Facts From 1959 - British Motor Company Launches The Mini Car

Posted by Nigel Herbert on April 12, 2022.

August 1959 saw the launch of the Morris Mini Minor - a two door small city car - by the British Motor Company. The car was designed by the British-Greek automotive designer Alec Issigonis , later Sir Alexander Issigonis. Issigonis had been recruited back into the company at Longbridge by the then chairman Sir Leonard Lord with instructions to design three family cars. Initially he focused on two larger versions but following the Suez Crisis and the introduction of fuel rationing it was the design of a small car under the code name XC/9003 that proved the more successful.

Morris Minor

Image By DeFacto - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3609044

The Mini as it became popularly known had a ground breaking design with front-wheel drive , transverse engine , sump gearbox , 10 inch wheels and a rubber cone suspension system designed by Alex Moulton. The car was a major hit such that it was still being manufactured up to the year 2000. On 22nd July 1969 Issigonis was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in recognition of his work.

In 1994 , BMW acquired the Rover Group - formerly British Leyland - and sold off most parts of the organisation in the year 2000 but retained the rights to the Mini brand. Today (2022) BMW still controls the brand and has over the years expanded the model range to include a convertible version , a five door version , the Countryman Crossover and the Clubman wagon.

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