Alec Issigonis Archives

VotW – The Classic Morris Minor Story

June 6, 2018 Michael Carnell 1

Our Video of the Week for this first week of June features another, and first of the well known, designs that took place under the leadership of Alec Issigonis. This is the story of the Morris Minor. Over one-and-a-half million Minors were produced between 1948 and 1972. Initially available only as a two-door saloon and convertible, the range was quickly expanded to include a four-door saloon in 1950, a wood-framed estate (the Traveller) in October 1953, and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May of 1953. It was the first British car to sell over one million units and is considered a classic example of automotive design, as well as typifying “Englishness”. Eric Lord, the director of Morris Motors, said that Lord Nuffield thought that the new Morris Minor looked like a poached egg and that the car was narrow […]

VotW – Magic Carpet – MG 1100

June 11, 2016 Michael Carnell Comments Off

Our Video of the Week (VotW) this go round comes by way of the British Motor Corporation of 1962. It is entitled “Magic Carpet” and is a nice period marketing piece for the MG 1100. The BMC family of 1100 and 1300 sedans were the big brothers to the Mini. Designated AD016, they were badge engineered as Austin, MG, Riley, and Morris to name a few. They were enjoyable little people movers and were the top selling, or one of the top selling cars, in Britain for many years. Although they never reached that same level of popularity here in the US, there did used to be quite a number of them around. Long ago I had a website devoted to the MG 1100, and although I haven’t updated it in a long time you can still find it at http://justbritish.com/mg1100. […]

Capturing Mini’s Big Impact On Film

June 7, 2011 Staff Comments Off

A Mini mad student has photographed one of the original cars back at the plant where it was built 50 years ago – alongside an engineer who worked on the first prototype. For the last project for his University of Derby BA (Hons) Commercial Photography degree course Simon Thompson took his own 1960 model Mini – one of the first sold – back to the Longbridge Plant in Birmingham where it was built. Simon photographed his car at the plant alongside Doug Adams, 91, who worked on the Mini prototype alongside its creator Sir Alec Issigonis, when the two men became friends. Doug still lives on the Longbridge Estate in Birmingham, established by the Austin motor company at the end of the First World War. The photos by Simon will be on public display at the University’s Markeaton Street site […]

Morris Minor Marks 60th Year

February 1, 2008 Staff Comments Off

Morris Minor lovers from across the globe will descend on Oxford this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cowley-built car. The iconic vehicle, designed by Mini creator Alec Issigonis, first rolled off the production line in 1948. It became the first British car to sell a million units and went on to shift 1.6 million by the end of its 23-year lifespan. As part of the birthday celebrations, the Morris Minor Owners’ Club will drive a procession of members’ cars from each year of production through Oxford city center in November. Ray Newell, whose book Morris Minor: 60 years on the road was published this month, said the Cowley craftsmanship had helped keep so many examples running. He said: “At the time they were solid, dependable vehicles. In post-war Britain they were really economical to run. advertisement “Morris […]