Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (Greek: , )CBE FRS RDI (18 November 1906 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. Are you sure Renault had transverse-engine hatchbacks by 1974? But there were other 20th century cataclysms that he lived and worked through as a designer - including the Suez crisis of 1956. The closure of the Suez canal created . 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. Well, he went down in history as the father of the Mini and was even raised to nobility for his services. [4] His maternal ancestors originated in the Kingdom of Wrttemberg. Once more details are available, we will update this section. Constantine was very proud of his British citizenship and Alec grew up in a traditional British type of household. The change was not handled well though, with credible accounts of a literally tearful Issigonis wandering around Longbridge trying to find a new office after returning from abroad to find Webster occupying his office. The rest is racing . Great article there should be a movie about Issigonis! After returning to England in 1922, he enrolled in engineering school, failing mathematics at every turn. Alec Issigonis An expert is someone who tells you why you can't do something. Rover used the freewheel extensively, on cars and Land Rovers, into the 1960s. Production only finished after BMW had bailed out of Rover in 2000. After returning to England in 1922, he enrolled in engineering school, failing mathematics at every turn. Another Mini! In 1942, Morris gave Issigonis overall responsibility for an all-new model; the Morris Minor. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [12], In 1964 Issigonis was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI). There were, as CC has seen, many and varied reasons for the failure of the Landcrab and Maxi: the control (or rather the lack of it) exercised by Lord and Harriman over Issigonis; the inherited components; and marketing and production issues. What a great. Been a fan of Alec Issigonis since I was 8 years old. This prototype never saw the light of day mores the pity. 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. 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. If only it had had more power and better gearing. It amounted to no more than surface rust on the chassis. 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. Issigonis continued to work as Engineering Director at the Austin-Morris Division of BMC, and as Technical Director of BMC in 1965. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS terkenal kerana menjadi pencipta kereta Mini yang menjadi ikon tahun 1960-an. Where was the gearbox to be fitted on a front wheel drive car? [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. 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. A truly fascinating man he was. He still worked to his consultancy agreement but did so almost exclusively from home, briefing and debriefing nominated BL engineers each morning. Sir Alec Issigonis, in full Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, (born Nov. 18, 1906, Smyrna [now zmir], Tur.died Oct. 2, 1988, Birmingham, Eng. The son of a Greek merchant, Issigonis immigrated to London in 1922 during the war between Greece and Turkey. Alec Issigonis. When Morris and Austin merged to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952, Issigonis decided to leave the company. The first application of Sir Alec Issigonis' engineering breakthrough - All Photos by Randy Stern, except otherwise noted Remember Sir Alec Issigonis? . Alec is . Issigoniss first project was to design an independent suspension for Rootes highest volume car, the Hillman Minx. 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. body design expertise was by Italian firm Pininfarina. Issigonis officially retired from the motor industry in 1971, although he continued working until shortly before his death in 1988 at his house in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Sir Alec Issigonis. Issigonis was giving punters what they needed, rather than what they wanted. By the time the chassis had been completed, Issigonis had somehow got hold of an Austin supplied works specification supercharged side-valve engine as well. 2939 Words; 12 Pages; 6 Works Cited; Essay on The Pure Voice in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles This guilt convinces Tess that she must now travel to the D'Urbervilles' home and claim kin with them. He 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. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born in the Turkish town of Smyrna, today's Izmir, as the son of a Briton of Greek origin and a mother from Bavaria, on 18 November 1906. Dear Mr Day I have not met you but I feel I must write to explain a few points. It did not have everything Issigonis wanted, as he originally planned this car to have a V4 engine rather than the BMC A series. Fascinating lost papers from the man who created the Mini and the. Issigonis did observe and try to improve on what he saw, but always challenged himself to be original and better. The all-new Mini will be revealed today, on what would have been Mini creator Sir Alec Issigonis's 107th birthday. 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. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in 0 Cart Cyber Sales Event Jewelry & Accessories Clothing & Shoes Issigonis was a good packaging designer. I wouldnt say Day was offended but took it as evidence that Issigoniss time has passed and that the value Rover were getting from the consultancy was minimal, and it was effectively indulging Issigonis, something Turnbull and Donald Stokes could afford t0 do (and knew looked rational) in 1970. August 26, 2019. Austin Maxi: Big On The Inside But Not On The Outside, What a great write up Roger. 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 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. I was amazed at the amount of space in that car you could even hide things in the cubbyhole under the rear seat. Ruling Planet: Alec Issigonis had a ruling planet of Pluto and has a ruling planet of Pluto. Im sure the Renault 4, 5, 6, and 16 had longitudinal engines. He was a race car driver during the 30s and 40s. The ease of driving it, attributable to Issigoniss careful and thoughtful suspension and steering design, as well as the comparatively low weight of the car, were factors in that as well as the comfort and space it provided. The typical American indifference to regular maintenance did not play well with this setup. 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. Excellent article. 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 He managed to obtain his Diploma, but was not admitted to advanced studies. 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 . The end of the agreement came in 1986, when Issigonis wrote directly to Graham Day, BLs then new Chairman. Alec Issigonis. 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. By the mid 1950s, as Europe got back on its feet after the war, there had been many attempts to define the modern car, but none was proving to be dominantly successful. 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. The floor is flat and low to the ground and windows all round make it seem very airy. Issigonis had the dream of becoming an automobile engineer at an early age. The car was launched at the 1948 London Motor Show, alongside the Land Rover and Jaguar XK120, and the rest is pure CC history. 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. However, there was more to his life than just one car. My sister had an MG 1100 which blew me away in 1970. Austin Healey Sprites , 3000s Austin Americas, MG Midget, MGAs MGBs Mg 1100s I had many of each model. Nkter data mohou pochzet z datov poloky. Issigonis' creation was remarkable, but it really only became a Mini when he got a little help from his friend, motorsport pioneer John Cooper. 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.