alec issigonis family
To clarify, the Renault 4, 5 (first generation, Le Car), 6 and 16 all had longitudinally mounted engines. Austin 1800 (ADO18 Landcrab): Best In Class Or Just Plain Ugly? To get to this point wasnt easy. Issigonis first concepts were rear wheel drive, with a conventional drive train, fully independent suspension set on a long wheelbase with short overhangs and very rudimentary styling. Tragically, Constantine Issigonis contracted a serious illness, and died in Malta in June 1923. Youre right about maintenance. 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. . FamousBirthdays.com - use subject to the practices disclosed in our privacy policy. This car basically took the Mini concept and enlarged it by 20%, adding some experience, and ambition, at the same time. In 1961, with the Mini gaining popularity, Issigonis was promoted to Technical Director of BMC. In 1952, the year BMC was formed, he moved to Alvis where he designed an advanced saloon, and experimented with interconnected independent suspension systems. Thanks for this terrific bio on one of the all-time greats in the field. After studying engineering, he joined Morris Motors in 1936 as a suspension designer. Issigonis returned to BMC to design a range of family vehicles. The son of a Greek merchant, Issigonis immigrated to London in 1922 during the war between Greece and Turkey. Most events he entered were sprints and hillclimbs, but he also competed in some circuit races. The Landcrab and Maxi were so butt ugly that no self respecting petrolhead would be seen it one. We will continue to update information on Alec Issigoniss parents. He would attend the usual motor shows, but often would refuse to look in detail at the competition, so he did not become confused. 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. View gallery - 6 images. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis ( 18. listopadu 1906 Smyrna - 2. jna 1988 Birmingham) byl ecko - britsk automobilov konstruktr narozen na zem dnenho Turecka. But accounts do suggest it done in a pretty crass way. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [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. 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. The 1100 benefited from someone elses external design. He was impossible to work with, had Henry Fords arrogance and nearly bankrupted the company like Ford, by refusing to listen to anyone. 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. Dear Mr Day I have not met you but I feel I must write to explain a few points. SOL 258H is the oldest surviving gearless car and was the preferred transport of Sir Alex Issigonis. On a cheerier note, Id love to see that Alvin on the flesh. The Austin/Morris Mini was 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. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). The car, as developed in a prototype form, showed potential as well as technical ambition the cars unitary construction made it relatively light and strong, it offered 6 seats, had a rear mounted transaxle, including the clutch, inboard rear brakes, long wheelbase configuration so typical of Issigonis and a modern, sophisticated 3.5 litre V8 engine. The Mini, and the other Issigonis BMC front wheel drive cars, benefited from Issigonis continuing collaboration with Alex Moulton and his suspension system developments. Another Mini! I saw one, in 79 or 80, sold here as the MG Sports Sedan. 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. 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. His grandfather Demosthenis Issigonis . This car was remarkably light, weighing 587lb, of which the engine contributed 252lb. Prior to his death, Alec and his mother travelled overland to London. [9] He was cremated at the Lodge Hill Cemetery in nearby Selly Oak. 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. Giving the Mini, ADO16 and ADO17 were all designed well before hatchbacks were popular, the beancounters no doubt would be up in arms at the thought of spending more money on tooling for an already old design. Alec Issigonis: The Man Who Made the Mini, Sir Alec Issigonis, 81; Designer of Minicar And Morris Minor. It really showed up typical RWD cars of the time as being great space-wasters. If only it had had more power and better gearing. I do not know how many I have owned Morrises, Austins and MGs. 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. His mother was from Bavaria. [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. 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. Issigonis had the dream of becoming an automobile engineer at an early age. BMC . 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. Issigonis legacy. 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 . 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. John Daly, Your email address will not be published. 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. Here in Australia they didnt seem particularly small, but they were certainly a lot more roomy than the competition. British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. I have liked them ever since. Get In Touch Call or Email. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Sir Alec Issigonis. A family that . 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. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born into the Greek city of Smyrna (now zmir) in the Ottoman Empire. Cooper took the prototype out for a spin and realised this fuel-saving people's car cornered like no other. 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. It was, though, used on the postwar MG Y Type saloons. Upon meeting Alec, she is shy and ashamed . At the time of his retirement, 71, hatchbacks were not the thing they were 4 years later. He attended Londons Battersea Polytechnic before entering the University of London External Programme. Most events entered were sprints, but he also raced at circuits. [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). Corrections? BMCs Great Leap Forward was a bold move, unfortunately marred by the inability to check Issigonis tendencies that often put the buyer last instead of first. 