Below are all possible answers to this clue ordered by its rank. Alec Issigonis nasceu na Turquia Filho de um grego naturalizado britnico casado com uma turca. . Alec Issigonis was a hugely . The big steering wheels angle was a bit bus-like though. 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. Proslavil se zejmna nvrhem vozu Mini, kter uvedla na trh British Motor Corporation v . 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. Oxbotica Toronto Office. 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. 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 innovation he created by switching the orientation of the engine, changing the traditional transmission to a transaxle and sending power to the front wheels was a magnificent idea! 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. That name was now engraved in my mind and as I got older I was drawn to LBCs (Little British Cars.) Issigonis was a remarkable engineer and obviously made his mark. 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. Meanwhile, back at the office, Issigonis had devised an independent coil spring system for the first unitary construction Morris, the 1938 Ten, but which did not go into production as Morris, conservative as ever, chose a more conventional and cheaper beam axle solution. I think you can see a narrower car in one of the pre-production photos, above. The lower picture is is an early (1958) Issigonis drawing of his vision for the Mini. . 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 do not know how many I have owned Morrises, Austins and MGs. That's exactly what he did. His father, however, did not survive the crossing. 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. Maybe because theyd lost the Issigonis chassis manners? Issgonis preferred to work by sketching his ideas onto Arclight pads, each numbered in sequence and retained, and then having Daniels, looking after chassis elements, or another close confidant John Sheppard, looking after the body shell itself, work to turn these in physical reality. In October, 1957, just eight months after first putting pen to paper, the first prototypes were on the road. A deeply flawed genius at best. Demosthenis's son (Alec's father) Constantine Issigonis (Greek: ), was born, with British nationality, in Smyrna in 1872. You serve us all wonderfully. [16], In 2003 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in the United States. Having failed his mathematics exams three times, subsequently declaring it 'the most uncreative subject you can study',[3] Issigonis decided to enter the University of London External Programme to complete his university education. 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. Alec Issigonis was born in Turkey. body design expertise was by Italian firm Pininfarina. Thanks for this terrific bio on one of the all-time greats in the field. 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. 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. Alec Issigonis. His retirement gift from the company was the largest available Meccano set, complete with a steam engine. He became the engineering director of the British Motor Corporation in 1964, and was . He would attend the usual motor shows, but often would refuse to look in detail at the competition, so he did not become confused. Cooper took the prototype out for a spin and realised this fuel-saving people's car cornered like no other. Oak placed another engineer, Jack Daniels, alongside him to keep his feet on the ground. Alec Issigonis, technical director of the British Motor Corporation and Charles Griffin, chief engineer, answer questions from our technical editor. The 1100 and later 1300 outsold the Mini by a considerable margin and remained Britains best-selling car right through the 1960s. His motor industry career at Humber, and during his time there, he competed in motor racing notably designing his own lightweight version of a supercharged Ulster Austin Seven with his own front axle. What a great. Alec Issigoniss mothers name is unknown at this time and his fathers name is under review. *27/02/01 The new Mini which will go on sale in the UK summer 2001, was , being unveiled for the first time. 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. In 1942, the first scale model was produced and the following year work began on a hand-formed steel prototype. 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. However, there was more to his life than just one car. Moultons hydrolastic suspension as installed on the BMC ADO16 by Issigonis. His little cars were a success despite him. Rover used the freewheel extensively, on cars and Land Rovers, into the 1960s. 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. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Alec is also well known as, British car designer best remembered for his work on the development of the iconic Mini. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in 0 Cart Cyber Sales Event Jewelry & Accessories Clothing & Shoes A family that . Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . His stubbornness, I would say, had more in common with Ford starting production of the T, when everyone was telling him to make expensive cars because they were more profitable. What a great, nicely balanced piece about the ever-controversial Sir Alec, and his equally controversial designs. The Mini quickly became cult and had enthusiastic fans worldwide. 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. But his true interest was in the 9X and its power unit, and getting a version of it accepted by BL. 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. 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. Autokonstrukteur, GBPortrt mit Zigarette- 1959. In 1922 the family left Turkey for England, as all British people were banished from the country. During this time he started to build a special sprint racer with a friend. Your email address will not be published. The 1100 benefited from someone elses external design. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alec-Issigonis. In 1957, Issigonis received the project that would make him famous. Great article there should be a movie about Issigonis! 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. Bookmark this page and come back often for updates. The last sighting was of a 71 America, in 81, and looking very well cared for. Joseph Lowrey, MOTOR: As soon [], Mr Alec Issigoniss New B.M.C. If only it had had more power and better gearing. The Automotive Hall of Fame. [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. 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. 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. 