His mother was Bavarian, the daughter of a brewer. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In 1957, Issigonis received the project that would make him famous. He was born on November 18, 1906 and his birthplace is Turkey. Look what happened to Alan Turing. By the mid 1950s, as Europe got back on its feet after the war, there had been many attempts to define the modern car, but none was proving to be dominantly successful. During the war, Morris Motors undertook military work, notably the development of the Morris lightweight reconnaissance vehicle for the War Department. O interesse pelo automvel veio aos 12 anos, quando ele viu um pela primeira vez. It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. All Rights Reserved. This prototype never saw the light of day mores the pity. 1959: The Mini Was Born. | MINI.com Oxbotica Toronto Office. He didnt give a damn about the poor sods who had to work on his cars. Sir Alec Issigonis. . The Austin/Morris Mini was Alec Issigonis, technical director of the British Motor Corporation and Charles Griffin, chief engineer, answer questions from our technical editor. His love/hate relationship with the companys products stayed with []. Category:Alec Issigonis - Wikimedia Commons Issigonis was excused service in the armed forces and remained at Cowley working on military vehicles of various types, including a very basic compact load carrier often described as a motorised wheelbarrow intended for use in jungle conditions together with an amphibious version designed for use by the Royal Navy. [1][2], Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. Stooping just under six feet in height, he looms large at any [], By GEOFFREY CHARLES, Motoring Correspondent A high-level reshuffle of BMC directors areas of responsibility was announced yesterday as part of a streamlining process before completion of the BMH-Leyland merger. (The Maxi, by comparison, was a bland lump.). BMC and Issigonis were awarded the Dewar Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) for the innovative design and production of the Mini. [], 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. He was a race car driver during the 30s and 40s. A flawed genius, yes, and BMCs failure to manage him is clear. You serve us all wonderfully. 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. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in 0 Cart Cyber Sales Event Jewelry & Accessories Clothing & Shoes Sir Alec Issigonis, in full Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, (born Nov. 18, 1906, Smyrna [now zmir], Tur.died Oct. 2, 1988, Birmingham, Eng. The Royal Navy Marines evacuated British Subjects, including the Issigonis family, from Smyrna before Turkey attacked. The gearbox sharing the sump oil worked ok, but the transmission absolutely pulverised the lubricating qualities out of the oil, and it really required changing every 3000 miles if you wanted the thing to last. I tell you the last time I was that close to a Japanese machine, it was shooting at me.. When Morris and Austin merged to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952, Issigonis decided to leave the company. He also took his lunch with the workers in the local pub and travelled to this in our Bedford crew bus with wooden bench seats. I dont have any great memories of the Mini to share, though you saw them everywhere. By 1969 Fiat had also followed with the 128, and by 1974 Peugeot, VW and Renault had transverse engine hatchbacks as well. In 1961, with the Mini gaining popularity, Issigonis was promoted to Technical Director of BMC. Alec Issigonis, the brilliant British designer of the Morris Minor and the Mini, is one of the commanding figures in the history of automobile design and engineering. He attended London's Battersea Polytechnic before entering the University of London External Programme. Subsequently my main triumph of design is a carbon block conveyor that fit into an oddly shaped spot while using less pieces of steel than its predecessor. Enter your username or email to reset your password. He was retired from British Leyland in 1971, memorably being given a Meccano kit for his leaving present. The lower picture is is an early (1958) Issigonis drawing of his vision for the Mini. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. ), British automobile designer who created the best-selling, economical Mini and the perennially popular Morris Minor. If so, that would seem vindictive on Days part. His stubbornness, I would say, had more in common with Ford starting production of the T, when everyone was telling him to make expensive cars because they were more profitable. Ultimately, Alvis had to cancel the project, after the first prototype had been built but before the company had committed to the expenditure of production tooling. Alvis had a strong military business building armoured cars and personnel carriers, and this part of the business is still going strong as part of BAE Systems. Plenty of space and comfort in the back, as I recall, but my fathers Rover P6 was much more stylish. