Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS terkenal kerana menjadi pencipta kereta Mini yang menjadi ikon tahun 1960-an. He would instead research work on his Mini replacement the 9X with its compact transverse engine. 10 Things Everyone Forgot About Mini And Its Cars Alec issigonis hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy Sir Alec Issigonis was one of the automotive industry's great independent thinkers. The above photo is a publicity shot with the first produced Mini, at his retirement in 1972. I tell you the last time I was that close to a Japanese machine, it was shooting at me.. Discover what happened on this day. . From 1925-1928 he studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. 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. Learn more. . Sir Alec Constantine Issigonis, born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire on November 18, 1906, is famous for designing the beloved Mini Cooper motor car. This was partly because of the cost but also because in 1953 Ford bought Briggs UK operations and 1954 BMC bought Fisher & Ludlow. I remember being quite put off by the sound of the engine seemingly racing to maintain 45mph. Sir Alec Issigonis | Autopedia | Fandom The Automotive Hall of Fame. . In a front-wheel-drive car, with more understeer and/or a bit more resistance at the wheel, this effect might be enhanced ? The strengths of this sign are being resourceful, brave, passionate, a true friend, while weaknesses can be distrusting, jealous, secretive and violent. " Sir Alec Issigonis. Alec Issigonis Related Authors Vivienne Westwood Quotes Virgil Abloh Quotes Coco Chanel Quotes Carroll Shelby Quotes During 1956 Issigonis concentrated on the larger two cars, producing several prototypes for testing. This strong streak of fierce independence and lack of compromise hid his lateral approach to the design and engineering of cars. BMC had already developed, and asked outside consultants to develop, several concepts on various themes, none of which met the targets Lord had set, who was also determined to establish an internal capability to think, as we would now say, outside the box. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. It was also a specialist low volume producer of expensive, exclusive sports saloons cars not now associated with Issigonis and was at the same crossroads that so many smaller, upscale producers had been. Comprehensive article. I hope he knew that he changed the Automobile World for the better. Indeed gay sex was illegal in the UK until 1968 and for many years after prejudice was rife. Then of course there was severe corrosion in the face of road salt. Apparently Walter Chrysler could also be difficult to work with. Issigonis then went back to the British Motor Corporation, where the influence of many political factors led him to his major breakthrough. Fascinating piece and what a character! This car was remarkably light, weighing less than 600lb. Issigonis was a remarkable engineer and obviously made his mark. (The Maxi, by comparison, was a bland lump.). The end of the agreement came in 1986, when Issigonis wrote directly to Graham Day, BLs then new Chairman. Ive never been inside a Landcrab or a Maxi, but I understand that while they are very spacious, the ergonomics are pretty poor. Alec Issigonis was born in Smyrna (now Izmir) in Turkey on 18 November 1906 to a British-naturalized father of Greek origin and a Bavarian-born mother. Beyond the Maxi, launched on 1969, Issigonis had left little visible influence on the new cars coming from British Leyland, and indeed, the company made definite moves that would have been unthinkable to him, such as the bold, deliberately contemporary styling of the Austin-Morris 18-22 (Princess range) or the Allegro, or the conservative engineering of the Morris Marina. 41 Copy quote. Please check back soon for updates. Issigonis also insisted that no less than 80% of the cars volume be dedicated to passengers and luggage. 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. 18 November 1906 2 October 1988", Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, " Alec Issigonis | Automotive Hall of Fame", Alec Issigonis Automotive Designer (19061988), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alec_Issigonis&oldid=1135124708, This page was last edited on 22 January 2023, at 19:54. 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. By early 1957, prototypes were running, and by mid-1957 the project was given an official drawing office project number (ADO15) so that the thousands of drawings required for production could be produced. 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. 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. 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. Styled by Pininfarina, it was launched as the Morris 1100 in 1962, and a year later as the Austin 1100, and the clean, classical lines of the car served BMC well. Issigonis quickly arranged for Jack Daniels to move up from Cowley to Longbridge to rebuild their close rapport. He didnt give a damn about the poor sods who had to work on his cars. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. His name? His family had to flee Smyrne to es- cape the genocide of 1922 by the Turks. However, there was more to his life than just one car. Constantine was very proud of his British citizenship and Alec grew up in a traditional British type of household. The Boudjah - Smyrna born Alec Issigonis was an engineering genius and even after his death there is a fan base for his cars. The car was launched at the 1948 London Motor Show, alongside the Land Rover and Jaguar XK120, and the rest is pure CC history. Family Life His father died in 1922, at which point he and his mother moved to the U.K.. Associated With He and Frank Stephenson are both famous car designers. Brilliant cars! It was through his mother's kinships that Issigonis was a first cousin once removed to BMW and Volkswagen director Bernd Pischetsrieder.