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. Issigonis also insisted that no less than 80% of the cars volume be dedicated to passengers and luggage. Nearly $1900 was pretty stiff pricing for a car that size in the mid 60s, $150 more than a Bug. The son of a Greek merchant, Issigonis immigrated to London in 1922 during the war between Greece and Turkey. It did not have everything Issigonis wanted, as he originally planned this car to have a V4 engine rather than the BMC A series. A colleague of his had a VW Polo then and kept shaking his head: Well, yes, if there were no other compact cars in the world , Mr. Roger Carr, Thank you. 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). It had one option an AM radio, hung below the dash. Issigonis had also been involved in the larger Oxford, Isis and Wolseley ranges. 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 . He was popular for being a Entrepreneur. It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. 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. . 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. . Demosthenis acquired British nationality through the work he did for the British-built Smyrna-Aydin Railway. Enter the length or pattern for better results. 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. It really showed up typical RWD cars of the time as being great space-wasters. Most events entered were sprints, but he also raced at circuits. A series engine, with gearbox beneath and side mounted radiator. 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 To clarify, the Renault 4, 5 (first generation, Le Car), 6 and 16 all had longitudinally mounted engines. Alexandros Arnold Constantine Issigonis, more commonly known as Alec Issigionis, was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor, on November 18, 1906. Enter a Crossword Clue Sort by Length But accounts do suggest it done in a pretty crass way. The Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum is now home to the Issigonis Prototype 1970 Mini 9X 'Gearless', donated to the Museum by the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire. Issigonis was knighted in 1968, 1955 Morris Minor: Britains Favorite Car Bar None, And Rightly So, Austin Seven (Mini): The Future Started Here. Sketch by the late Sir Alec Issigonis, of the original Morris Minor, circa 1946. Biography: Sir ALEC issigonis - The designer of Britain's favourite cars, Britain's favourite car designer . 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. 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 Maxi, by comparison, was a bland lump.). This page is updated often with fresh details about Alec Issigonis. In 1956, the focus was shifted towards a new economy car and from here, the Mini was born in 1959. However, at the end of 1956, following fuel rationing brought about by the Suez Crisis, Issigonis was ordered by Lord to bring the smaller car, XC/9003, to production as quickly as possible. His grandfather Demosthenis Issigonis . Daniels (right) and Sheppard (left), no doubt, had to smooth a few ruffled feathers on the way. Born Alexandros Arnoldos Konstantinos Issigonis on the 18th of November, 1906, Alexander Issigonis' family were part of the Greek community in the port city of Smrna. Issigonis never married; most accounts suggest that he was probably gay but he was obviously unable to express himself without huge risk to his professional status and even the risk of prosecution. Issigonis's own automotive career as a designer and engineer in England first took shape during the early 1930s when he began working for the vehicle manufacturer . . Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. [5]:277. Issigonis' first cousin once removed was Bernd Pischetsreider, responsible . Back in 1980 a friends father of mine who was a MP sergeant owned a then new Mini Cooper 1275 cc. [], By Clifford Webb British Leyland are selling the Mini at a loss despite the latest price increase and the fact that after 14 years it is still their top export [], Lord Stokes writes to Sir Alec Issigonis on this day. During the war, Morris Motors undertook military work, notably the development of the Morris lightweight reconnaissance vehicle for the War Department. 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. At the age of 30 he worked for the Morris Engineering Department and celebrated his first success with the construction of the Morris Minor. Please check back soon for updates. Vic Oak and Reginald Hanks, Morriss Managing Director did though, arranging a 50% salary increase for Issigonis in April 1948, to 1500 per year. 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. Joseph Lowrey, [], The Mini hit its big landmark in 1969, a seismic year in the history of BMC>Rover. . The original plan called for a large family car by 1960, to be followed by a smaller car and then a city car. His efforts were concentrated on two things continuing to promote the 1968 9X concept to BLMC, and working on the concept of a gearless version of the Mini, using a torque converter, that was not a technical success. Just re-watched the documentary about Issigonis, which has a great deal on the lightweight special It was 1999 channel 4 a full evenings programmes devoted to the 40th anniversary of the Mini. When I was in grade school in the mid-70s, the next door neighbor of my best friend had 6 Minis. Alviss options for body shell production were being reduced, at the same as the estimated costs of the body manufacture doubled. An advanced 4-speed fully automatic transmission was offered in these that lived in the sump and shared the engine oil, just like the manual gearbox. Sounds like his stubbornness had a lot in common with Henry Ford and his reluctance to move on from the Model T. Imagine trying to take him seriously when he declared an uncomfortable driver is an alert driver. 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. 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. 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. [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. 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. You probably know the part about Alec Issigonis being born in the Greek city of Smyrna in 1906, being evacuated to Malta in 1922 following the Turkish invasion, and how he moved to London in 1923 to study engineering. The Mini was launched in 1959, and became instantly popular. : Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis , CBE, FRS, RDI 19061118-1988102 . This led to a job at Austin, but in 1936, he moved to Morris at Cowley, where he worked on the Morris 10. [], The Mini is 63 years old this week. 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. The suspension was also of advanced design, with trailing arm front suspension attached to a steel cross-member, and swing axle rear, all with rubber springs made of catapult elastic. The MG 1100 Sport Sedan a perfect choice when a two-seater MG is too small. Alec Issigonis, technical director of the British Motor Corporation and Charles Griffin, chief engineer, answer questions from our technical editor. 