LightAuto
Famous Designers.
Alex Issigonis 1906-1988.
Mini Biography.
Alex Issigonis was born of Greek parents in
Smyrna, now Izmar in Turkey. His father had become a naturalised British
subject when living in Britain before Alex was born. He returned to Smyrna
to run the family engineering business on the death of his father in 1900.
Smyrna had a large Greek population at that time. They where driven out
by the Turks in 1922. Alex came to England with his mother in 1923 shortly
before his father's death. He studied engineering at Battersea polytechnic.
His first job with a motor manufacturer was in the Humber drawing office
in 1933. He worked for Humber in Coventry until 1936 when he moved to Morris
Motors at Cowley near Oxford. He left Morris for Alvis after Morris merged
with Austin to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952. The work he
did at Alvis didn't see production and he returned to work BMC at Longbridge
in 1956. He retired from the then British Leyland Motor Corporation in
1971.
His economy and light car designs.
The first complete car that Issigonis designed,
rather than components for someone else's project was the Lightweight Special.
He and a friend constructed it in his home garage using only hand tools.
As John Bolster wrote in his book, "Specials", "The Lightweight Special
is one of the most amazing specials ever constructed". The chassis was
a monocoque made using aluminium/plywood sandwich panels. It was strong
but lightweight. Th wishbone front suspension and swing axle rear suspension
were unique to the car and had rubber springs. Ultra lightweight Electron
wheels and hubs were another unique feature. A supercharged 750cc Austin
Seven Ulster engine, was fitted at first and used in competitions with
great success. This was replaced after the war with an experimental O.H.C
engine made by one of the Nuffield companies (the owners of Morris). This
engine is in the car today and the car is still used for hill-climb competitions.
The
Lightweight Special
At
Prescott hill-climb 60 years on
Issigonis specialised in suspension design
at Morris Motors, in the 1930's after developing his idea's at Humber.
He designed the independent front suspension and rack and pinion steering
for a new 1250cc saloon that was ready for production in 1939. But it wasn't
produced until 1947, due to the war. Then made at Abingdon as the MG Y
type. That suspension design was used again on the MG TD and all MG's up
to and including the MGB.
His next design for a complete car was for
his employers Morris Motors. This was the Morris Minor. Work started on
the design in 1944 and production of the car started in 1948. With the
constraints of having to utilise an existing design of engine, gearbox
and rear axle, he produced a car that was popular and enduring. With a
modern design of engine fitted, but not of Issigonis design the Minor remained
in production until 1972 and almost one and a half million examples were
produced. For more detail, go to Motoring for the Masses Part
four.
Morris
Minor MM
He left the recently formed British Motor
Corporation for Alvis 1n 1952, working on the design for a large car that
wasn't produced. He returned the BMC and at the beginning of 1957 commenced
work on the design of the Mini. The BMC Mini needs no introduction. In
production for forty years from 1959 to 1999 with over five million examples
made. It set the trend for packaging that has transformed the small that
is still going on. That is the Issigonis legacy. The novel features of
the Mini have not survived the test of time. Small wheels have not found
favour and later Mini's had larger wheels. The idea of the gearbox in the
sump and rubber springs disappeared with the last Mini produced.
1959
Mini
The BMC 1100/1300 range of cars designed
by Issigonis, came with many different badges. Austin, Morris, MG, Riley,
Wolesley and Vanden Plas, all part of the British Motor Corporation. It
was a larger example of Mini packaging. With a body designed by Pinin Farina.
This time Issigonis linked the rubber springs front and rear with hydraulic
lines to form an advanced suspension system. Otherwise the running gear
was the same. It proved a popular car, with a wide range of appointments
or performance. One and a quarter million examples were produced between
1962 and 1974.
BMC 1100
The last light car to bear the Issigonis
stamp, was the Austin Maxi, made from 1969 to 1981. Originally fitted with
a 1485cc version of the BMC "E4", Single overhead camshaft engine, the
Maxi was an even larger version of the Mini theme and just as efficient.
With a five-door body, I'm sure designed by an engineer like the Mini and
not a stylist. It had a cable operated five-speed gearbox at first, which
was unpopular and "Hydrolastic" spring as used in the 1100/1300 cars. The
car was never developed to it's full potential and less than half a million
examples were produced.
Austin
Maxi
The year before the launch of the Maxi, BMC
had merges with Leyland to form BLMC. Alex Issigonis didn't fit in with
the new organisation and at the age of 65 he retired. He was willing
to try new ideas. Sometimes they were a success and at others not. Ether
way he contributed a great deal to light car design. All great men have
to have support and Issigonis had amongst others, Jack Daniels at his right
hand throughout his creative years.
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