Lambury, above) had big ambitions for BMC and initially tasked Issigonis with developing the basis for a range of modern family cars to replace the existing collection of BMC products. The ease of driving it, attributable to Issigoniss careful and thoughtful suspension and steering design, as well as the comparatively low weight of the car, were factors in that as well as the comfort and space it provided. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second most influential car of the 20th century in 1999. I remember being quite put off by the sound of the engine seemingly racing to maintain 45mph. Unless it was at some very small, unique company; something like TVR comes to mind. Durante o curso ele foi reprovado trs vezes em matemtica. Manual transmissions seemed to hold up ok,lasting at least as long as the engine. He was a race car driver during the 30s and 40s. Issigonis first concepts were rear wheel drive, with a conventional drive train, fully independent suspension set on a long wheelbase with short overhangs and very rudimentary styling. I think you can see a narrower car in one of the pre-production photos, above. Many did not even make it through the warranty period without the transmission self-destructing. Sir Alec Issigonis was one of the automotive industrys great independent thinkers. A colleague of his had a VW Polo then and kept shaking his head: Well, yes, if there were no other compact cars in the world , Mr. Roger Carr, Thank you. His last Morris projects were the 1953 Morris Oxford and Isis saloons, launched after the BMC merger, and which used the BMC B series engine. Issigonis had no input to the Marina (other than it using substantial elements from the Morris Minor of course) or the Allegro, as BMC had passed a thin very development programme to Leyland in 1968, largely due to financial pressures. In 1936, Issigonis moved again, to the Morris Motor Company, as a project engineer on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10, where his experience at Rootes would start to bear fruit.
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