One of the most recognised and plagiarised car designs in the World, immortalised in films such as The Italian Job, the Mini became an icon of British design during the swinging sixties in London and around the globe.
The Mini was the brainchild and end product of a two year research project by the chain-smoking Sir Alec Issigonis for the British Motor Company (BMC) started in 1957 and launched to an astounded public in 1959.
The Mini was born out of economic necessity and demonstrated the differences in the mindsets of US and British car owners at the time.
In America, multi-laned freeways were springing up everywhere and the 1950′s was a time of indulgence in classic muscle cars and massive engined saloons. Fuel and economy was not a consideration.
However in Europe the mindset and zeitgeist was totally different, with the first two lane UK motorway not opened until 1959.
In 1956 petrol rationing had been reintroduced in the UK due to the Suez Crisis. When Egyptian leader General Nasser shut the Suez Canal, Britain’s largest oil supplier of the time, Burmah Oil, which operated out of Persia, had to find alternative and much longer routes.
Demand for sales of small economic to run cars soon outstripped supply and this gap was filled by the famous two seater ‘bubble cars’ and other strange machines of German origin like the gull winged doors on the three wheeled Messerschmitt Kabinenroller (cabinscooter) KR175 and KR200.
Against this background, BMC commissioned Issigonis to come up with a world-beating small car to replace its aging Morris Minor, a previously untested idea.
The Mini’s ingenious concept and design meant it offered a staggeringly large amount of interior space for what was essentially a 10 foot long car. The short wheelbase meant the Mini was extremely maneuverable and the car only weighed just 587 kg.
When Issigonis set to work he imagined an ultra compact cube to house four passengers, fronted by a space-saving front wheel drive system. However in a flash of genius he positioned the engine transversely across the engine well with the gearbox underneath it, to keep the drive-train super compact and outside his cube, and in doing so he invented the transverse engine.
The prototypes were fitted with a 950cc Morris Minor engine which could reach speeds of 92 mph, but the production car was first released with a more limited 848cc BMC engine that had a top speed of 72 mph.
Every available space was utilised in the design of the BMC Mini.