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Sir Alec Issigonis - Motoring Weekly Sir Alec Issigonis. His grandfather Demosthenis Issigonis . People over the road from us had a Wolseley Six (top of the range Landcrab) when we were kids. His father, a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer, was of Greek origin but held a British passport. 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. 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. German Engineer Who Designed And Built The First Practical Automobile (Crossword ClueThe crossword clue German engineer who designed and built the first practical automobile. 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. Happy birthday to the Mini - New Atlas Alec Issigonis was a Scorpio and was born in the G.I. 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 - Wikipedie In 1942, the first scale model was produced and the following year work began on a hand-formed steel prototype. He also worked with Alvis Cars, one of the more obscure carmakers. Who are the richest people in the world? [citation needed] He considered it to be a vehicle that combined many of the luxuries and conveniences of a good motor car with a price suitable for the working classes in contrast to the Mini which was a spartan mode of conveyance with everything cut to the bone. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). Where was the gearbox to be fitted on a front wheel drive car? RM G4TJWM - Alec Issigonis, creator of the British Motor Corporation 'Mini' car range, drives the 1,000,000th Mini off the production line at the Austin Plant at Longbridge, Birmingham. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek city of Smyrna (now zmir) in the Ottoman Empire. Alec Issigonis : The Man Who Made the Mini - books.google.com Issigonis continued to work as Engineering Director at the Austin-Morris Division of BMC, and as Technical Director of BMC in 1965. BL were in thrall of the myth theyd created, but the buying public had much more sense. Lord Alfred Robens , Chairman of the National Coal Board, wearing cap and gown as he is installed as the new Chancellor of the University of . Im sure this was never part of Issigoniss plan, as he was anti-style, but only the 1100 benefited from external help. Vic Oak and Reginald Hanks, Morriss Managing Director did though, arranging a 50% salary increase for Issigonis in April 1948, to 1500 per year. Historiography: The Misapplication of Issigonis' Engineering Breakthrough Ive never been inside a Landcrab or a Maxi, but I understand that while they are very spacious, the ergonomics are pretty poor. However, there was more to his life than just one car. This generation experienced much of their youth during the Great Depression and rapid technological innovation such as the radio and the telephone. Issigonis was to use Moultons suspension ideas on all his future cars, with Moulton working in a consultancy capacity to BMC. Even more significantly, it effectively defined the configuration of the small and medium car for the next 50 years. He often had to be discreetly talked through financial documents when he was in the board meetings. Comprehensive article. Alec Issigonis - Career - LiquiSearch But it was an exciting period, and youve captured his personality and lasting impact well. . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Alexandros Arnold Constantine Issigonis, more commonly known as Alec Issigionis, was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor, on November 18, 1906. Back in 1980 a friends father of mine who was a MP sergeant owned a then new Mini Cooper 1275 cc. Noch ein Mini (A Mini! Sir Alex Arnold Constantine Issigonis (1906-1988) - Find a Grave 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. This was partly because of the cost but also because in 1953 Ford bought Briggs UK operations and 1954 BMC bought Fisher & Ludlow. [12], In 1964 Issigonis was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI). 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. Alec Issigonis. William Morris (Lord Nuffield) didnt like it, naming it the poached egg and expressed no appreciation of it to Issigonis, until 1951 when 100,000 cars had been built. At the age of 30 he worked for the Morris Engineering Department and celebrated his first success with the construction of the Morris Minor. 