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. Apparently Walter Chrysler could also be difficult to work with. [], 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. In 1936, he moved to Morris Motors Limited at Cowley working on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10. For his accomplishments, Queen Elizabeth knighted Issigonis in 1969. Moultons hydrolastic suspension as installed on the BMC ADO16 by Issigonis. [10], There is a road named "Alec Issigonis Way" in the Oxford Business Park on the former site of the Morris Motors factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire. Ive never been inside a Landcrab or a Maxi, but I understand that while they are very spacious, the ergonomics are pretty poor. His father died in 1922, at which point he and his mother moved to the U.K.. I fist saw a Mini on my way to middle school in 1965. Issigonis continued to work as Engineering Director at the Austin-Morris Division of BMC, and as Technical Director of BMC in 1965. Fascinating lost papers from the man who created the Mini and the. Issigonis with XC/9001, the car that became the Landcrab. THE CREATOR OF AN ICONIC CAR: ALEC ISSIGONIS. It was at Alvis that Issigonis first worked with another of the influential characters of his career. By early 1957, prototypes were running, and by mid-1957 the project was given an official drawing office project number (ADO15) so that the thousands of drawings required for production could be produced. 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. This isnt 1942. Production only finished after BMW had bailed out of Rover in 2000. That Alvis is one of those missed opportunities that ultimately doomed the company. Indeed gay sex was illegal in the UK until 1968 and for many years after prejudice was rife. 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 . Cylcops center guage; magic wand shift-lever; and bus-sized steering wheel. And the 1800 the rear seat really seemed limousine-like for the size of the car. I saw about 3 Americas in the wild that I can remember, and 1 example of the earlier MG 1100 Sport Sedan. He was popular for being a Entrepreneur. 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. The typical American indifference to regular maintenance did not play well with this setup. He still worked to his consultancy agreement but did so almost exclusively from home, briefing and debriefing nominated BL engineers each morning. 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. 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? If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us. Plenty of space and comfort in the back, as I recall, but my fathers Rover P6 was much more stylish. 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. That name was now engraved in my mind and as I got older I was drawn to LBCs (Little British Cars.) The suspension was trailing arms at the front, attached to a steel cross-member, and a swing axle rear, all with rubber springs made of catapult elastic. 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? Morris 1100. 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. The relationship got to the point where Issigonis had the ideas, did the sketches and Daniels did the formal drawings. We now call them Real Minis, to distinguish them from the post 2001 imitations. The cars design with its front wheel drive and independent suspension provided good road handling, but Issigonis had scant regard for passenger comfort. In August 1959 the car was launched as the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Seven, which soon became known as the Austin Mini. Road & Tracks test of the Austin America included the line, Superb four-speed fully automatic transmission makes more difference than youd believe possible. But they also noted that with just a few thousand miles on their test car, there was some issue (I forget what) with the trunk lock, and the outside of the engine was covered with oily black grime. . 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. So Sir Alec Issigonis had an impact on my life. In March 1957 Lord asked (more likely told, as Lord did not do asking) Issigonis to come up with something to compete with them. Back in 1980 a friends father of mine who was a MP sergeant owned a then new Mini Cooper 1275 cc. 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. 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 . Sticks in my mind I read a road test that put engine speed at 60 around 4,000rpm. A series engine, with gearbox beneath and side mounted radiator. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. It had one option an AM radio, hung below the dash. I was eight when my dad bought one of those brand new cars at a reduced price from the NYC dealer $850 for an Austin 850 ($6,800 in 2016 money) The gearbox in sump was a dead end in terms of automotive design. The original Minor design was so narrow they had to chop it lengthways and widen it. This prototype was never manufactured because its cost was beyond Alvis's resources. 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 was knighted in 1969 and was honored by the city of Oxford with a street named after him, Alec Issigonis Way. (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. Issigoniss legacy is undoubtedly best seen through his cars, from the Minor to the Maxi, which challenged conventions through engineering ingenuity. 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. But beneath this surface, he was a sensitive and more vulnerable person, and was almost certainly (and inexcusably) the subject of some intolerance and prejudice from the UK born staff. The Mini remains one of the most important motoring icons of the 1960s, so it's only natural that the band would want a piece of the action as Beatles mania took hold. RM G4TJWM - Alec Issigonis, creator of the British Motor Corporation 'Mini' car range, drives the 1,000,000th Mini off the production line at the Austin Plant at Longbridge, Birmingham. People over the road from us had a Wolseley Six (top of the range Landcrab) when we were kids. The problem was that I would never have initially chosen to drive one. 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. Then of course there was severe corrosion in the face of road salt. As such he was of the generation who experienced the privations of two apocalyptic world wars. Issigonis was an engineer, first and foremost, but I have used the terms design/designer in this piece, in the way that was contemporaneous to Issigonis and as he would have understood it, although we would now use use engineering. At Alvis, Issigoniss main task was to lead the development of a more affordable, higher volume luxury car. 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. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. From 1925-1928 he studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. 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. But, as ever, events intervened in this case the Suez Crisis of 1956, complete with petrol rationing. 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 Boudjah - Smyrna born Alec Issigonis was an engineering genius and even after his death there is a fan base for his cars. 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.
