Mini
()
About this ebook
Related to Mini
Titles in the series (100)
British Postcards of the First World War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Church Misericords and Bench Ends Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chocolate: The British Chocolate Industry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuckles Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Britain's Working Coast in Victorian and Edwardian Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Campaign Medals 1914-2005 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poole Pottery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Victorians and Edwardians at Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perambulators Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Victorians and Edwardians at Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5VW Camper and Microbus Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Medieval Church Architecture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The English Seaside in Victorian and Edwardian Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsButtons Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Railway Posters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Peat and Peat Cutting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5London’s Statues and Monuments Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clarice Cliff Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTractors: 1880s to 1980s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeauty and Cosmetics 1550 to 1950 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Portmeirion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5British Motorcycles of the 1960s and ’70s Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLondon Plaques Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Flying Scotsman: The Train, The Locomotive, The Legend Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAirfix Kits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farming in the 1920s and 30s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Building Toys: Bayko and other systems Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related ebooks
Little Book of The Mini Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rootes Group: Humber, Hillman, Sunbeam, Singer, Commer, Karrier Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiscovering Lost Automobiles and their Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mercedes Pagoda SL Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Classic Car Adventure: Driving Through History on the Road to Nostalgia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Book of Mini Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVespa and Lambretta Motor Scooters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Aston Martin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pocket Guide to the British Car Industry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJaguar E-Type: British Motoring Masterpiece Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5British Luxury Cars of the 1950s and ’60s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5British Sports Cars of the 1950s and ’60s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jaguar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Book of Land Rover Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Invention of the Automobile - (Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bugatti: Type 35 Grand Prix Car and Its Variants Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Book of Sports Cars - (United States and Italy) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTriumph Sports Cars Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Great Cars of All Time: Fascinating stories of the origin, development, and famous feats of the world's most exciting automobiles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHillman Cars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe London Volvo B7TL Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5British Microcars 1947–2002 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEuropean Style with American Muscle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Sports Cars - (France and Germany) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Car Companies of Detroit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5British Motorcycles of the 1960s and ’70s Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Vauxhall Cars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVeteran Motor Cars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mercedes 300SL Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBest of British Classic Cars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Automotive For You
The Official Highway Code: DVSA Safe Driving for Life Series Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Drive: Real World Instruction and Advice from Hollywood's Top Driver Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lemon-Aid New and Used Cars and Trucks 2007–2018 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCar Basics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Rebuild GM LS-Series Engines Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAuto Repair For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5GM 4L80E Transmissions: How to Rebuild & Modify: How to Rebuild & Modify Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Came from the Garage! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5CDL - Commercial Driver's License Exam, 6th Ed.: Complete Prep for the Truck & Bus Driver's License Exams Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5California Driver’s Practice Tests: DMV Practice Tests Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew York Driver’s Practice Tests: DMV Practice Tests Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLet's Build A Camper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington State Driver’s Practice Tests: DMV Practice Tests Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Reckoning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Racing to the Finish: My Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Automotive Wiring and Electrical Systems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Car Hacks and Mods For Dummies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sloane's New Bicycle Maintenance Manual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ford FE Engines: How to Rebuild Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLemon-Aid Used Cars and Trucks 2012–2013 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5CarTalks: Car Basics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5GM 6L80 Transmissions: How to Rebuild & Modify Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMotor Vehicle Mechanic's Textbook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5CDL 2023 – 2024 Commercial Driver’s License Study Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Mini
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Mini - Gillian Bardsley
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
THE MINI IS UNUSUAL for being closely associated with one individual in an industry whose products are usually the result of complex, and largely anonymous, teamwork. Yet the name of Sir Alec Issigonis is still recognised, for he was possibly the British motor industry’s first and only celebrity.
His future status as the creator of a British icon, epitomising the ‘youth’ culture which dominated the 1960s, was not obvious in his origins. Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the busy Turkish port of Smyrna (now called Izmir). He was the only child of Constantine Issigonis, a marine engineer of Greek origin, and his wife, Hulda, who belonged to a German brewing family. Despite their ancestry, both his parents were born and raised in Turkey, but to complicate things further, they were also staunch Anglophiles. Constantine had spent some time in England as a young man and been given British citizenship. So young Alec was given a private English education and instilled with loyalty to a country that he had not had the opportunity to visit.
Alec Issigonis, Morris Motors project engineer, at Cowley in 1946. This was the period during which the Morris Minor, which established his reputation, was being designed.
The comfortable way of life enjoyed by Smyrna’s expatriate community was rudely shattered by the First World War in which Turkey chose the losing side. As a consequence, international war was followed by civil war, and in 1922 the Royal Navy arrived to evacuate the British community. While they waited on Malta as refugees, Constantine fell gravely ill and died. Hulda and her son, now sixteen years old, crossed to Sicily and travelled the length of Europe to reach their new home in England.
Here Issigonis resumed his education, completing an engineering diploma at Battersea Polytechnic in 1928 and gradually making his way into the motor industry. Though the British economy was struggling during this period, the motor car had only been invented around forty years previously, and the industry which had grown up around it proved more resilient than many older sectors. In 1936 Issigonis was offered an opportunity as a suspension designer with Morris Motors, one of the leading motor manufacturers of the time, based at Cowley near Oxford. Two years earlier, the firm’s founder, William Morris, had been created Lord Nuffield in recognition of his great philanthropy.
Constantine, Alec and Hulda Issigonis are fifth to seventh from left in this picture, together with their extended family in Turkey, c. 1910.
As his career began to take off, Issigonis dedicated his leisure time to motor sport, modifying a series of Austin Sevens. He spent much time both as competitor and spectator at racing circuits and hill-climbs. In 1934 he began work with his friend, George Dowson, to construct an innovative racing car completely from scratch. The resulting ‘Lightweight Special’ took five years to build entirely by hand and began to compete in 1938. Motorsport was suspended for the duration of the war from 1939, but the car returned once peace was established, and enjoyed several more years of successful competition before Issigonis and Dowson retired from the amateur racing scene in 1948.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Issigonis, as part of a reserved occupation, was officially assigned to the design of military vehicles. At the same time, the vice-chairman of Morris Motors, Sir Miles Thomas, encouraged him to work on ideas for a new small car. Though production and design of civilian vehicles was banned until 1944, most motor manufacturers continued to work discreetly on post-war designs in the hope that they could gain an advantage over their rivals when the war was over.
Alec Issigonis, driving his modified Austin Seven Sports near his home in