10 Things Everyone Forgot About Mini And Its Cars It interested me as I had the honour of working with sir Alec for around 3 months. He was flattered to be copied, though. No wonder Issigonis felt flattered I feel very, very proud that so many people have copied me.. Alec Issigonis The public don't know what they want; it's my job to tell them. Meanwhile from 1930, he raced a supercharged Ulster Austin Seven, and fitted it with an independent front suspension of his own design. Our tool for managing your permission to our use of cookies is temporarily offline. The Mini was launched in 1959, and became instantly popular. A family that . A British citizen born in Turkey in 1906, Issigonis did not see an automobile until he was 12 years old. 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. 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. ADO15, 16 & 17 (36792752942).jpg 1 712 1 936; 589 KB Alec Issigoniss birth sign is Scorpio and he had a ruling planet of Pluto. At this time, he was working for Maurice Olley. The childhood . The Greek Designer of the Iconic British Mini Car - GreekReporter.com All Rights Reserved. [13], He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1967. In March 1957 Lord asked (more likely told, as Lord did not do asking) Issigonis to come up with something to compete with them. His father Constantine Issigonis was a successful shipbuilding engineer, whose own father was from Paros. Style wise, the car has been identified as having a visual similarity to Lancia Aureliathe 1950-58 Lancia Aurelia saloon, with some Morris Oxford overtones and a traditional Alvis style grille added. In August 1959 the car was launched as the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Seven, which soon became known as the Austin Mini. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. Most events he entered were sprints and hillclimbs, but he also competed in some circuit races. 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. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Alec Issigonis. This was the man who persisted in pursuing a gearless car using only a torque converter, who rubbished CAD in favour of slide rules, who did most of his designs in rough and passed them to his acolytes to make real. Issigonis was knighted in 1968, 1955 Morris Minor: Britains Favorite Car Bar None, And Rightly So, Austin Seven (Mini): The Future Started Here. Ruling Planet: Alec Issigonis had a ruling planet of Pluto and has a ruling planet of Pluto. Issigoniss mother, Hulda Prokopp, was descended from a Bavarian brewing family who had settled in Smyrna, and established a brewery. Joseph Lowrey, [], The Mini hit its big landmark in 1969, a seismic year in the history of BMC>Rover. The first application of Sir Alec Issigonis' engineering breakthrough - All Photos by Randy Stern, except otherwise noted Remember Sir Alec Issigonis? Much ADO About Project 15: A History of the Classic Mini I am well acquainted with the brilliant/stubborn/arrogant type of engineer, I have occasionally served as a Daniels, and my own brilliant/stubborn/arrogant Grandfather could have probably used one too. Shunning all offers of silver service with the management. The Automotive Hall of Fame. Noch ein Mini! The 1100 benefited from someone elses external design. Alec Issigonis Related Authors Vivienne Westwood Quotes Virgil Abloh Quotes Coco Chanel Quotes Carroll Shelby Quotes The MG 1100 Sport Sedan a perfect choice when a two-seater MG is too small. That Alvis is one of those missed opportunities that ultimately doomed the company. Alec Issigoniss mothers name is unknown at this time and his fathers name is under review. Sir Alec Issigonis was one of the automotive industrys great independent thinkers. He inherited his great interest in technology and machines from his father who, shortly after the turn . 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. The all-new Mini will be revealed today, on what would have been Mini creator Sir Alec Issigonis's 107th birthday. It was still in production when BMW, led by Bernd Pischetsreider, bought Rover in 1994. But at the age of 50, he began designing one of the most iconic vehicles ever produced: the classic Mini. As British subjects - his father having naturalised whilst studying engineering in London in 1897 - Issigonis and his parents were evacuated to Malta by the Royal Navy in September 1922 ahead of the Great Fire of Smyrna and the Turkish capture of Smyrna at the end of the Greco-Turkish War. He managed to obtain his Diploma, but was not admitted to advanced studies. 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. 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. 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. Day terminated the consultancy agreement, without any more consultation. Demosthenis's son (Alec's father) Constantine Issigonis (Greek: ), was born, with British nationality, in Smyrna in 1872. info@oxbotica.com +44 (0)1865 433 998. That is how many of us know about these cars or about many 1960s British cars, in general. 