alec issigonis family alec issigonis family

There he witnessed the awe inspiring (and Nazi funded) Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cars, as well as the Alfa Romeo P3 of Nuvolari, which won the race, much to the Nazis discomfort. View gallery - 6 images. . . This prototype was never manufactured because its cost was beyond Alvis's resources. The end of the agreement came in 1986, when Issigonis wrote directly to Graham Day, BLs then new Chairman. The Minor, Mini, ADO16 and Landcrab all had character, and were all friendly cars. Our tool for managing your permission to our use of cookies is temporarily offline. He would attend the usual motor shows, but often would refuse to look in detail at the competition, so he did not become confused. . This undated sketch by Issigonis shows some of this. He excelled in mechanical drawing, but failed his mathematics exams three times. The lower picture is is an early (1958) Issigonis drawing of his vision for the Mini. https://www.mini.com/ Issigonis then went back to the British Motor Corporation, where the influence of many political factors led him to his major breakthrough. Issigonis designed a unitary construction saloon and the V8 engine, and utilised Moultons latest interconnected rubber suspension. I dont remember Dad as being what youd call a sporting driver, but he never considered the later Austin-based Oxfords. The typical American indifference to regular maintenance did not play well with this setup. During this time he started to build a special sprint racer with a friend. While much derided for its lack of style, I do love the huge smile he put on the front of the original 1800 Landcrab. But his true interest was in the 9X and its power unit, and getting a version of it accepted by BL. In 1961, with the Mini gaining popularity, Issigonis was promoted to Technical Director of BMC. He was popular for being a Entrepreneur. 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. Chrysler also took a licence to manufacture the device, which was an integral part of their pioneering overdrive in 1934. Alec Issigonis The public don't know what they want; it's my job to tell them. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek city of Smyrna (now zmir) in the Ottoman Empire. All I know is, which car I would rather be in driving if there was any tricky situation [], DAILY MIRROR By Richard Sear No man looks less designed to start off the cult of the miniature. The Landcrab and Maxi were so butt ugly that no self respecting petrolhead would be seen it one. It had one option an AM radio, hung below the dash. MINI, official partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB, has unveiled its new London 2012 special, Keith Adams Well, Christmas and Boxing Day are out of the way and the, The replacement for the Austin-Healey 3000 never took off, thanks in part to a poor, British Motor Holdings the joining of BMC and Jaguar, The cars : Mini (ADO15) development story Part One, Concepts and prototypes : BMC 9X (1968-87), Blog : Why the Italians beat us to a supermini by a decade, History : The Road to Perdition Part One, Interview : Alec Issigonis on the BMC 1100, Archive : Mini Shortlisted For Car Of The Century, Archive : Mini still sold at a loss. I had a book about Issigonis, but its lost. 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. A truly great man and an honour for me. Who are the richest people in the world? After returning to England in 1922, he enrolled in engineering school, failing mathematics at every turn. In 1942, the first scale model was produced and the following year work began on a hand-formed steel prototype. 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. 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 . Fascinating piece and what a character! Due to time pressures, the interconnected suspension system that Issigonis had planned for the car was replaced by an equally novel, but cruder, rubber cone system designed by Alex Moulton. Excellent article. 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.. Alec Issigonis . 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. Issigonis became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1967 and was knighted in 1969. I hardly ever drove a Mini or an 1100, but many miles of driving a Landcrab made me understand why it was so very good, in spite of some engineering shortcuts. British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. Issigonis name will always be associated with the Morris Minor, built for over 20 years, and with the Mini, a car he designed very quickly in the late 1950s and which was built for over 40 years, throughout the tumultuous history of BMC and BLMC, ending only after the BMW led break up of the Rover Group in 2000. Get In Touch Call or Email. ADO15, 16 & 17 (36792752942).jpg 1 712 1 936; 589 KB 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. [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). From then onwards, any car in the small or medium market without a transverse engine was considered unusual, and conservative. It was apparent to Morriss senior managers that Issigonis was cut from a different cloth compared to his contemporaries. 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. The family is almost penniless. The Mini caused a sensation with its design and rather small size in the late 1950s thanks to its inventor, the Englishman Alec Issigonis. Issigonis grandfather, Demosthenis Issigonis, had emigrated from Paros in Greece to Smyrna (as Izmir was then known) in the mid 19th century where his engineering company helped the British built the Smyrna-Aydn Railway, and through this acquired British citizenship. 