A superb and rare photo of the
ingenious Morris Mini Traveller.
The image was taken in the 1960s.
Sir
Alexander Arnold Constantine (Alec) Issigonis, CBE, FRS was a
Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking
and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor
Corporation (BMC) in 1959. He was was born in 1906 into the Greek community of Smyrna (now Izmir) in the Ottoman Empire. His grandfather Demosthenis Issigonis
migrated to Smyrna
from Paros in the 1830s and through the work
he did for the British-built Smyrna-Ayd?n Railway, in the engineering works
that he had established, had managed to acquire British nationality.
Demosthenis's son (Alec's father) Constantine Issigonis, was born, with British
nationality, in Smyrna
in 1872. Constantine
studied in England,
and later, passed his love of all things English on to his son. Alec's mother,
Hulda Prokopp, could trace her origins back to Württemberg (now part of Germany).
Because Alec and his parents were British subjects, they were evacuated to Malta by
British Royal Marines in September 1922, ahead of the Turkish re-possession of Smyrna at the end of the
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). Following the death of his father in 1922, Alec
and his mother moved to the UK
in 1923. Alec studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. He failed his mathematics exams three
times and subsequently called pure mathematics 'the enemy of every creative
genius'. After Battersea Polytechnic, Alec decided to enter the University of London External Programme to complete
his university education. Issigonis went into the motor industry as an engineer
and designer working for Humber and competed
successfully in motor racing during the 1930s and 1940s. 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.
This greatly modified machine was replaced with a radical special completed in
1939, constructed of plywood laminated in aluminium sheeting. The suspension
was also of advanced design, with trailing arm front suspension attached to a
steel cross-member, and swing axle rear, all with rubber springs made of
catapult elastic. This car was remarkably light, weighing 587lb, of which the
engine contributed 252lb. By the time the chassis had been completed (hard
labour - it was all done by hand, no power tools), Issigonis had moved to
Morris, but Austin
supplied a "works" specification supercharged side-valve engine.
Issigonis usually won, even when entered in the 1100cc class if there was no
750cc category. Most events entered were sprints, but he also raced at
circuits. In 1936, he moved to the Morris Motor Company at Cowley working on an
independent front suspension system for the Morris 10. The war prevented this
design from going into production but it was later used on the MG Y Type. He
worked on various projects for Morris through the war and towards its end
started work on an advanced post war car codenamed Mosquito that became the
Morris Minor, which was produced from 1948 until 1971. In 1952, just as BMC
was formed by the merger of Morris and Austin, he moved to Alvis Cars where he
designed an advanced saloon with all aluminium V-8 engine, and experimented
with interconnected independent suspension systems. This prototype was never
manufactured because its cost was beyond Alvis's resources. 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. The XC
(experimental car) code names assigned for the new cars were XC/9001 - for a
large comfortable car, XC/9002 - for a medium-sized family car, and XC/9003 -
for a small town car. During 1956 Issigonis concentrated on the larger two
cars, producing several prototypes for testing. 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. By early 1957, prototypes were running, and by mid-1957 the project
was given an official drawing office project number (ADO15) so that the
thousands of drawings required for production could be produced. In August 1959
the car was launched as the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Mini Seven or just
Austin Mini. In later years, the car would become known simply as the Mini. 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. The Mini went on to become the best selling
British car in history with a production run of 5.3 million cars. 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.
In 1961, with the Mini gaining popularity, Issigonis
was promoted to Technical Director of BMC.
He continued to be responsible for his original XC projects. XC/9002 became ADO16 and was launched as the Morris 1100 with the
Hydrolastic interconnected suspension system in August 1962. XC/9001 became ADO17 and was launched, also with the Hydrolastic
suspension system, as the Austin
1800 in
October 1964.
Issigonis (nicknamed "The Greek god" by his
contemporaries) was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1967 and was
awarded a knighthood in 1969. Whilst he is most famous for his creation of the
Mini, he was most proud of his participation in the design of the Morris Minor.
He considered it to be a vehicle that combined many of the luxuries and
conveniences of a good motor car with a price suitable for the working classes
- in contrast to the Mini which was a spartan mode of conveyance with
everything cut to the bone.
Sir Alec officially retired from the motor industry in
1971, although he continued working until shortly before his death. He died in
1988 at his house in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
This is a very
nice and very rare non period photo
that reflects a wonderful era of Mini and automotive history in a wonderful
way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is
printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 12" (ca. 20 x 30 cm). It makes it
perfectly suitable for framing.