He did not want more conventional answers, without at least exploring some technical advances. Enter a Crossword Clue Sort by Length Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis ( 18. listopadu 1906 Smyrna - 2. jna 1988 Birmingham) byl ecko - britsk automobilov konstruktr narozen na zem dnenho Turecka. 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. In 1934 Issigonis was invited to join the drawing office at Humber Ltd in Coventry. Indeed gay sex was illegal in the UK until 1968 and for many years after prejudice was rife. From 1925-1928 he studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. Alec Issigonis. But there were other 20th century cataclysms that he lived and worked through as a designer - including the Suez crisis of 1956. His last Morris projects were the 1953 Morris Oxford and Isis saloons, launched after the BMC merger, and which used the BMC B series engine. To get to this point wasnt easy. 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. [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. The original Minor design was so narrow they had to chop it lengthways and widen it. In 1942, the first scale model was produced and the following year work began on a hand-formed steel prototype. 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. Humber were more interested in the sales engineer than his product, and Issigonis moved to Humber in 1933. 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. 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. Alec Issigonis was born in Turkey. 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. I dont remember Dad as being what youd call a sporting driver, but he never considered the later Austin-based Oxfords. It was 1961 when the humble little people-mover fell into the hands of British racing legend John Cooper. 104 Alec Issigonis Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 104 Alec Issigonis Premium High Res Photos Browse 104 alec issigonis stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. 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. Alternate titles: Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis. [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. 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. Biography: Sir ALEC issigonis - The designer of Britain's favourite cars, Britain's favourite car designer . Sir Alec was a combination of everything that was right AND wrong about the British car industry in his day. 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. Issigoniss legacy is undoubtedly best seen through his cars, from the Minor to the Maxi, which challenged conventions through engineering ingenuity. But it was an exciting period, and youve captured his personality and lasting impact well. 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 . When I was in grade school in the mid-70s, the next door neighbor of my best friend had 6 Minis. By October 1959, the Mini was on sale and when the press first got their hands on BMCs new car, they were not shy to praise it; the Minis unique personality, exceptional space efficiency, lively performance and tenacious front-wheel-drive handling meant that it was a sure fire hit with the critics. Alec's grandfather Demosthenis migrated to Smyrna from the Greek island of Paros in the 1830s. Contents Early life and education Career Legacy Honours Some of his cars https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alec-Issigonis. 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 started his career at Humber, known for their Humber Snipe and Humber Hawk models, even Queen Elizabeth II owned a Humber. It interested me as I had the honour of working with sir Alec for around 3 months. with 8 letters was last seen on the March 01, 2023.We found 20 possible solutions for this clue. The boxy, inexpensive, fuel-efficient Mini used a transverse engine to power its front wheelsa radical design at the timeand thus could comfortably seat four passengers despite being only 10 feet (3 m) long. " Sir Alec Issigonis. Humber was the upscale brand of the Rootes Group, but also the name of the main car building company in the Group. A deeply flawed genius at best. Thanks for a wonderfully researched article! Many did not even make it through the warranty period without the transmission self-destructing. His grandfather Demosthenis Issigonis . Once more details are available, we will update this section. The first car I could identify was apparently a Mini and my mother still tells the story of an early trip to England where I wouldnt be quiet Ein Mini! 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). 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. 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. Issigonis spent his early years as an engineer with Morris Motors working on steering and suspension. Alec Issigonis Way Oxford Business Park Oxford OX4 2HN United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 1865 783 000 Oxford Biomedica Solutions 1 Patriots Park Bedford MA 01730 United States Telephone: +1 781 428 4536 Email :solutions.partnering@oxb.com Oxford Biomedica (Ireland) Ltd Office 502 Balheary Demense Balheary Road Swords Co. Dublin Ireland It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. The inability of these cars to withstand business case scrutiny crucial in the companys decline, and others must also stand up for that -Issigonis didnt claim to be a product planner in the sense Ford would recognise but saw all his cars as separate entities. Alec Issigonis: The Man Who Made the Mini, Sir Alec Issigonis, 81; Designer of Minicar And Morris Minor. 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. Sir Alec Issigonis, in full Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, (born Nov. 18, 1906, Smyrna [now zmir], Tur.died Oct. 2, 1988, Birmingham, Eng. 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. 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. 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. [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. Alec Issigoniss birth sign is Scorpio and he had a ruling planet of Pluto. It had one option an AM radio, hung below the dash. At some point in the mid-60s they ran an After the New Wears Off feature by an MG 1100 owner in Los Angeles. He would attend the usual motor shows, but often would refuse to look in detail at the competition, so he did not become confused. Sir Alec Issigonis celebrates one of the many milestones of the Mini dynasty. A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THE MINI FOUNDER. Constantine was very proud of his British citizenship and Alec grew up in a traditional British type of household.