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. I appreciate the research the depth and the smooth writing style to present it all in a gripping way. Issigonis quickly arranged for Jack Daniels to move up from Cowley to Longbridge to rebuild their close rapport. 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. 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. 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. Issigonis with XC/9001, the car that became the Landcrab. Look what happened to Alan Turing. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS terkenal kerana menjadi pencipta kereta Mini yang menjadi ikon tahun 1960-an. The irony being, of all the cars built in the world that follow his layout, none carry an Austin or Morris badge. He persisted in this into the 1980s, competing in vain against the Austin Metro, an improved version of the BMC A series engine and seemingly oblivious to the Companys financial state. 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). 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. Meanwhile from 1930, he raced a supercharged Ulster Austin Seven, and fitted it with an independent front suspension of his own design. Noch ein Mini! Once more details are available, we will update this section. However, there was more to his life than just one car. I remember the Austin America when new, not an impressive car to me in any way . It was a very ambitious intention, which Alvis were not capable of delivering on without importing a lot of engineering talent. 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. Like many famous people and celebrities, Alec Issigonis kept his personal life private. 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. He title at Alvis was Engineer in charge of passenger car design. 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. Building 9400 Oxford Business Park North Alec Issigonis Way Oxford OX4 2HN Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (Greek: , )CBE FRS RDI (18 November 1906 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. 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. I hope he knew that he changed the Automobile World for the better. Alec's mother, Hulda Prokopp, could trace her origins back to Wrttemberg (now part of Germany). That is how many of us know about these cars or about many 1960s British cars, in general. 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. Contents Early life and education Career Legacy Honours Some of his cars is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". Thank you very much for a wonderful biography. John Sheppard spent 20 years working with [], Richard Aucock 40 years ago this month, Sir Alec Issigonis, creator of Britains best-selling motoring icons, retired The creator of the original Mini, the Morris Minor, the Austin Maxi and [], Motor magazine, August 1962 WHY IS THE ADO16? If so, that would seem vindictive on Days part. *27/02/01 The new Mini which will go on sale in the UK summer 2001, was , being unveiled for the first time. Alec's grandfather Demosthenis migrated to Smyrna from the Greek island of Paros in the 1830s. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alec-Issigonis. Kereta rekaannya, BMC Mini dilancarkan dalam tahun 1959. 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. There was a long drive way that ran along the school cafeteria that parents used to drop off students in the morning. Alec Issigonis was born on the 18th of November, 1906. But at the age of 50, he began designing one of the most iconic vehicles ever produced: the classic Mini. The 1100 and later 1300 outsold the Mini by a considerable margin and remained Britains best-selling car right through the 1960s. Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder. A family that . 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. 130 King Street West, Exchange Tower, Suite 1800, Toronto, Canada, M5X 1E3. . 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. This car was remarkably light, weighing 587lb, of which the engine contributed 252lb. [1][2], Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. He was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. 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. Generation. I fist saw a Mini on my way to middle school in 1965. . 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. 41 Copy quote. Here in Australia they didnt seem particularly small, but they were certainly a lot more roomy than the competition. Prior to his death, Alec and his mother travelled overland to London. THE CREATOR OF AN ICONIC CAR: ALEC ISSIGONIS. It really showed up typical RWD cars of the time as being great space-wasters. The closure of the Suez canal created . 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. 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 . Born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now zmir, Turkey) on November 18, 1906, Issigonis immigrated to England with his family in 1922 and later studied engineering at . The above photo is a publicity shot with the first produced Mini, at his retirement in 1972. [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. In 1928 his first job was in the design office of Gillett, an engineering firm in London. Austin 1800 (ADO18 Landcrab): Best In Class Or Just Plain Ugly? And Alec Issigonis? Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Death and commemorations 4 Some of his cars His father, a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer, was of Greek origin but held a British passport. He showed that cars could be practical and pleasant to ride in and drive, and that size was not everything; he defined the template for the small petrol engined car for 50 years, maybe longer, and showed how modest cars could become wish list items, attracting customer such as Enzo Ferrari. 