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. He was flattered to be copied, though. is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". MINI. Roger, are you saying that Graham Day ended the consultancy and goodwill payments because he was offended by Issigoniss letter? Alecs father, Constantine Issigonis, who was born in Smyrna in 1872, studied in England, and subsequently returned to Smyrna, keeping the engineering business going through the First World War and maintaining his British citizenship. 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. He also took his lunch with the workers in the local pub and travelled to this in our Bedford crew bus with wooden bench seats. 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. is bigger, and is just one of a family of related models. [3][6] His father died shortly after and Issigonis and his mother moved to the United Kingdom in 1923. Cylcops center guage; magic wand shift-lever; and bus-sized steering wheel. Red: Yeah, its mine. Issigonis usually won, even when entered in the 1100cc class if there was no 750cc category. The concept of the transverse engine and gearbox combined with FWD, which had previously been used only with two-cylinder two-stroke engines by DKW (since the 1920s), Lloyd and Saab, was adapted by Issigonis for the four cylinder A-block engine for the Mini. 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 . He continued to be responsible for his original XC projects. There was a long drive way that ran along the school cafeteria that parents used to drop off students in the morning. As a Morris Minor owner I appreciated it . Issigonis continued to work as Engineering Director at the Austin-Morris Division of BMC, and as Technical Director of BMC in 1965. Issigonis became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1967 and was knighted in 1969. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. And Alec Issigonis? Alec Issigonis was a Scorpio and was born in the G.I. A flawed genius, yes, and BMCs failure to manage him is clear. 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. Austin 1800 (ADO18 Landcrab): Best In Class Or Just Plain Ugly? 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. Issigoniss legacy is undoubtedly best seen through his cars, from the Minor to the Maxi, which challenged conventions through engineering ingenuity. This would have been in the early 70s when they were literally everywhere. 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. John Daly, Your email address will not be published. Sir Alec Constantine Issigonis, born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire on November 18, 1906, is famous for designing the beloved Mini Cooper motor car. Towards the end of WW2, he began work on the Mosquito project, which ended up being launched in 1948 as the Morris Minor. 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. In 1961, a shipload of Minis suffered mild water damage on their journey to the east coast of US. Copyright 2011 - 2023 Curbside Classics. For Alec Issigonis it was THE chance to prove himself. Thanks for a wonderfully researched article! Issigonis was to use Moultons suspension ideas on all his future cars, with Moulton working in a consultancy capacity to BMC. How about an uncomfortable driver is a distracted driver? Enter your username or email to reset your password. He failed his degree course but gained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering, at the third attempt, in 1928. On 15 October 2006 a rally was held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, England, to celebrate the centenary of Issigonis's birth. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born in Smyrna, on November 18, 1906 and he is the man who designed one of the most beloved cars in the world, the legendary Mini Cooper! Noch ein Mini (A Mini! In 1961, with the Mini gaining popularity, Issigonis was promoted to Technical Director of BMC. 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. He didnt give a damn about the poor sods who had to work on his cars. They paid him to design a tractor safety cab after their own designers had 3 attempts and we built 3 failures. 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. In 1936, he moved to Morris Motors Limited at Cowley working on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10. [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. Issigonis 'response was dry and forceful:'I'm an engineer. Then of course there was severe corrosion in the face of road salt. Richard Bremneris well-known for being a highly-respected motoring scribe, but in his formative years, he worked in the employ of Austin-Rover. Alec Issigonis (Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis) was born in Smyrna in the Ottoman Empire (now Izmir, Turkey). [citation needed], Issigonis was nicknamed "the Greek god" by his contemporaries. Starting around 1930, he raced a supercharged "Ulster" Austin Seven, later fitting it with a front axle of his own design, leading to employment at Austin. Again,Issigonis was able to get close to some of the most impressive cars of the era, and take ideas and influences home. In 1934 Issigonis was invited to join the drawing office at Humber Ltd in Coventry. In many ways, this car was a clear, but simpler, derivative of the work Issigonis had been doing at Alvis, and Issigonis recruited some former colleagues from Alvis to BMC to develop V6 and V4 engines for the projected BMC cars, possibly using the aborted work at Alvis as a basis. In 1928 his first job was in the design office of Gillett, an engineering firm in London. Prior to his death, Alec and his mother travelled overland to London. If it was front engined, was it to be rear wheel or front wheel drive? His father, a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer, was of Greek origin but held a British passport. [7] This ground-breaking design, with its front wheel drive, transverse engine, sump gearbox, 10-inch wheels, and phenomenal space efficiency, was still being manufactured in 2000 and has been the inspiration for almost all small front-wheel drive cars produced since the early 1960s. 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. [11], Issigonis was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1964 Birthday Honours. . He was retired from British Leyland in 1971, memorably being given a Meccano kit for his leaving present. He was a race car driver during the 30s and 40s. Innovative. O interesse pelo automvel veio aos 12 anos, quando ele viu um pela primeira vez. At the time of his retirement, 71, hatchbacks were not the thing they were 4 years later. Sir Alec Issigonis was one of the automotive industry's great independent thinkers. 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.
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