British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. Issigonis was probably privately satisfied with that arrangement, as it took him away from the daily grind of corporate management and designing production ready cars and back into the more conceptual field where he had the opportunity to use his innovative skills the kind of role Leonard Lord had originally given him twelve years earlier and which led to the Mini and the ADO16. He became the engineering director of the British Motor Corporation in 1964, and was . Diz lenda que ele considerava a rigidez . 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. Oak placed another engineer, Jack Daniels, alongside him to keep his feet on the ground. Please check back soon for updates. 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. I hope he knew that he changed the Automobile World for the better. 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. Alec Issigonis Net Worth, Age, Bio, Birthday, Height, Facts Issigonis had some success at club racing level and in 1935 travelled with his lifelong friend George Dowson to the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Issigonis studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. Kereta rekaannya, BMC Mini dilancarkan dalam tahun 1959. Alec Issigonis, the man who dreamed of the Mini - Archyde If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us. He and Frank Stephenson are both famous car designers. Alec Issigonis Way Oxford Business Park Oxford OX4 2HN United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 1865 783 000 Oxford Biomedica Solutions 1 Patriots Park Bedford MA 01730 United States Telephone: +1 781 428 4536 Email :solutions.partnering@oxb.com Oxford Biomedica (Ireland) Ltd Office 502 Balheary Demense Balheary Road Swords Co. Dublin Ireland Alec Issigonis Quotes - BrainyQuote 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. This led to a job at Austin, but in 1936, he moved to Morris at Cowley, where he worked on the Morris 10. Another Mini!). [4] 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. [13], He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1967. Issigonis was a good packaging designer. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek city of Smyrna (now zmir) in the Ottoman Empire. The closure of the Suez canal created . Alec Issigonis | Automotive Hall of Fame . - Wikipedia 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. Twitter; Issigonis customer in this case was Maurice Wilks, later the man behind the Land Rover. It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. But at the age of 50, he began designing one of the most iconic vehicles ever produced: the classic Mini. To achieve this feat, Issigonis utilized a front wheel drive layout with a transverse-mounted engine, the first modern application of this concept. Alec Issigonis: The Greek Creator of the Mini Car 130 King Street West, Exchange Tower, Suite 1800, Toronto, Canada, M5X 1E3. Alec Issigonis was born in the Year of the Horse. 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. Was it to be water or air cooled? Issigonis planned two versions, known as the TA/350 with a 3.5 litre V8 and TA/175 with a 1750cc, V4 engine. 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. 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. 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. I tell you the last time I was that close to a Japanese machine, it was shooting at me.. 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. Happy birthday to the Mini! : Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis , CBE, FRS, RDI 19061118-1988102 . 41 Copy quote. [16], In 2003 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in the United States. His mother was Bavarian, the daughter of a brewer. At the age of 30 he worked for the Morris Engineering Department and celebrated his first success with the construction of the Morris Minor. Issigonis did observe and try to improve on what he saw, but always challenged himself to be original and better. Day terminated the consultancy agreement, without any more consultation. 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. [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. Despite its stated mission being to provide basic transport, this level of driving enjoyment, and capability, was like a non stop Christmas present. He lived with his mother to whom he was devoted, until her death in 1972, latterly in Edgbaston in Birmingham, in a large bungalow, divided into two wings. At this time, he was working for Maurice Olley. Hulda Issigonis then returned to Malta, leaving sixteen year old Alec alone in London, returning only after Constantine had died. . Issigonis returned to BMC to design a range of family vehicles. George Harriman, Leonard Lord and Alec Issogonis. Great summary of a giant of industrial design. 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. There is a truck factory in the city of Izmir, on the western Mediterranean coast of Turkey, builtby the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1967, and which still builds vehiclesunder the BMC brand. Alec Issigonis is part of G.I. 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. Issigonis's mother, Hulda Prokopp, was descended from a Bavarian brewing family who had settled in Smyrna, and established a brewery. 