Sort By: Better Essays. Morris Minor 1000s , Dropheads, Travelers , Panel Van, and Pick up trucks. A family that . Another Mini! 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. Mr. Front-Wheel Drive: Sir Alec Issigonis . The Mini quickly became cult and had enthusiastic fans worldwide. Issigonis legacy - Education The closure of the Suez canal created . Your article sure did him justice; thank you, Roger. Oak placed another engineer, Jack Daniels, alongside him to keep his feet on the ground. Probably 30 of these made over the past dozen years, not quite Mini production numbers.. Another excellent piece Roger, and thank you for bringing it to us. Dear Mr Day I have not met you but I feel I must write to explain a few points. Issigonis then went back to the British Motor Corporation, where the influence of many political factors led him to his major breakthrough. Humber was the upscale brand of the Rootes Group, but also the name of the main car building company in the Group. Alec Issigonis - Etsy Alec Issigonis was born in 1900s. Issigonis also insisted that no less than 80% of the cars volume be dedicated to passengers and luggage. All Rights Reserved. https://www.mini.com/ Learn more. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. There was no radio fitted as he thought it would distract the driver. Sir Alec was a combination of everything that was right AND wrong about the British car industry in his day. The loss of British sovereignty led not only to a political defeat but also to an oil crisis. He pressed the case, again, for the gearless 9X, complained about electronics in cars, designers using CAD systems and not slide rules, and changes in the model designations of the existing Mini. Well, he went down in history as the father of the Mini and was even raised to nobility for his services. 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. The Minor was, of course, a huge success, for Nuffield and for Issigonis. Issigonis (just in view at the far right) was not involved in the engineering of this car, but was able to start a long term friendship with Battista and Sergio Pininfarina,seenstanding next the car with Leonard Lord and George Harriman. He was a race car driver during the 30s and 40s. We now call them Real Minis, to distinguish them from the post 2001 imitations. The relationship got to the point where Issigonis had the ideas, did the sketches and Daniels did the formal drawings. Issgonis preferred to work by sketching his ideas onto Arclight pads, each numbered in sequence and retained, and then having Daniels, looking after chassis elements, or another close confidant John Sheppard, looking after the body shell itself, work to turn these in physical reality. Noch ein Mini! He still worked to his consultancy agreement but did so almost exclusively from home, briefing and debriefing nominated BL engineers each morning. Issigonis legacy. His father was a successful shipbuilding engineer, whose own father was from the Greek island, Paros. Moulton also designed folding, rubber suspended small-wheeled bicycles. Alec Issigonis. Towards the end of WW2, he began work on the Mosquito project, which ended up being launched in 1948 as the Morris Minor. Issigonis was dismissive of market research, The public dont know what they want; its my job to tell them and even mathematics, derided as the enemy of every truly creative man. In 1942, Morris gave Issigonis overall responsibility for an all-new model; the Morris Minor. Contact - Oxbotica Remembering Designer of the Mini Cooper, Alec Issigonis Gillett was developing a freewheel device for use on cars, partly as a refinement and fuel economy device, and partly to reduce the need for double declutching gearchanges in the pre-synchromesh era. I had a book about Issigonis, but its lost. Alec Issigonis, technical director of the British Motor Corporation and Charles Griffin, chief engineer, answer questions from our technical editor. Sir Alec Issigonis, in full Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, (born Nov. 18, 1906, Smyrna [now zmir], Tur.died Oct. 2, 1988, Birmingham, Eng. [3] His paternal grandfather, Demosthenis, had migrated to Smyrna from the Greek island of Paros in the 1830s and Constantine was a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer. Issigonis, Alec - Hellenism.Net But the story begins even further back, with a man named Demosthenis, Alec's grandfather, who emigrated from Greece to Asia-Minor in the 1830s and worked for the Smyrna-Aydn Railway. At the age of 30 he worked for the Morris Engineering Department and celebrated his first success with the construction of the Morris Minor. 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. Issigonis was a good packaging designer. 