Revolutionary Design of Mini Car (Part II)

The short development time of the car meant this was not ready in time for the Mini Car's launch. The system intended for the Mini was further developed and the hydrolastic system and was first used on the Austin 1100, launched in 1962, with the Mini following two years later. Ten-inch (254 mm) wheels were specified, so new tyres needed to be developed, the initial contract going to Dunlop. Issigonis went to Dunlop stating that he wanted even smaller, 8 in (203 mm) wheels (even though he had already settled on ten-inch). An agreement was made on the ten-inch size, after Dunlop choked on the eight-inch proposition.

Sliding windows allowed storage pockets in the hollow doors; reportedly Issigonis sized them fit a bottle of Gordon's Gin. The boot lid was designed with the hinges at the bottom so that the car could be driven with it open to increase luggage space. On early cars the number plate was hinged so it swung down to remain visible when the boot lid was open. This design was later discontinued as it was discovered that exhaust gases could leak into the cockpit while the boot was open.

The Mini was designed as a monocoque shell with welded seams that are visible on the outside of the car running down the A and C pillars, and between the body and the floor pan showing where the joins are. To further simplify construction, the car had external door and boot hinges. All of these novel and elegant technical innovations resulted in a car with minimum overall dimensions yet maximized space for both passengers and luggage.

Production models differed from the prototype by the addition of front and rear sub frames to the unibody to take the suspension loads, and by turning the engine around with the carburettor at the back rather than at the front. This required an extra gear to be placed between engine and transmission to reverse the engine direction. Making this a reduction gear had the beneficial effect of reducing loads on the gearbox and preventing the rapid wear on the synchromesh which had been a problem on early prototypes. Having the carburettor at the rear helped to reduce carburettor icing, but did expose the distributor to water coming in through the grille.

The engine size was reduced from 948 cc to 848 cc, which reduced the top speed from an unprecedented 90 mph (145 km/h) to a more manageable (for the time) 72 mph (116 km/h), as well as reducing cabin noise quite a bit. This decision was reversed in 1967.

Despite its utilitarian origins, the classic Mini car shape had become so iconic that by the 1990s, Rover Group — the heirs to BMC — were able to register its design as a trade mark in its own right.

Revolutionary Design of Mini Car (Part I)

Born of necessity during the Suez Crisis, it had a revolutionary design for the time - with front wheel drive, the gears mounted in the engine's sump and a transverse engine. The entire engine and transmission unit was contained on sub frames and fitted compactly under the Mini's tiny bonnet.

It was also VERY small - just over 10 feet long - which made it all the more incredible that it could take 4 people and (some) of their luggage.It has been available as saloon, station wagon, pick-up, van, cabriolet, utility vehicle (Moke) and numerous other permutations!

The suspension system, designed by Issigonis' friend Dr. Alex Moulton at Moulton Developments Limited, used compact rubber cones instead of conventional springs. This ingenious space-saving design also featured rising progressive rate springing of the cones, and provided some natural damping force. Built into the sub frames, the rubber cone system gave a raw and bumpy ride which was accentuated by the woven-webbing seats, but the rigidity of the rubber cones, together with the wheels being pushed out to the corners of the car, gave the Mini go kart-like handling that would become famous.

Initially an interconnected fluid system was planned — similar to the one which Alec Issigonis and Alex Moulton were working on in the mid-1950s at Alvis. They had assessed the mechanically interconnected Citroen 2CV suspension at that time (according to an interview by Moulton with CAR magazine in the late 1990s), which inspired the design of the Hydrolastic suspension system for the Mini and Austin 1100, to try to keep the benefits of the 2CV system (ride comfort, body levelling, keeping the road wheel under good control and the tyre in contact with the road), but with added roll stiffness that the 2CV was very much lacking.

Click here to read Revolutionary Design of Mini Car (Part II)

The Creator of Mini Car

The Mini's creator, the late, great Sir Alec Issigonis, was a genius. Sir Alec Issigonis' Mini was launched on 26th August 1959, changing the face of the car industry forever. The Mini was entirely his work and not the work of a whole team as happens today. The world's favorite small car stayed in continuous production, largely unchanged, until the year 2000.

He designed the Mini to be a small, cheap, economic wee car with safe handling...little did he know that the car would go on for 40 historic years. It was a small cheap run-around in the time of a fuel crisis, a fashion icon in the sixties, and a legend on the race tracks of the world, having won the British and European Saloon car championships, and the celebrated Monte Carlo rally three times then back to being an economy car before finally ending up as an ultra-cool "retro" car for the 90s with a huge following from people of all ages.

He had a marvellous ability to visualise the completed car during its design stages. There are many examples of this, such as the one where an engineer asked him what size to make the wheels. Issigonis held his hands apart and said "this big"...the engineer measured the distance between his hands - 10 inches - and made the wheels exactly that size!

Casual sketches made my Issigonis could almost be used as blueprints by the engineers assembling the first prototypes. He called himself "The Ironmonger" because he preferred to be hands-on rather than paper-based. "Market research is bunk" he said..."the public don't know what they want, it is my job to tell them". with more than 5.25 million Minis produced, who can argue? Sir Alec designed many other successful cars including the legendary Morris Minor and Austin 1100/1300 range.

Design and development of Mini Car

During the year 1956, in response to fuel rationing brought on by the Suez Crisis, Greek-British car designer Alec Issigonis is told by his employers at BMC (British Motor Corporation) to bring his latest small mini car project, codenamed XC/9003, to fruition as soon as possible.

After a year, 1957, the first prototypes of the small car begin testing, gaining a new codename, ADO15. Designed as project ADO15 (Austin Drawing Office project number 15), the Mini came about because of a fuel shortage caused by the 1956 Suez Crisis. Petrol was once again rationed in the UK, sales of large cars slumped, the market for German Bubble cars boomed.

Leonard Lord, the somewhat autocratic head of BMC, reportedly decreed: 'God damn these bloody awful Bubble Cars. We must drive them off the road by designing a proper miniature car'. He laid down some basic design requirements: the Mini car should be contained within a box that measured 10 × 4 × 4 ft (3 × 1.2 × 1.2 m); and the passenger accommodation should occupy 6 ft (1.8 m) of the 10 ft (3 m) length; and the engine, for reasons of cost, should be an existing unit.

Issigonis, who had been working for Alvis, had been recruited back to BMC in 1955 and, with his skills in designing small cars, was a natural for the task. The team that designed the Mini was remarkably small: as well as Issigonis, there was Jack Daniels (who had worked with him on the Morris Minor), Chris Kingham (who had been with him at Alvis), two engineering students and four draughtsmen. Together, by October 1957, they had designed and built the original prototype, which was affectionately named 'The Orange Box' because of its colour.

The ADO15 used a conventional BMC A-Series four-cylinder water-cooled engine, but departed from tradition by mounting it transversely, with the engine-oil-lubricated, four-speed transmission in the sump, and by employing front-wheel drive. Almost all small front-wheel-drive cars developed since have used a similar configuration. The radiator was mounted at the left side of the car so that the engine-mounted fan could be retained, but with reversed pitch so that it blew air into the natural low pressure area under the front wing. This location saved precious vehicle length, but had the disadvantage of feeding the radiator with air that had been heated by passing over the engine.