alec issigonis family

It didnt just raise the bar it kicked it into next week ! 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. This would have been in the early 70s when they were literally everywhere. Sir Alec Issigonis - Motoring Weekly Its practicality and affordability made it immediately popular; by the time of Issigonis death more than five million had been sold. Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. I was amazed at the amount of space in that car you could even hide things in the cubbyhole under the rear seat. Alec Issigonis: straight from a family thrilled by technology. [citation needed], Issigonis was nicknamed "the Greek god" by his contemporaries. 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. body design expertise was by Italian firm Pininfarina. 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. Get In Touch Call or Email. 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. Oxford Office. Alec is . Found an ad for the US market 1100. By 1969 Fiat had also followed with the 128, and by 1974 Peugeot, VW and Renault had transverse engine hatchbacks as well. Alec Issigonis Facts for Kids - Kiddle IAN NICHOLLS recalls the day the two millionth rolled off the production line [], A team of the worlds leading motoring writers, along with voters on the internet, have short-listed the legendary Mini for the ultimate motoring accolade the international Car of the [], THE GUARDIAN Lord Stokes writes about the late Sir Alec Issigonis: Alec Issigonis was a very charming and persuasive person, and a brilliant innovative engineer with a considerable capacity for [], Rover Group consultant Sir Alec Issigonis writes to chairman Graham Day. I have labelled it the Most Significant Car of the 1940s; it is probably the most recognised British car, apart from the Mini, and the most fondly remembered car by many British families and motorists. By 1964, BMC had built over one million front wheel drive vehicles, including over 800,000 Minis and over 200,000 ADO16s, and over a third were exported. Demosthenis's son (Alec's father) Constantine Issigonis (Greek: ), was born, with British nationality, in Smyrna in 1872. Even more significantly, it effectively defined the configuration of the small and medium car for the next 50 years. : Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis , CBE, FRS, RDI 19061118-1988102 . Mr. Front-Wheel Drive: Sir Alec Issigonis - Academia.edu Please check back soon for updates. Alec Issigonis It is much easier to drive without having an accident. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. This led to a job at Austin, but in 1936, he moved to Morris at Cowley, where he worked on the Morris 10. The strengths of this sign are being resourceful, brave, passionate, a true friend, while weaknesses can be distrusting, jealous, secretive and violent. From 1925-1928 he studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. . The floor is flat and low to the ground and windows all round make it seem very airy. He was also referred to as the Greek God, perhaps more openly. Sir Alec Issigonis. All Rights Reserved. [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. Whos the richest Entrepreneur in the world? By 1945, a full scale static prototype close to the familiar production form was completed. My appreciation of Issigonis designs really came when Auntie Merle traded her Austin A30 (horrible car) for a Morris 1100. Was it to be water or air cooled? Whos the richest Entrepreneur in the world. [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. 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. 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. BMC had internally identified the need to move on from the concepts behind the Minor and A30, leaving behind the classic front engine, semi-elliptic spring concept but there was little clarity on which direction was perceived to be the way to go. Alec Issigonis | Classic Cars Wiki | Fandom I think you can see a narrower car in one of the pre-production photos, above. A reliable car with excellent steering and cornering qualities, it was the first all-British car to pass the one million mark in sales; surviving models are still cherished by owners and collectors. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. As you know I was away when the little ceremony took place to mark your retirement and I have, of [], Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini, among other cars, is to remain design consultant with British Leyland after he goes into semi-retirement at the end of the month. The end of the agreement came in 1986, when Issigonis wrote directly to Graham Day, BLs then new Chairman. Our tool for managing your permission to our use of cookies is temporarily offline. - Wikipedia For Alec Issigonis it was THE chance to prove himself. [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. A testament to brilliant design or to the modern industrys tendencies towards aversion of risk, I wont say surely some of both. 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. Alec Issigonis. 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. He still worked to his consultancy agreement but did so almost exclusively from home, briefing and debriefing nominated BL engineers each morning. Sketch by the late Sir Alec Issigonis, of the original Morris Minor, circa 1946. 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. https://www.mini.com/ Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. 