Press Release
Sir Alec Issigonis. “I did not invent the Mini, I designed it.”
He never quite made it to university and he called mathematics “the enemy of every creative human being”. But nothing thrilled him as much as pure technology. And when he was convinced of an idea, he would never cut corners and make compromises.
Indeed, his most famous idea was destined to leave its stamp on the development of the automobile for decades to come: the MINI Classic.
On 18 November 2006, Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis would have celebrated his 100th birthday. A “never-ending succession of breakdowns” in his first car. He inherited his profound interest in technology and machines from his father: Shortly before the turn of the century, the Englishman of Greek origin ran a company for marine engines in the sea port of Smyrna, well-known today under the name of Izmir. Inspired by these technological achievements and everything else he saw at the company, Alexander – called Alec for short – soon developed great interest particularly in railways and steam engines.
Amid the hectic years of the foundation of Turkey in its modern form, the family was forced to flee to Malta in 1922, and Alec’s father died on the island.
His mother then took him to England, where just two years later he was able to buy his first car: A Singer with a Weymann body in which he chauffeured his mother through Europe in 1925 in – as Issigonis reported later – a “never-ending succession of breakdowns”. Obviously an experience he would never forget, an experience which prompted him after returning back home to embark on a three-year course in mechanical engineering at Battersea
Polytechnic in London.
Alec’s talent for craftsmanship and his enthusiasm in drawing and designing were just sufficient to set off his aversion to mathematical theory, enabling him to barely squeeze through his final exam, without the slightest chance of being able to continue his studies at the Polytechnic in Battersea.
Small, light, fast: the Lightweight Special.
With no prospects for further studies, Alec started out his professional career as a technical draughtsman and salesman for a design office specialising in automotive technology in London. He promptly invested his first salary in an Austin Seven, beefed up the car for racing, and entered his first race in March 1929. In the years to come he spent his leisure time developing his own monoposto with precisely the design features destined to make him a famous man one day: The Lightweight Special was absolutely tiny, extremely light, but progressive in its technical features and most successful.
In 1934 Issigonis joined the design team of Humber Ltd in Coventry, where he worked on the introduction of independent wheel suspension. Just two years later, Morris Motors hired him on account of his particular skills and know-how in chassis development. During the War he had no choice but to work on various military vehicles, which, being a very practical man, he used for tests, trying out new technical features and concepts in the process.
In 1941 Morris launched the Mosquito Project, a compact four-seater for the post-war period. And despite disastrous conditions, the team led by Issigonis, in the meantime well-known as a workaholic, not only had the first driving prototype ready within just three years, but also launched the car in 1948 in the guise of the Morris Minor, the Company’s most successful model in the post-war era.
Three model series from one source: first Mini, then Midi, and finally Maxi.
Four years later Morris and Austin Motor Company merged to form the British Motor Corporation, where Issigonis no longer saw any future perspectives for his creativity. So he joined Alvis in order to develop a luxury performance saloon. But with that project failing for financial reasons, BMC took Issigonis back on board in 1955 as the Deputy Technical Director of the Austin Plant in Longbridge with the job to develop three new model series for the small, midrange and luxury performance segments intended to secure the future of what was then Europe’s largest carmaker.
Through his challenging and authoritarian style, Issigonis succeeded in withstanding the pressure resting on the development of the new small car as of 1956 as a result of the Suez crisis. So very quickly he drove his team to top performance, without making the slightest compromise on the car and his mission as such. And despite this pressure, his staff not only respected him, but in many cases developed a lifelong friendship with Alec Issigonis as their role model.
The result of this concerted effort was the MINI Classic, making its debut in 1959 and followed three years later by the four-door midrange Morris 1100 and in 1964 by the large and spacious Austin 1800.
A great career culminating in knighthood: Issigonis’ lifetime achievement.
Very soon, the great success of the MINI Classic also made the car’s “father” famous the world over. But Issigonis emphasised time and again that “I did not invent the Mini, I designed it”.
In 1961 Alec Issigonis, in his function as Technical Director, was appointed Board Member of the Austin Motor Company, two years later joining the Board of BMC. In 1967 he became a member of the Royal Society, the most renowned research association in Great Britain, and another two years later the Queen knighted the father of the MINI Classic. And even when retiring in 1971, Sire Alec Issigonis continued to work for the Company as a consultant until 1987 before passing away a year later on 2 October, shortly before his 82nd birthday.
