The big steering wheels angle was a bit bus-like though. It was designed to follow on from the Mini and 1100 as the next generation . https://www.mini.com/ Alec Issigonis was a Greek-British automobile engineer and designer, best known for designing the Mini, a compact car that became a cultural icon in Britain and other countries. Suffice to say it was an ambitious project for a family of compact cars - the smaller of the pair shorter overall than . 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. A deeply flawed genius at best. The Minor, Mini, ADO16 and Landcrab all had character, and were all friendly cars. Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS, RDI (18 November 1906 - 2 October 1988) was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential . 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. I saw one, in 79 or 80, sold here as the MG Sports Sedan. During the Second World War, Britain was in control of the Suez Canal, which served as an important source of oil, but this changed during the so called Suez crisis in 1956. Issigonis planned two versions, known as the TA/350 with a 3.5 litre V8 and TA/175 with a 1750cc, V4 engine. 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. Issigonis never had any input into MG sports cars or the large, rear drive saloons BMC were still building the late 1960s, and the Austin 3 Litre, based on Issigoniss Austin 1800 was driven by George Harriman. 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. He did not want more conventional answers, without at least exploring some technical advances. 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. 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. Once more details are available, we will update this section. That's exactly what he did. Most events he entered were sprints and hillclimbs, but he also competed in some circuit races. 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. I caught up to my mate and I said thats a really cool car, what is it? Thats my BrothersMini Cooper. 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. Despite its stated mission being to provide basic transport, this level of driving enjoyment, and capability, was like a non stop Christmas present. An amazing man, and someone who would probably never rise to prominence in todays auto industry. He took advantage of other peoples suspension designs, Moultons rubber cones and the isolastic, as they freed up more space. On the surface it didnt appear very desirable to Me, or to prospective new-car buyers. Issigonis 'response was dry and forceful:'I'm an engineer. A flawed genius, yes, and BMCs failure to manage him is clear. To get to this point wasnt easy. 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. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek city of Smyrna (now zmir) in the Ottoman Empire. It was created in response to a crisis and was a genius piece of packaging which will forever be Sir Alec Issigonis legacy to the automotive world. 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. 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. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Category:Alec Issigonis - Wikimedia Commons The Renault 14 was transversely engined, from 1976. 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. Sir Alec Issigonis - Driven To Write Alec Issigoniss birth sign is Scorpio and he had a ruling planet of Pluto. 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. As his father studied in London, being an engineer, the family were British subjects and were thus evacuated to Malta by the Royal Navy in September 1922, ahead of the Great Fire of Smyrna at the end of the . A truly fascinating man he was. Sir Alec Issigonis | Autopedia | Fandom 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. This led to a job at Austin, but in 1936, he moved to Morris at Cowley, where he worked on the Morris 10. Its entirely believable that Issigonis would have been prosecuted if hed had gay sex. No wonder Issigonis felt flattered I feel very, very proud that so many people have copied me.. What a great, nicely balanced piece about the ever-controversial Sir Alec, and his equally controversial designs. But fearful that his freedom would be curbed in such a large company, Issigonis resigned from BMC and went to work for the much smaller Alvis company. 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. Issigonis was knighted in 1968, 1955 Morris Minor: Britains Favorite Car Bar None, And Rightly So, Austin Seven (Mini): The Future Started Here. He was flattered to be copied, though. In 1969, in recognition of his engineering genius, Queen Elizabeth granted him Knighthood. Alec Issigonis - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays It was one of the first days of the new school year early September and I was walking up the sidewalk and turning the corner to head for the campus. Alec Issigonis - Bio, Personal Life, Family & Cause Of Death - CelebsAges Alec Issigonis The public don't know what they want; it's my job to tell them. 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. Issigonis never married; most accounts suggest that he was probably gay but he was obviously unable to express himself without huge risk to his professional status and even the risk of prosecution. When he officially retired from BLMC in November 1971, Issigonis was retained by BLMC on an exclusive consultancy agreement, signed off by and reporting to the Chairman, Donald Stokes. 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. : Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis , CBE, FRS, RDI 19061118-1988102 . At the end of the Greek-Turkish war in 1922, British subjects in Smyrna were evacuated by the Royal Navy, ahead of the Turkish re-possession of the area from Greece, with manyinitially travelling to Malta. Im sure this was never part of Issigoniss plan, as he was anti-style, but only the 1100 benefited from external help. 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! Oxford Office. Meanwhile, back at the office, Issigonis had devised an independent coil spring system for the first unitary construction Morris, the 1938 Ten, but which did not go into production as Morris, conservative as ever, chose a more conventional and cheaper beam axle solution. Joseph Lowrey, MOTOR: As soon [], Mr Alec Issigoniss New B.M.C. At Alvis, Issigoniss main task was to lead the development of a more affordable, higher volume luxury car. I love the comment made by Red Foreman on That 70s Show when asked about the Toyota Corolla he had recently purchased due to the gas crisis: Bob: Red, a Toyota? He excelled in mechanical drawing, but failed his mathematics exams three times. Alec Issigonis was a hugely . 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. ), British automobile designer who created the best-selling, economical Mini and the perennially popular Morris Minor. His father Constantine Issigonis was a successful shipbuilding engineer, whose own father was from Paros. Alec Issigonis - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia By 1941, Issigonis had started work on an advanced post war car, then codenamed Mosquito, which became the Morris Minor.
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