History of The Mini: Notes
Due to an oil and gas crisis in the mid 1950's bubble or micro cars such as the BMW Isetta, appeared on the streets in all of the European countries. Driven by competition in the market British Motor Corporation (BMC), one of the world's largest manufacturers of small and medium cars decided to build a small car to compete with the bubble cars.
Designer Alec Issigonis was given the job of producing a miniature version of a car he had designed some 10 years earlier, the highly successful Morris Minor. Lenoard Lord head of BMC instructed Issigonis to come up with something that would drive the bubble cars off the road. The new miniature car should be less than 10 feet in length, capable of accommodating four adults and use an existing engine. The design team shortened miniature to "Mini" and the name of the car was born.
In order to achieve his design objectives, Issigonis decided to devote 80% of the space to passengers and luggage leaving little more than 18 inches in which to place the engine and gearbox.
He decided that this could only be achieved by using a transverse engine and front wheel drive. While this layout had previously been used by other manufacturers, Issigonis could not package a conventional transmission within the confines of his vehicle size objectives. He eventually settled on the unique idea of positioning the transmission in the engine sump. To maximize interior space he decided to adopt the 'wheel at each corner' configuration. The design was not without its problems as many technical difficulties had to be overcome. The drive shafts used technology from submarine periscopes, the small tires had to be specially developed for longer wear and an oil was needed that could be shared by the engine and gearbox
In August of 1959, just two years after the prototype had been driven, the Mini rolled off the production line in two versions - the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Seven. The motoring press was immediately impressed with the handling of the car and its space efficiency.
While not designed as a sports car, its dynamic capabilities ensured the Mini would be driven like a sports car.