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. The Mini, and the other Issigonis BMC front wheel drive cars, benefited from Issigonis continuing collaboration with Alex Moulton and his suspension system developments. Morris 1100. FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. Issigonis would later state that pure mathematics (is) the enemy of every truly creative man. He began his engineering career at Morris Motors Ltd. in 1936 as a steering and suspension engineer. On the surface it didnt appear very desirable to Me, or to prospective new-car buyers. At some point in the mid-60s they ran an After the New Wears Off feature by an MG 1100 owner in Los Angeles. [13], He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1967. His mother was from Bavaria. His mother was Bavarian, the daughter of a brewer. Noch ein Mini! . Issigonis' creation was remarkable, but it really only became a Mini when he got a little help from his friend, motorsport pioneer John Cooper. 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. As a Morris Minor owner I appreciated it . Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS, RDI (Alec Issigonis) was born on 18 November 1906 in Smyrna in Greece (now Izmir, Turkey) and would become world-renowned for designing the Mini and Morris Minor for BMC. This led to a job at Austin, but in 1936, he moved to Morris at Cowley, where he worked on the Morris 10. I witnessed blowing head gaskets, torn manifold studs and much more and found out that taking the engine out first was the quickest access for any of these repairs! 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. Issigonis' first cousin once removed was Bernd Pischetsreider, responsible . The first front wheel drive car from BL after Issigoniss retirement was the Austin Allegro, still with the gearbox in the sump and without the obvious hatchback. At the end of 1955, Issigonis was recruited back into BMC, this time into the Austin plant at Longbridge, by its chairman Sir Leonard Lord, to design a new model family of three cars. The irony being, of all the cars built in the world that follow his layout, none carry an Austin or Morris badge. Im sure this was never part of Issigoniss plan, as he was anti-style, but only the 1100 benefited from external help. Ford clinging to the T too long was the same sort of corporate inertia that had VW clinging to the Bug too long. 1988: The Passing of an Automotive Legend - Transportation History More importantly, the end of the agreement also marked the end of goodwill payments from the Company that covered his nursing care, and he was forced to move from his home to a smaller flat. At the time of his retirement, 71, hatchbacks were not the thing they were 4 years later. Sir Alec Issigonis - Motoring Weekly Copyright 2011 - 2023 Curbside Classics. We will continue to update information on Alec Issigoniss parents. JUMP TO: Alec Issigoniss biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. All I know is, which car I would rather be in driving if there was any tricky situation [], DAILY MIRROR By Richard Sear No man looks less designed to start off the cult of the miniature. But his true interest was in the 9X and its power unit, and getting a version of it accepted by BL. I was amazed at the amount of space in that car you could even hide things in the cubbyhole under the rear seat. Whos the richest Entrepreneur in the world? It has since proved to be the template for the small car for nearly 60 years it has still not been bettered and was followed as early as 1963 by the Autobianchi Primula, which had the first end on gearbox on its transverse engine, by the 1965 Peugeot 204 with a configuration closer to the ADO16 but larger, and 1967 by the Simca 1100, the first to combine an end on gearbox and a hatchback. Vic Oak and Reginald Hanks, Morriss Managing Director did though, arranging a 50% salary increase for Issigonis in April 1948, to 1500 per year. There was a long drive way that ran along the school cafeteria that parents used to drop off students in the morning. It was still in production when BMW, led by Bernd Pischetsreider, bought Rover in 1994. What a great, nicely balanced piece about the ever-controversial Sir Alec, and his equally controversial designs. Your email address will not be published. Astrologers and astronomers could only work with planets visible to the eye. I dont remember Dad as being what youd call a sporting driver, but he never considered the later Austin-based Oxfords. After these cars, and the formation of British Leyland in 1968, Issigonis was sidelined by a new influx of engineers led by Triumphs Harry Webster. Decades later, despite enormous further developments, the vehicle has lost none of its initial charm. Issigonis customer in this case was Maurice Wilks, later the man behind the Land Rover. 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. In November 1971, Issigonis officially retired from BLMC, with a major ceremony at Longbridge, for which BL marshalled an example of every car for which he had led the design, of which only the Minor was no longer in production. He was able to share his engineering and automotive interests, through frequent tours of Longbridge in the 1960s, with a first cousin once removed on his mothers side of his family, who later completed a mechanical engineering degree and followed a career in the motor industry. 