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. 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. Suffice to say it was an ambitious project for a family of compact cars - the smaller of the pair shorter overall than . He convinced Issigonis to ready the Mini for the Rallye Monte Carlo. Sketch by the late Sir Alec Issigonis, of the original Morris Minor, circa 1946. He failed his degree course but gained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering, at the third attempt, in 1928. The first application of Sir Alec Issigonis' engineering breakthrough - All Photos by Randy Stern, except otherwise noted Remember Sir Alec Issigonis? Enter your username or email to reset your password. 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. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . Issigonis 'response was dry and forceful:'I'm an engineer. Alec Issigonis Popularity Most Popular Born in 1906 First Name Alec #31 #1 Entrepreneur Born in Turkey #2 Alec Issigonis Is A Member Of Born In 1906 Entrepreneurs First Name Alec Scorpios But his true interest was in the 9X and its power unit, and getting a version of it accepted by BL. Mr. Front-Wheel Drive: Sir Alec Issigonis . By October 1959, the Mini was on sale and when the press first got their hands on BMCs new car, they were not shy to praise it; the Minis unique personality, exceptional space efficiency, lively performance and tenacious front-wheel-drive handling meant that it was a sure fire hit with the critics. Most events he entered were sprints and hillclimbs, but he also competed in some circuit races. When is Alec Issigoniss birthday? Sir Alec Issigonis - Small Cars, Big Ideas - Cars Less Traveled Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis ( 18. listopadu 1906 Smyrna - 2. jna 1988 Birmingham) byl ecko - britsk automobilov konstruktr narozen na zem dnenho Turecka. Ruling Planet: Alec Issigonis had a ruling planet of Pluto and has a ruling planet of Pluto. A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THE MINI FOUNDER. Sir Alec Issigonis | British automobile designer | Britannica They represent many years of design study in attempts to produce the best value for money in the field of small car design. By 1969 Fiat had also followed with the 128, and by 1974 Peugeot, VW and Renault had transverse engine hatchbacks as well. I do not know how many I have owned Morrises, Austins and MGs. My appreciation of Issigonis designs really came when Auntie Merle traded her Austin A30 (horrible car) for a Morris 1100. His father, a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer, was of Greek origin but held a British passport. As a matter of interest, go to this site: and click on the Letter From Dr. Alex Moulton link. 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. For Alec Issigonis it was THE chance to prove himself. Even more significantly, it effectively defined the configuration of the small and medium car for the next 50 years. 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. Sir Alec was a combination of everything that was right AND wrong about the British car industry in his day. 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. This car was remarkably light, weighing 587lb, of which the engine contributed 252lb. Contact - Oxbotica He often had to be discreetly talked through financial documents when he was in the board meetings. 10 Things Everyone Forgot About Mini And Its Cars His father, however, did not survive the crossing. I remember being quite put off by the sound of the engine seemingly racing to maintain 45mph. There was no radio fitted as he thought it would distract the driver. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). 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. Alec Issigonis nasceu na Turquia Filho de um grego naturalizado britnico casado com uma turca. When Alvis cancelled the project, Issigonis was invited by BMC Chairman Sir Leonard Lord to return to BMC at Longbridge, as Chief Body and Chassis engineer, and reporting to BMC Technical Director Sydney Smith. 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. The Landcrab and Maxi were so butt ugly that no self respecting petrolhead would be seen it one. Issigonis was giving punters what they needed, rather than what they wanted. The Mini was designed by. Issigoniss legacy is undoubtedly best seen through his cars, from the Minor to the Maxi, which challenged conventions through engineering ingenuity. [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. The typical American indifference to regular maintenance did not play well with this setup. [3][6] His father died shortly after and Issigonis and his mother moved to the United Kingdom in 1923. Daniels (right) and Sheppard (left), no doubt, had to smooth a few ruffled feathers on the way. 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. (I can remember seeing Austin Americas just a few years old being offered up for $50.) The childhood . An engineering genius and godfather of of the Mini. We will continue to update information on Alec Issigoniss parents. By October 1957, Issigonis had shown Lord a working prototype and the decision had been made to manufacture the car, using the existing BMC A series engine. That name was now engraved in my mind and as I got older I was drawn to LBCs (Little British Cars.) At Alvis, Issigoniss main task was to lead the development of a more affordable, higher volume luxury car. Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. . 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. This is the main reason Lord re-hired Issigonis. The last sighting was of a 71 America, in 81, and looking very well cared for. Copyright 2011 - 2023 Curbside Classics. His mother was from Bavaria. 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? Alec Issigonis: straight from a family thrilled by technology. MINI. Enter a Crossword Clue Sort by Length Was it to be front or rear engined? I appreciate the research the depth and the smooth writing style to present it all in a gripping way. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Plenty of space and comfort in the back, as I recall, but my fathers Rover P6 was much more stylish. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS terkenal kerana menjadi pencipta kereta Mini yang menjadi ikon tahun 1960-an. I remember seeing early Civics with trunks and the early VW Dasher had a trunk, in spite of its fastback bodywork. The loss of British sovereignty led not only to a political defeat but also to an oil crisis. Issigonis had the dream of becoming an automobile engineer at an early age. The son of a Greek merchant, Issigonis immigrated to London in 1922 during the war between Greece and Turkey. My doodles and sketches are not the work of an academic engineer. The 1100 and later 1300 outsold the Mini by a considerable margin and remained Britains best-selling car right through the 1960s. Alec Issigonis - Career - LiquiSearch Nice to see that blue Morris Oxford just the same as our first car that I remember. Address 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, OX4 2HW. 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. Issigonis had also been involved in the larger Oxford, Isis and Wolseley ranges. Discover what happened on this day. I wanted to know the genesis. 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. 37 Sir Alec Issigonis Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images The AROnline development story tells the tale of how this small car changed the way we looked at economy cars almost overnight. I have liked them ever since. 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. A family that . BMC and Issigonis were awarded the Dewar Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) for the innovative design and production of the Mini. 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. Constantine was very proud of his British citizenship and Alec grew up in a traditional British type of household. However, there was more to his life than just one car. He lived and worked in England " A camel is a horse designed by a committee " " Pure Math is the enemy of every truly creative man" Sir Alec's grandfather Demosthenes was sort of a mechanical genius having . Alec Issigonis and Dr Alex Moulton, the creator of Hydrolastic and Hydragas suspension, with a Morris 1100, circa 1962. Once more details are available, we will update this section. He was flattered to be copied, though. 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. He was a complex man, with a complex background, family story and career. Many did not even make it through the warranty period without the transmission self-destructing. In 1922 the family left Turkey for England, as all British people were banished from the country. Constantine married a German lady whose name was Hulda Prokopp and in 1906 they had a baby who they named Alexander Arnold Issigonis, or Alec to his family. FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. 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. Alec Issigonis - Wikipedia Bahasa Melayu, ensiklopedia bebas Cylcops center guage; magic wand shift-lever; and bus-sized steering wheel. Im sure the Renault 4, 5, 6, and 16 had longitudinal engines. Vic Oak and Reginald Hanks, Morriss Managing Director did though, arranging a 50% salary increase for Issigonis in April 1948, to 1500 per year. 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. 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. 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. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). BMC was producing over 11,000 Issigonis-designed front-wheel-drive models a week, with demand still exceeding production, which was continually increased. This page is updated often with fresh details about Alec Issigonis. Mini: a brief history - The Telegraph 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. He was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. Youre right about maintenance. Great write about a very clever guy, but he was wrong an uncomfortable driver is an irritable driver who fatigues rather more quickly, The Landcrab while being comfortable to ride in as a passenger is not so nice to drive nor are the smaller cars from BMC, there are many surviving ADO16s here and NZ is still the Morris Minor capital of the world they will never become rare here and for that matter neither will real Minis but 1800s and Maxis are quite thin on the ground already yet were popular new they werent very durable though, and the last Princess Ive seen is a rusty example outside the British car museum at Te Awanga, Personally having driven all his ideas the Morris Minor was his best one that saw production, I got my first car licence in a Morry Thou.