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. The last sighting was of a 71 America, in 81, and looking very well cared for. The 1100 benefited from someone elses external design. Required fields are marked *. It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. Issigonis, The Mini Mastermind - On This Day 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. I saw this tiny car among the Buicks Oldsmobiles Mercurys and Chevrolet Impalas that were the usual fare. Chrysler also took a licence to manufacture the device, which was an integral part of their pioneering overdrive in 1934. Humber was the upscale brand of the Rootes Group, but also the name of the main car building company in the Group. He said the engine was turning 4500 rpm at 68 mph and commented, This seems fast enough for an obsolete three-bearing long-stroke engine., Digging up the articles is left as an exercise for the student. Alviss options for body shell production were being reduced, at the same as the estimated costs of the body manufacture doubled. Upon meeting Alec, she is shy and ashamed . I have heard some slander about his idea of putting the gearbox in the engine sump, but otherwise, he changed transportation for the masses on a scale not seen since Henry Ford. Issigonis had also been involved in the larger Oxford, Isis and Wolseley ranges. Alec Issigonis An expert is someone who tells you why you can't do something. 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. Issigonis with XC/9001, the car that became the Landcrab. Austin Maxi: Big On The Inside But Not On The Outside, What a great write up Roger. 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. Oxford Study Courses AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. The lower picture is is an early (1958) Issigonis drawing of his vision for the Mini. Essay on The Pure Voice in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The Lightweight Special - TNF's Archive - The Autosport Forums Issigonis also insisted that no less than 80% of the cars volume be dedicated to passengers and luggage. [], BMC changed the world with the launch of the Mini in 1959. Unfinished Sympathy - Driven To Write Even as Britain entered the 1960s, product planning remained something of an alien concept to its native carmakers, the majority of whom viewed such matters as being the sort of recondite nonsense invented in the United States, and best left there. Unfortunately I didnt turn out quite as brilliant, but I like to think I missed out some of the stubbornness/arrogance as well. 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. I do not know how many I have owned Morrises, Austins and MGs. This car basically took the Mini concept and enlarged it by 20%, adding some experience, and ambition, at the same time. Below are all possible answers to this clue ordered by its rank. The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "an alec issigonis family car launched in 1969 (6,4)", 10 letters crossword clue. British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. Joseph Lowrey, [], The Mini hit its big landmark in 1969, a seismic year in the history of BMC>Rover. There was a good reason for BMC selecting him for this task, for Issigonis was born in Izmir. Bookmark this page and come back often for updates. Alec Issigonis - Etsy Check out our alec issigonis selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Issigonis customer in this case was Maurice Wilks, later the man behind the Land Rover. [4] His maternal ancestors originated in the Kingdom of Wrttemberg. He was retired from British Leyland in 1971, memorably being given a Meccano kit for his leaving present. His name? The original Minor design was so narrow they had to chop it lengthways and widen it. Alec Issigonis Biography | HowOld.co At this time, he was working for Maurice Olley. Alec Issigonis | Automotive Hall of Fame Humber were more interested in the sales engineer than his product, and Issigonis moved to Humber in 1933. Roger, are you saying that Graham Day ended the consultancy and goodwill payments because he was offended by Issigoniss letter? Great Designer :: ALEC ISSIGONIS - WordPress.com He was known for being a Entrepreneur. 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. (I can remember seeing Austin Americas just a few years old being offered up for $50.) British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. Perhaps it was a trait that ran in the family. Sir Alec Issigonis, in full Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, (born Nov. 18, 1906, Smyrna [now zmir], Tur.died Oct. 2, 1988, Birmingham, Eng. There were, as CC has seen, many and varied reasons for the failure of the Landcrab and Maxi: the control (or rather the lack of it) exercised by Lord and Harriman over Issigonis; the inherited components; and marketing and production issues. Engine access on the Mini was very awkward, and this was only improved on the ADO16 because Jack Daniels was able to keep Issigonis away from the detail work, which was largely done at Cowley in Oxford rather than Longbridge. Copyright 2023. In 1942, Morris gave Issigonis overall responsibility for an all-new model; the Morris Minor. JUMP TO: Alec Issigoniss biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. Morris Minor 1000s , Dropheads, Travelers , Panel Van, and Pick up trucks. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Issigonis officially retired from the motor industry in 1971, although he continued working until shortly before his death in 1988 at his house in Edgbaston, Birmingham. [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. History of MINI - Story, Heritage & Origins | MINI USA Thank you very much for a wonderful biography. Certainly, it was not the right job for him, taking him too far away from the sketching and ideas, and into meetings about pay scale reviews and marketing policies. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS (18 November 1906-2 October 1988) was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1959. Much ADO About Project 15: A History of the Classic Mini Alec Issigonis: The Man Who Made the Mini, Sir Alec Issigonis, 81; Designer of Minicar And Morris Minor. Prior to his death, Alec and his mother travelled overland to London. 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. The initials "G.I." Although primarily a station car, my parents also took it on a vacation through New England. When I was in grade school in the mid-70s, the next door neighbor of my best friend had 6 Minis. The Mini was launched in 1959, and became instantly popular. Intriguingly, it seems that the car was possibly designed to be suitable for a front wheel drive layout, with a flat floor and compact Moulton rubber cone suspension, leaving a large and spacious engine bay.