alec issigonis family alec issigonis family

During this time he started to build a special sprint racer with a friend. Alec Issigonis was born in 1900s. 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. I remember the Austin America when new, not an impressive car to me in any way . 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. 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. BL were in thrall of the myth theyd created, but the buying public had much more sense. Issigonis' creation was remarkable, but it really only became a Mini when he got a little help from his friend, motorsport pioneer John Cooper. Thank you very much for a wonderful biography. The original Minor design was so narrow they had to chop it lengthways and widen it. 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. The childhood . Your email address will not be published. Aos 16 mudou-se para Inglaterra onde iria cursar engenharia. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Sir Alec Issigonis, in full Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, (born Nov. 18, 1906, Smyrna [now zmir], Tur.died Oct. 2, 1988, Birmingham, Eng. He attended London's Battersea Polytechnic before entering the University of London External Programme. Nice to see that blue Morris Oxford just the same as our first car that I remember. 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. The Automotive Hall of Fame. It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. (first posted 10/24/2016) Alec Issigonis, along with Sir Henry Royce and perhaps Colin Chapman, has the greatest name recognition in the UK for any British car designer or engineer. I fist saw a Mini on my way to middle school in 1965. It didnt just raise the bar it kicked it into next week ! 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 . By 1969 Fiat had also followed with the 128, and by 1974 Peugeot, VW and Renault had transverse engine hatchbacks as well. Meanwhile from 1930, he raced a supercharged Ulster Austin Seven, and fitted it with an independent front suspension of his own design. Post FROM OUR MIDLAND CORRESPONDENT BIRMINGHAM, Nov. 13 The name of the man who will head the British Motor Corporations new amalgamated design unit when []. Issigonis usually won, even when entered in the 1100cc class if there was no 750cc category. The greatest overall compatibility with Scorpio is Taurus and Cancer. I saw one, in 79 or 80, sold here as the MG Sports Sedan. 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. 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. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (Greek: , )CBE FRS RDI (18 November 1906 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. And the result was the creation of more than just an economical car. 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). Fascinating lost papers from the man who created the Mini and the. The big steering wheels angle was a bit bus-like though. The Mini was launched in 1959, and became instantly popular. 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. This prototype was never manufactured because its cost was beyond Alvis's resources. Oxbotica Toronto Office. 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 . Nkter data mohou pochzet z datov poloky. 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. Was it to be water or air cooled? Issigonis (standing) with the special at Shelsey Walsh hillclimb. In 1942, the first scale model was produced and the following year work began on a hand-formed steel prototype. Sketch by the late Sir Alec Issigonis, of the original Morris Minor, circa 1946. Its practicality and affordability made it immediately popular; by the time of Issigonis death more than five million had been sold. People over the road from us had a Wolseley Six (top of the range Landcrab) when we were kids. If only it had had more power and better gearing. [16], In 2003 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in the United States. There was no radio fitted as he thought it would distract the driver. During 1967, Sir Alec Issigonis approached his BMH* superiors, asking to be temporarily relieved of day to day duties so that he could devote himself to a new vehicle project, one intended to directly replace the Mini. The original plan called for a large family car by 1960, to be followed by a smaller car and then a city car. BMC made cuts of 6,000 in the labour force almost overnight and without consultation, whilst Lord noted the sales of the imported European bubble cars. Been a fan of Alec Issigonis since I was 8 years old. 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. Daniels effectively resumed his position as Issigoniss right hand man for the next ten years or more, guiding the interpretation of Issigoniss requests to the workshops, draughtsmen, production engineers and accountants. Issigonis quickly arranged for Jack Daniels to move up from Cowley to Longbridge to rebuild their close rapport. The son of a Greek merchant, Issigonis immigrated to London in 1922 during the war between Greece and Turkey. Biography: Sir ALEC issigonis - The designer of Britain's favourite cars, Britain's favourite car designer . . For his accomplishments, Queen Elizabeth knighted Issigonis in 1969. The closure of the Suez canal created . . 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. Alec's grandfather Demosthenis migrated to Smyrna from the Greek island of Paros in the 1830s. 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. (I can remember seeing Austin Americas just a few years old being offered up for $50.) Constantine studied in England. We will continue to update information on Alec Issigoniss parents. Alviss options for body shell production were being reduced, at the same as the estimated costs of the body manufacture doubled. I got to drive his Red mini when I went for fish and chips on a Friday. BMC was producing over 11,000 Issigonis-designed front-wheel-drive models a week, with demand still exceeding production, which was continually increased. 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. THE CREATOR OF AN ICONIC CAR: ALEC ISSIGONIS. FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. Issigonis was giving punters what they needed, rather than what they wanted. I had a book about Issigonis, but its lost. John Daly, Your email address will not be published. I saw about 3 Americas in the wild that I can remember, and 1 example of the earlier MG 1100 Sport Sedan. A British citizen born in Turkey in 1906, Issigonis did not see an automobile until he was 12 years old. 