Automobile designer, born in Smyrna, W Turkey. He settled in Britain in 1923 and studied at Battersea Polytechnic. His early fascination for cars led him to use his talents in the motor industry. He is best known as the designer of the Morris Minor (194871), and the revolutionary British Motor Corporation Mini, launched in 1959. He became a royal designer for industry in 1967.
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS (November 18, 1906–October 2, 1988) was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1959.
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).
Issigonis went into the motor industry as an engineer and designer working for Humber and did some motor racing during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1936, he moved to the Morris Motor Company at Cowley working on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10. 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 the Austin Motor Company, he moved to Alvis Cars where he designed an advanced saloon with all aluminium V-8 engine, and experimented with interconnected independent suspension systems.
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. In August 1959 the car was launched as the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Se7en. 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 1960's. 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 from Parkinson’s Disease in 1988 in his house at Edgsbaton, England.
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