Alec Issigonis, the father of one of the world's most popular cars: the Classic MINI

Great cars don’t have to be big. In fact, the most popular cars tend to be small, affordable and appealing to a large number of people. Indeed, one of the most popular is the MINI, a car that has been reborn from its ashes and has become a bestseller today. But before receiving this facelift, it was already a classic that broke all the moulds. This is the story of the model… and of its creator.

Many people know the car perfectly well, both the current one and the classic, but they don’t know Alec Issigonis, its creator. A man who received a difficult commission: to create a car that consumed little, that could carry four people and that was, moreover, against everything being manufactured up to that point.

A car born out of a crisis

The origin of the MINI is closely linked to the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. Because of this confrontation with Egypt, the price of petrol rose out of control and manufacturers had to find a solution. The company British Motor Corporation (BMC) ordered its engineers to create a small car that consumed little. The commission fell to Alec Issigonis.

The trend in those years went the opposite way: big, powerful cars that looked good. Despite this, Alec Issigonis designed a compact vehicle with a transverse engine and front-wheel drive. The rush meant that Issigonis had to make use of existing components. That is why he chose the A-Series engine, with a capacity of 848 cubic centimetres and a power output of 35 CV.

He placed it at the front of his design and made sure everything worked efficiently. He always said “I did not invent the MINI, I designed it“.

Alec Issigonis, his story

He was born in Turkey in 1906, although he had to travel to Malta because of the unrest that occurred during the creation of the Turkish nation. His father died in it and, together with his mother, he ended up living in England. There he studied Mechanical Engineering at the Battersea Polytechnic. He began working at a car design agency and there he earned enough money to buy an Austin Seven.

He modified it for racing and entered the world of motor racing in 1929. Later he built from scratch a single-seater that anticipated what would later become the MINI. The MBC company, born from the merger of Morris and the Austin Motor Company, hired him as technical deputy director, and it was from that post that he created the classic MINI. After these came the Morris 1100 and the Austin 1800.

His work earned him admission to the Royal Society, one of the best-known and most respected scientific institutions in the world. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and became Sir Alec Issigonis. He died in 1988, at almost 82 years of age. His legacy lives on, both in the many classic MINIs still driving on roads across Europe and in the new incarnations of the model.

Photo 1 | Wikipedia

Photo | Wikipedia