 Alec
Issigonis was born in Smyrne, Turkey, in the year 1906. In 1922, he and
his family were exiled to Malta by the British Navy. At the young age of
15 he arrived in London. He began studing engineering and got a job working  for
Morris Motor Company. There he designed the Morris Minor. The small car
was not well received, but when the Suez crisis brought about rationing,
the BMC asked him to design an efficient small car.The new design was the
ever lovable Mini. The Mini soon became the best selling car in Europe.
To honor his success, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1969. Issigonis
worked as the engineer director at Austin Rover until 1971 when he retired.
Suffering from Parkinson's disease, he was then only able to stay on as
a consultant until 1987. Sir Issacc Issigonis passed away on October the
second, 1988. The Mini defines his design philosophy, Less is More. |