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. Copyright 2023. [8], With the creation of British Leyland in 1969, new chairman Lord Stokes quickly sidelined Issigonis and made him into what was termed "Special Developments Director", replacing him with Harry Webster as the new Technical Director (Small/Medium cars). In 1942, Morris gave Issigonis overall responsibility for an all-new model; the Morris Minor. In the face of all this mayhem, Mrs. Issigonis decided to migrate with Alex to Britain, a land neither knew. During 1956 Issigonis concentrated on the larger two cars, producing several prototypes for testing. This undated sketch by Issigonis shows some of this. [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. Issigonis 'response was dry and forceful:'I'm an engineer. By 1941, Issigonis had started work on an advanced post war car, then codenamed Mosquito, which became the Morris Minor. Apparently Walter Chrysler could also be difficult to work with. Nearly $1900 was pretty stiff pricing for a car that size in the mid 60s, $150 more than a Bug. 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. BMC . Stokes was heard on his appointment to say: "We'll sharp sort this bloke Issigonis out!". His family had to flee Smyrne to es- cape the genocide of 1922 by the Turks. [], In Part One of this fascinating series, which originally appeared in Vehicle Engineer,AROnline Contributor IanElliott applies his insider knowledge to spelling out the exact sequence of mergers that led to [], Photography: Martin Bell One of the design team who worked on the original Mini has revealed how the revolutionary small car came about. Issigonis did observe and try to improve on what he saw, but always challenged himself to be original and better. I remember seeing early Civics with trunks and the early VW Dasher had a trunk, in spite of its fastback bodywork. Decades later, despite enormous further developments, the vehicle has lost none of its initial charm. The relationship got to the point where Issigonis had the ideas, did the sketches and Daniels did the formal drawings. Back the early 2,000 B.C. 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 1968, he was appointed as Director of Advanced Research of the newly formed British Leyland, and Harry Webster from Triumph became BLMCs Engineering Director. 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. Birth Name: Alec Issigonis Occupation: Entrepreneur Place Of Birth: Turkey Date Of Birth: November 18, 1906 Date Of Death: October 2, 1988 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: Unknown Nationality: Greek Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. He still worked to his consultancy agreement but did so almost exclusively from home, briefing and debriefing nominated BL engineers each morning. 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. He despised such luxuries as radios and comfortable seats, once stating I would like people to sit on nails to be extremely uncomfortable all the time. and declaring that an uncomfortable driver is an alert driver. Issigonis worked as a draughtsman and design engineer, and also in a sales and project engineer role, succeeding in securing Rover as a customer use the freewheel device on the new for 1933 Rover Ten (P1 series, above). In 1961, a shipload of Minis suffered mild water damage on their journey to the east coast of US. This car basically took the Mini concept and enlarged it by 20%, adding some experience, and ambition, at the same time. 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. Suffice to say it was an ambitious project for a family of compact cars - the smaller of the pair shorter overall than . It was apparent to Morriss senior managers that Issigonis was cut from a different cloth compared to his contemporaries. 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. Alec Issigonis 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. After returning to England in 1922, he enrolled in engineering school, failing mathematics at every turn. Essay on The Pure Voice in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. At Alvis, Issigoniss main task was to lead the development of a more affordable, higher volume luxury car. That Alvis is one of those missed opportunities that ultimately doomed the company. . In 1936, Issigonis moved again, to the Morris Motor Company, as a project engineer on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10, where his experience at Rootes would start to bear fruit. The Mini caused a sensation with its design and rather small size in the late 1950s thanks to its inventor, the Englishman Alec Issigonis. Chinese Zodiac: Alec Issigonis was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Alec Issigonis was already known for his popular and respected Morris Minor. 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. The Boudjah - Smyrna born Alec Issigonis was an engineering genius and even after his death there is a fan base for his cars. The family had an engineering business making marine engines and pumps, and it was from observing his father at work that he determined to become an engineer. He was also responsible for the development of the Mini Moke, initially intended for military use, though it subsequently became another popular icon of British automotive engineering that, like the Mini, attained cult status. Alecs education details are not available at this time. Alec Issigonis, technical director of the British Motor Corporation and Charles Griffin, chief engineer, answer questions from our technical editor. Once more details are available, we will update this section. BMC and Issigonis were awarded the Dewar Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) for the innovative design and production of the Mini. He was reluctant to consider features such as large boots or hatchbacks, or engine access, as important. 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. He did not want more conventional answers, without at least exploring some technical advances. Another thing Sir Alec did not think was important perhaps? View 6 Images. When I was in grade school in the mid-70s, the next door neighbor of my best friend had 6 Minis. In 1956, the focus was shifted towards a new economy car and from here, the Mini was born in 1959. Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder. He also has one of the finest technical brains in the country and he is [], THE GUARDIAN IAN BREACH interviews LORD STOKES Safety: British or American standards? 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. In conjunction with Issigonis work, Lord contracted Pininfarina to lead the styling of BMCs new cars, starting with the conventionally engineered Austin A40 Farina in 1958. From 1925-1928 he studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. 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. 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. This page is updated often with fresh details about Alec Issigonis. 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. 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 the mid 1970s, Issigonis was beginning suffer from Menieres disease, and the consequent loss of full control of his balance let him to retreat from prominence. 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. An image from the 1964 Racing Car Show in the aftermath of the Mini's first Monte Carlo Rally win. He title at Alvis was Engineer in charge of passenger car design. Independence is one of their greatest strengths, but sometimes they're overly frank with others. 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. Sir Alec Issigonis is best remembered for the Austin Mini - a car that revolutionised the small car package and probably saved the British Motor Corporation at the same time. 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. Issigonis who designed the Mini auto Crossword Clue The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "Issigonis who designed the Mini auto", 4 letters crossword clue. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. I thought I knew everything about Issigonis already, but there were some fascinating insights here. . Kereta ini menjadi kereta popular di Britain dan banyak negara di dunia, di samping berjaya menjuarai Rali Monte Carlo sebanyak 3 kali. Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. Durante o curso ele foi reprovado trs vezes em matemtica. Issigonis spent his early years as an engineer with Morris Motors working on steering and suspension. 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 car was remarkably light, weighing 587lb, of which the engine contributed 252lb. Issigonis would later state that pure mathematics (is) the enemy of every truly creative man. He began his engineering career at Morris Motors Ltd. in 1936 as a steering and suspension engineer. He was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. It has since proved to be the template for the small car for nearly 60 years it has still not been bettered and was followed as early as 1963 by the Autobianchi Primula, which had the first end on gearbox on its transverse engine, by the 1965 Peugeot 204 with a configuration closer to the ADO16 but larger, and 1967 by the Simca 1100, the first to combine an end on gearbox and a hatchback. Sir Alec Issigonis hadn't even seen a car until he was 12 years old. 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. Issigonis died in England in 1988 at the age of 81, having lived long enough to see his beloved Mini sell in excess of five million units. Issigonis was dismissive of market research, The public dont know what they want; its my job to tell them and even mathematics, derided as the enemy of every truly creative man. Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. Demosthenis acquired British nationality through the work he did for the British-built Smyrna-Aydin Railway. It confronted the conservative image of BMC head on, even if the rest of BMC range didnt. BLMC says, Archive : Lord Stokes writes to Alec Issigonis, Archive : How Harry Webster is going to shape your car, Archive : The Thoughts of Chairman Stokes, Archive : Issigonis The Giant Who Thought Small, Archive : Creative role for Issigonis in BMC board switch, Archive : Mr Issigonis looks to the future, Archive : Interview Motor meets Alec Issigonis, The cars : Alfa Romeo Alfasud development story, Opinion : Celebrating 40 years of the Austin Maestro, Essay : Austin Maestro styling the real killer, Concepts and prototypes : LM10 and LM11 facelifts, Archive : Coventry Council Debates Rover Crisis, News : PSA confirms continued van production in Luton. 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. Sir Alec Issigonis started his career at Humber, known for their Humber Snipe and Humber Hawk models, even Queen Elizabeth II owned a Humber. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). It was at Alvis that Issigonis first worked with another of the influential characters of his career. 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. He and Frank Stephenson are both famous car designers. Issigonis planned two versions, known as the TA/350 with a 3.5 litre V8 and TA/175 with a 1750cc, V4 engine. 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 . 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. His mother was Bavarian, the daughter of a brewer. After studying engineering, he joined Morris Motors in 1936 as a suspension designer. [], The most comprehensive story youll ever read about the aborted 9X programme the ill-fated Mini replacement, engineered by the man who created the original. Issigonis had no input to the Marina (other than it using substantial elements from the Morris Minor of course) or the Allegro, as BMC had passed a thin very development programme to Leyland in 1968, largely due to financial pressures. He took advantage of other peoples suspension designs, Moultons rubber cones and the isolastic, as they freed up more space. In 1936, he moved to Morris Motors Limited at Cowley working on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10. In March 1957 Lord asked (more likely told, as Lord did not do asking) Issigonis to come up with something to compete with them. The ways in which things went sour for BMC , and for Alec himself, are all too well known: but with this little car, they surely both earned a big place in history. However, there was more to his life than just one car. Alec Issigonis was a Scorpio and was born in the G.I. 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? LJK Setright, in his book The Designers describes Issigonis as working as a sculptor works, moving masses into different juxtapositions until his trained eye told him they were right.