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. If it was front engined, was it to be rear wheel or front wheel drive? Alec is . It was designed to follow on from the Mini and 1100 as the next generation . By the time the chassis had been completed, Issigonis had somehow got hold of an Austin supplied works specification supercharged side-valve engine as well. Issigonis also devised a compact suspension system made of rubber cones instead of springs to keep the wheel wells from intruding into the passenger compartment. Another thing Sir Alec did not think was important perhaps? Thanks for a wonderfully researched article! Issigonis's own automotive career as a designer and engineer in England first took shape during the early 1930s when he began working for the vehicle manufacturer . His father died in 1922, at which point he and his mother moved to the U.K.. The Landcrab and Maxi were so butt ugly that no self respecting petrolhead would be seen it one. Sketch by the late Sir Alec Issigonis, of the original Morris Minor, circa 1946. A very enjoyable read on a man whose name I knew in conjunction with so many brilliant designs, but who I previously knew little about. From then onwards, any car in the small or medium market without a transverse engine was considered unusual, and conservative. He persisted in this into the 1980s, competing in vain against the Austin Metro, an improved version of the BMC A series engine and seemingly oblivious to the Companys financial state. The suspension was also of advanced design, with trailing arm front suspension attached to a steel cross-member, and swing axle rear, all with rubber springs made of catapult elastic. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). 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. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. That Alvis is one of those missed opportunities that ultimately doomed the company. 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). I was eight when my dad bought one of those brand new cars at a reduced price from the NYC dealer $850 for an Austin 850 ($6,800 in 2016 money) There he witnessed the awe inspiring (and Nazi funded) Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cars, as well as the Alfa Romeo P3 of Nuvolari, which won the race, much to the Nazis discomfort. He was flattered to be copied, though. History of MINI - Story, Heritage & Origins | MINI USA [4] The MG 1100 Sport Sedan a perfect choice when a two-seater MG is too small. Getting a guy like Issigonis to design a V8 saloon and just chucking it in the bin. Sir Alecs design which we built won the design centre award. And Alec Issigonis? However, as we all know, it was no profit-maker for BMC and, during its hyper-successful first decade on the market, its maker cruelly and criminally failed to develop the concept into something that the customers truly wanted a hatchback. It was a very ambitious intention, which Alvis were not capable of delivering on without importing a lot of engineering talent. Bedtime story - Alec Issigonis - Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles MINI Revolutionary with the Drawing Pad - myAutoWorld.com Once more details are available, we will update this section. Fascinating piece and what a character! Back in 1980 a friends father of mine who was a MP sergeant owned a then new Mini Cooper 1275 cc. Sir Alec Issigonis. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Issigonis name will always be associated with the Morris Minor, built for over 20 years, and with the Mini, a car he designed very quickly in the late 1950s and which was built for over 40 years, throughout the tumultuous history of BMC and BLMC, ending only after the BMW led break up of the Rover Group in 2000. Alec Issigonis is a famous Entrepreneur. Sir Alec Constantine Issigonis: The Greek who designed the legendary He was born on November 18, 1906 and his birthplace is Turkey. The Mini remains one of the most important motoring icons of the 1960s, so it's only natural that the band would want a piece of the action as Beatles mania took hold. The mini leaked like a sieve because of the way hed designed the sills and had to be redesigned. 