[5]. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. November 18, 1906 Car designer Alec Issigonis, the man who gave the world the Mini, was born in Turkey on this day to a Greek father and Bavarian mother. It did get Hydrolastic eventually, then lose it again. Sir Alec Issigonis - Person - National Portrait Gallery He [], DAILY EXPRESS By David Benson Harry Webster is a quiet, unassuming, generous man of 54. 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. 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. Even more significantly, it effectively defined the configuration of the small and medium car for the next 50 years. 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. Unique. Alec's grandfather Demosthenis migrated to Smyrna from the Greek island of Paros in the 1830s. Alec Issigonis Quotes - BrainyQuote Speaking of steering, one of the earlier reviews of the Mini contained the sentence, This is the first car Ive driven that caused me to laugh out loud just going around a corner ! Or words to that effect . For Alec Issigonis it was THE chance to prove himself. is bigger, and is just one of a family of related models. [14], He was granted the rank of Knight Bachelor in the 1969 Birthday Honours[15] and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 22 July of the same year. 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. I got to drive his Red mini when I went for fish and chips on a Friday. Alec Issigonis Net Worth 2023, Age, Height, Relationships, Married, Dating, Family, Wiki Biography . Again,Issigonis was able to get close to some of the most impressive cars of the era, and take ideas and influences home. Issigonis was knighted in 1968, 1955 Morris Minor: Britains Favorite Car Bar None, And Rightly So, Austin Seven (Mini): The Future Started Here. An image from the 1964 Racing Car Show in the aftermath of the Mini's first Monte Carlo Rally win. Red: Yeah, its mine. He was impossible to work with, had Henry Fords arrogance and nearly bankrupted the company like Ford, by refusing to listen to anyone. 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). Beatles' Minis: Cars belonging to McCartney, Harrison and Ringo are on Copyright 2023. You serve us all wonderfully. He and Frank Stephenson are both famous car designers. Issigonis was an engineer, first and foremost, but I have used the terms design/designer in this piece, in the way that was contemporaneous to Issigonis and as he would have understood it, although we would now use use engineering. Alec Issigonis. Ford clinging to the T too long was the same sort of corporate inertia that had VW clinging to the Bug too long. Sir Alec Issigonis. The Greek Designer of the Iconic British Mini Car - GreekReporter.com I do not know how many I have owned Morrises, Austins and MGs. There was a long drive way that ran along the school cafeteria that parents used to drop off students in the morning. He failed his degree course but gained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering, at the third attempt, in 1928. 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. Generation. On October 2, 1988, he passed . The 1100 and later 1300 outsold the Mini by a considerable margin and remained Britains best-selling car right through the 1960s. The typical American indifference to regular maintenance did not play well with this setup. The image his cars achieved for BMC was arguably a factor in the survival of the company in the market place, and BMC used his personality extensively in advertising whichyou can imagine Issigonis publicly hating but privately loving. Alec Issigonis - Career - LiquiSearch Heynes later became Technical Director at Jaguar and was a personal friend of Issigonis for many years. 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. German Engineer Who Designed And Built The First Practical Automobile And his father, a Greek by origin and British by nationality, had inherited a marine engine construction company, an activity that fascinated little Alec. the outer planets, Uranus and Neptune were not yet discovered, since the telescope had not yet been invented. The change was not handled well though, with credible accounts of a literally tearful Issigonis wandering around Longbridge trying to find a new office after returning from abroad to find Webster occupying his office. I dont have any great memories of the Mini to share, though you saw them everywhere. 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. Who are the richest people in the world? Alec Issigonis It is much easier to drive without having an accident. Sir Alec Constantine Issigonis: The Greek who designed the legendary Therefore some functionality is missing. For his accomplishments, Queen Elizabeth knighted Issigonis in 1969. ADO15, 16 & 17 (36792752942).jpg 1 712 1 936; 589 KB Richard Bremneris well-known for being a highly-respected motoring scribe, but in his formative years, he worked in the employ of Austin-Rover. But it was an exciting period, and youve captured his personality and lasting impact well. The greatest overall compatibility with Scorpio is Taurus and Cancer. Later, he was working on an independent suspension for the larger Humber Hawk, with another rising star in the industry, Bill Heynes. It was at Alvis that Issigonis first worked with another of the influential characters of his career. In the face of all this mayhem, Mrs. Issigonis decided to migrate with Alex to Britain, a land neither knew. 