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. The floor is flat and low to the ground and windows all round make it seem very airy. Perhaps it was a trait that ran in the family. Constantine was very proud of his British citizenship and Alec grew up in a traditional British type of household. In 1957, Issigonis received the project that would make him famous. Smrna was then the second city of the Ottoman Empire and had a local population of around one million, of which more than half were Greek. And a rally demon was born. His father died in 1922, at which point he and his mother moved to the U.K.. 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. Lord was looking for modernity, but he was also looking for commonality of engines, good quality design and cars good enough to be amongst the best in their class and internationally competitive. His father, however, did not survive the crossing. 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, United Kingdom, OX4 2HW. Thanks for a wonderfully researched article! After briefly working elsewhere in the early 1950s, Issigonis returned to what had become the British Motor Corp., where in 1959, in response to the Suez energy crisis (1956) and the popularity of Germanys Volkswagen Beetle, he introduced the Mini. 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. 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. Im sure this was never part of Issigoniss plan, as he was anti-style, but only the 1100 benefited from external help. The Boudjah - Smyrna born Alec Issigonis was an engineering genius and even after his death there is a fan base for his cars. The greatest overall compatibility with Scorpio is Taurus and Cancer. Issigonis and his team produced a revolutionary car that featured a small exterior with a spacious passenger compartment and outstanding handling characteristics. In 1934 Issigonis was invited to join the drawing office at Humber Ltd in Coventry. His inability to accept guidance (stubbornness may be a better term) also led to some misjudged products the Maxi comes to mind but perhaps the purity of hispredominantly engineering solution with poor execution in the areas Issigonis didnt or wouldnt appreciate (looks, practicality, ergonomics, product revisions, marketing) was also overlooked by too many within BMC. 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. On the surface it didnt appear very desirable to Me, or to prospective new-car buyers. They paid him to design a tractor safety cab after their own designers had 3 attempts and we built 3 failures. I wanted to know the genesis. Looking at the Minor or the Mini, I can believe that. Required fields are marked *. Astrologers and astronomers could only work with planets visible to the eye. People of this zodiac sign like truth, being right, longtime friends, teasing, and dislike dishonesty, revealing secrets, passive people. Many did not even make it through the warranty period without the transmission self-destructing. . Absolutely brilliant article about an engineering genius. 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. ALEC ISSIGONIS Automotive Designer (1906-1988) One of the most original car designers of the modern era, ALEC ISSIGONIS (1906-1988) is best known as the creator of the Mini, but also designed two more of the five best-selling cars in British motoring history - the Morris Minor and the Austin 1100. . meantime, John preferred his psychedelic Rolls .. Roger, hats off for this excellent treatment of an engineering legend. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. 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. He also had plans for a flat four cylinder engine, and at frequentlychallenged convention and Morris Motors conservatism. A deeply flawed genius at best. He was involved in engine design as well, requesting unsuccessfully that BL build 4 and 6 cylinder engines for Mini variants. He was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. This was to be an advanced saloon with all aluminium V-8 engine, and the original plan was for Alvis to produce 5,000 cars a year, or ten times Alviss current production rate, to compete with Riley (not then a badge engineered BMC product), Rover, Sunbeam-Talbot and Jaguar. Later, he was working on an independent suspension for the larger Humber Hawk, with another rising star in the industry, Bill Heynes. [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. Been a fan of Alec Issigonis since I was 8 years old. I have liked them ever since. When I was in grade school in the mid-70s, the next door neighbor of my best friend had 6 Minis. Unfortunately the ADO16 did not do well in the U.S. as the Austin America, which was imported here in an attempt to eat some of VWs lunch in the late 1960s. Alec Issigonis is part of G.I. Issigonis 'response was dry and forceful:'I'm an engineer. In later years, the car would become known simply as the Mini. This generation experienced much of their youth during the Great Depression and rapid technological innovation such as the radio and the telephone. 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 didnt say by 1974 in regard to VW and Renault. Harris Mann, having a clean sheet, not giving the Allegro or Princess a hatch in the mid 70s is another matter. Issigonis had a reputation, deserved by all accounts, for arrogance and irascibility, an inability to suffer fools at all, and restricted his contact to as a small as a group as he could. MINI. 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. Essay on The Pure Voice in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Found an ad for the US market 1100. 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.