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. In August 1971, Issigonis drove the 2 millionth ADO16 off the line, as the same time as a Mini Clubman, which was the 5 millionth front wheel drive BMC car, came off the line in the next building. THE CREATOR OF AN ICONIC CAR: ALEC ISSIGONIS. He was a race car driver during the 30's and 40's. The problem was that I would never have initially chosen to drive one. I saw that same car several times, so, at least in nice weather, it apparently was a daily driver. I dont have any great memories of the Mini to share, though you saw them everywhere. This was partly because of the cost but also because in 1953 Ford bought Briggs UK operations and 1954 BMC bought Fisher & Ludlow. Happy birthday to the Mini! In 1934 Issigonis was invited to join the drawing office at Humber Ltd in Coventry. Comments about the bus-like steering wheel angle remind me of what I learned about that subject from my Italian cars (Fiats): the relatively horizontal wheel requires/enables the driver to push forward, rather than up, to make a turn a difference that makes better use of the arm, translating to easier and less tiring driving. Addresses | OxfordBiomedica Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. He was popular for being a Entrepreneur. Alec Issigonis's mother was German, and it was on her side of the family that he was a first cousin once removed to automobile engineer and executive manager Bernd Pischetsrieder. Sir Alec Issigonis hadn't even seen a car until he was 12 years old. This is the main reason Lord re-hired Issigonis. The first car I could identify was apparently a Mini and my mother still tells the story of an early trip to England where I wouldnt be quiet Ein Mini! 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. Autokonstrukteur, GBPortrt mit Zigarette- 1959. In 1961, he became Technical and oversaw the launch of the 1100, 1800 and Maxi all hugely advanced machines, with front-wheel drive, in-sump gearboxes, and interconnected suspension. This prototype was never manufactured because its cost was beyond Alvis's resources. 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. Alternate titles: Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis. Issigonis 'response was dry and forceful:'I'm an engineer. Below are all possible answers to this clue ordered by its rank. Sounds like his stubbornness had a lot in common with Henry Ford and his reluctance to move on from the Model T. Imagine trying to take him seriously when he declared an uncomfortable driver is an alert driver. When Morris and Austin merged to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952, Issigonis decided to leave the company. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek city of Smyrna (now zmir) in the Ottoman Empire. Enter the length or pattern for better results. . His name will always be associated with the Morris Minor and the Mini, but he was a complex man with a complex background, family, story and career. Alec Issigonis. This car basically took the Mini concept and enlarged it by 20%, adding some experience, and ambition, at the same time. 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. The AROnline development story tells the tale of how this small car changed the way we looked at economy cars almost overnight. The first application of Sir Alec Issigonis' engineering breakthrough - All Photos by Randy Stern, except otherwise noted Remember Sir Alec Issigonis? Probably the closest British comparison is the Jaguar Mk 1 which came out in 1955 and was produced at a rate of around 10-15,000 for thirteen years. Therefore, when Alec's father, Constantine Issigonis, was born in Smyrna in 1872, he was also a British national. Morriss chief engineer, A V (Vic) Oak, recognised that Issigoniss greatest asset was his imagination but also noted that it needed to be guided firmly but carefully to bring out the best of it. Birth Name: Alec Issigonis Occupation: Entrepreneur Place Of Birth: Turkey Date Of Birth: November 18, 1906 Date Of Death: October 2, 1988 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: Unknown Nationality: Greek Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. Alec Issigoniss mothers name is unknown at this time and his fathers name is under review. Essay on The Pure Voice in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. 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. That name was now engraved in my mind and as I got older I was drawn to LBCs (Little British Cars.) Another Mini!). Comprehensive article. He was born in 1906 in a city that is now known as Izmir, in Turkey which itself can trace its . Issigonis made a grandfather clock from it, which kept good time. Oxford Study Courses This car was remarkably light, weighing less than 600lb. I remember being quite put off by the sound of the engine seemingly racing to maintain 45mph. He died in October 1988, aged 82. Production only finished after BMW had bailed out of Rover in 2000. As a person whos worked as a CAD drafter for 24 years, I wonder what his objection to CAD was. For his accomplishments, Queen Elizabeth knighted Issigonis in 1969. Alec Issigonis - Etsy Check out our alec issigonis selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. The original plan called for a large family car by 1960, to be followed by a smaller car and then a city car. Issigoniss legacy is undoubtedly best seen through his cars, from the Minor to the Maxi, which challenged conventions through engineering ingenuity. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in 0 Cart Cyber Sales Event Jewelry & Accessories Clothing & Shoes Alec Issigonis - Wikipedia Alec Issigonis Facts for Kids - Kiddle And the 1800 the rear seat really seemed limousine-like for the size of the car. During the war, Morris Motors undertook military work, notably the development of the Morris lightweight reconnaissance vehicle for the War Department. Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. Lords instruction was the one Issigonis had been waiting for, and he quickly developed the first Mini prototype. This greatly modified machine was replaced with a radical special completed in 1939, constructed of plywood laminated in aluminium sheeting. Rover used the freewheel extensively, on cars and Land Rovers, into the 1960s. [], 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. Alec Issigonis Net Worth 2023, Age, Height, Relationships, Married, Dating, Family, Wiki Biography . Sir Alec Issigonis is best remembered for the Austin Mini - a car that revolutionised the small car package and probably saved the British Motor Corporation at the same time. Issigonis had the dream of becoming an automobile engineer at an early age. 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. Demosthenis acquired British nationality through the work he did for the British-built Smyrna-Aydin Railway. Nkter data mohou pochzet z datov poloky. 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. ), British automobile designer who created the best-selling, economical Mini and the perennially popular Morris Minor. Corrections? By the time the chassis had been completed (hard labourit was all done by hand, no power tools), Issigonis had moved to Morris Motors Limited, but Austin supplied a "works" specification supercharged side-valve engine. Was it to be front or rear engined? Dr.Ing. But it was an exciting period, and youve captured his personality and lasting impact well. I appreciate the research the depth and the smooth writing style to present it all in a gripping way. Biography: Sir Alec Issigonis - Curbside Classic Issigonis and Dowson then travelled into Austria to the mountain climb competition at the then new Grossglockner Hochalpen Pass. Issigonis grandfather, Demosthenis Issigonis, had emigrated from Paros in Greece to Smyrna (as Izmir was then known) in the mid 19th century where his engineering company helped the British built the Smyrna-Aydn Railway, and through this acquired British citizenship. Alec Issigonis was a Scorpio and was born in the G.I. Issigonis with XC/9001, the car that became the Landcrab. Bookmark this page and come back often for updates. In 1956, the focus was shifted towards a new economy car and from here, the Mini was born in 1959. On 15 October 2006 a rally was held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, England, to celebrate the centenary of Issigonis's birth. Youre right about maintenance. He took advantage of other peoples suspension designs, Moultons rubber cones and the isolastic, as they freed up more space. He worked on various projects for Morris through the war and towards its end started work on an advanced post war car codenamed Mosquito that became the Morris Minor, which was produced from 1948 until 1971. Its entirely believable that Issigonis would have been prosecuted if hed had gay sex. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us. I wanted to know the genesis. By 1969 Fiat had also followed with the 128, and by 1974 Peugeot, VW and Renault had transverse engine hatchbacks as well. Address 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, OX4 2HW. British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. Great summary of a giant of industrial design. It had one option an AM radio, hung below the dash. Nearly $1900 was pretty stiff pricing for a car that size in the mid 60s, $150 more than a Bug. 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. info@oxbotica.com +44 (0)1865 433 998. Constantine studied in England. He excelled in mechanical drawing, but failed his mathematics exams three times. Issigonis, The Mini Mastermind - On This Day Due to time pressures, the interconnected suspension system that Issigonis had planned for the car was replaced by an equally novel, but cruder, rubber cone system designed by Alex Moulton. Born in Turkey, Issigonis come to England as a teenager. A truly great man and an honour for me. But there were other 20th century cataclysms that he lived and worked through as a designer - including the Suez crisis of 1956. The [], CARS AND DRIVERS by GEOFFREY CHARLES Whatever the outcome of the BMH-Leyland merger in model rationalization, intensified marketing or expansion-and any joint project will not appear for at least 3 [], MOTOR WHY IS THE ADO16? He was appointed to this post by Lords successor, Sir George Harriman, who was even more in awe of him than Lord was, but also was even more unable to control and guide Issigonis.

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