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. One tidbit I recall: when the Morris Minor design was almost finished the book showed the designer holding a brass model of the car it was decided to add a few inches of width at the centerline. During the war, Morris Motors undertook military work, notably the development of the Morris lightweight reconnaissance vehicle for the War Department. This led to a job at Austin, but in 1936, he moved to Morris at Cowley, where he worked on the Morris 10. He was born in 1906 in a city that is now known as Izmir, in Turkey which itself can trace its . Morris Minor 1000s , Dropheads, Travelers , Panel Van, and Pick up trucks. Manual transmissions seemed to hold up ok,lasting at least as long as the engine. I fist saw a Mini on my way to middle school in 1965. Issgoniss retirement, with George Turnbull, then Managing Director of Austin-Morris. 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. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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 was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. Issigonis would work on the 9X programme, which included a replacement Mini and a new and innovative gearless transmission system. 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. . Friendly was ideal for owner-buyers, a large part of the British car buying public, but never appealed to thrusting young execs and salesmen, which is why BLMC was so desperate for the Marina to crack the fleet market. He took advantage of other peoples suspension designs, Moultons rubber cones and the isolastic, as they freed up more space. The original plan called for a large family car by 1960, to be followed by a smaller car and then a city car. Happy birthday to the Mini - New Atlas Alec Issigonis - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays Issigonis usually won, even when entered in the 1100cc class if there was no 750cc category. with 8 letters was last seen on the March 01, 2023.We found 20 possible solutions for this clue. 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, United Kingdom, OX4 2HW. A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THE MINI FOUNDER. 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. [], 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. He continued to be responsible for his original XC projects. This prototype was never manufactured because its cost was beyond Alvis's resources. Issigonis showed little interest in things mechanical until he was well into his teens, not riding in a car until he was 14 years old, and was seemingly more interested in art, under the strong influence of his mother. Twitter; It was designed to follow on from the Mini and 1100 as the next generation . Suffice to say it was an ambitious project for a family of compact cars - the smaller of the pair shorter overall than . Your article sure did him justice; thank you, Roger. It had one option an AM radio, hung below the dash. We now call them Real Minis, to distinguish them from the post 2001 imitations. He didnt say by 1974 in regard to VW and Renault. 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. He was also referred to as the Greek God, perhaps more openly. [5]:277. How about an uncomfortable driver is a distracted driver? 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. Alec Issigonis - Wikipedie 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. Contact - Oxbotica On 15 October 2006 a rally was held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, England, to celebrate the centenary of Issigonis's birth. 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. Issigonis - Hero or Villain? | ViaRETRO Alec Issigonis was already known for his popular and respected Morris Minor. It is arguably doubtful that Lord, knowing Issigonis better, would have seen him as the ideal candidate for the overall technical leadership of BMC. Not something one would anticipate until it is experienced. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born in Smyrna, on November 18, 1906 and he is the man who designed one of the most beloved cars in the world, the legendary Mini Cooper! Alec is also well known as, British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic 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. [16], In 2003 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in the United States. This car was remarkably light, weighing 587lb, of which the engine contributed 252lb. Plenty of space and comfort in the back, as I recall, but my fathers Rover P6 was much more stylish. Issigonis customer in this case was Maurice Wilks, later the man behind the Land Rover. Diz lenda que ele considerava a rigidez . : Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis , CBE, FRS, RDI 19061118-1988102 . FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. Astrologers and astronomers could only work with planets visible to the eye. The original Minor design was so narrow they had to chop it lengthways and widen it. The Lightweight Special - TNF's Archive - The Autosport Forums Matchbox featured an MG 1100 in its 1-75 line-up for many years. File nella categoria "Alec Issigonis" Questa categoria contiene 5 file, indicati di seguito, su un totale di 5. On the surface it didnt appear very desirable to Me, or to prospective new-car buyers. The cars quickly found their way to the scrapheap since the cost of repairing the automatic transmission typically was more than the car was worth. The all-new Mini will be revealed today, on what would have been Mini creator Sir Alec Issigonis's 107th birthday. Alexander Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna (now Izmir) in Ottoman Turkey. You could, however, discern Issigoniss influence on some of BMCs light commercials, especially the underfloor engined JU and walk through EA vans of the late 1960s. Issigonis returned to BMC to design a range of family vehicles. The mini leaked like a sieve because of the way hed designed the sills and had to be redesigned.