2939 Words; 12 Pages; 6 Works Cited; Essay on The Pure Voice in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles This guilt convinces Tess that she must now travel to the D'Urbervilles' home and claim kin with them. On the surface it didnt appear very desirable to Me, or to prospective new-car buyers. It was a very ambitious intention, which Alvis were not capable of delivering on without importing a lot of engineering talent. He took advantage of other peoples suspension designs, Moultons rubber cones and the isolastic, as they freed up more space. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrnain Ottoman Turkey. 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. Encouraged by the success of the Morris Minor, Issigonis continued his design work at Morris (including work on a replacement for the Minor with a transverse 4 cylinderengine with an endon gearbox) until the merger with the Austin in 1952 to form BMC. 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. The boxy, inexpensive, fuel-efficient Mini used a transverse engine to power its front wheelsa radical design at the timeand thus could comfortably seat four passengers despite being only 10 feet (3 m) long. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS (November 18, 1906-October 2, 1988) was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1959. BMCs Great Leap Forward was a bold move, unfortunately marred by the inability to check Issigonis tendencies that often put the buyer last instead of first. The family is almost penniless. [7] This ground-breaking design, with its front wheel drive, transverse engine, sump gearbox, 10-inch wheels, and phenomenal space efficiency, was still being manufactured in 2000 and has been the inspiration for almost all small front-wheel drive cars produced since the early 1960s. 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. 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 last sighting was of a 71 America, in 81, and looking very well cared for. August 26, 2019. Did they aim to build in greater volume, to compete with emerging brands such as Jaguar, or did they retreat further upmarket or even entirely into other activities? Issigonis designed the most enduring small cars of the twentieth century, the Morris Minor (1948) and the Mini (1959) - a testament to his insistence that 'styled' cars dated quickly. But back in the day, young UK petrolheads had the time of our lives with Minis, modified in countless ways, rocketing around on twisty English roads, and in weekend motorsports. One thing that I learnt the hard way well not the hard way, the easy way when youre designing a new car for production, never, never copy the opposition, declared Issigonis, when asked to summarise his approach to car design. It was the highlight of my career and came early as I was just 18 years old and just an apprentice engineer for a tractor company. [11], Issigonis was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1964 Birthday Honours. Issigonis had the dream of becoming an automobile engineer at an early age. Towards the end of WW2, he began work on the Mosquito project, which ended up being launched in 1948 as the Morris Minor. Address 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, OX4 2HW. is bigger, and is just one of a family of related models. Red: Yeah, its mine. He was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. 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. . Issigonis legacy - Education This undated sketch by Issigonis shows some of this. as an American familiar only with U.S. cars. Building 9400 Oxford Business Park North Alec Issigonis Way Oxford OX4 2HN We will continue to update information on Alec Issigoniss parents. Oxford Study Courses Issigonis was a remarkable engineer and obviously made his mark. The car was launched at the 1948 London Motor Show, alongside the Land Rover and Jaguar XK120, and the rest is pure CC history. the outer planets, Uranus and Neptune were not yet discovered, since the telescope had not yet been invented. As a Morris Minor owner I appreciated it . 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. 1925 . Bedtime story - Alec Issigonis - Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles in there was a 1 hr "The Mini Man " -Sir Alec Issigonis 1906 - 1988 by great friend and car fanatic Peter Ustinov. He immigrated to Britain in 1922, studied engineering and in 1948 masterminded the Morris Minor, the first British car to sell more than a million. View gallery - 6 images. Sir Alec Issigonis hadn't even seen a car until he was 12 years old. Not sure how true it is, but I read somewhere that he even designed the ashtrays for the Minor. Alec Issigonis | Bartleby Yes, it ran like hell when operable as the owner treated it like an Army Jeep. On 15 October 2006 a rally was held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, England, to celebrate the centenary of Issigonis's birth. The 1100 and later 1300 outsold the Mini by a considerable margin and remained Britains best-selling car right through the 1960s.
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