Issigonis was initially reluctant to see the Mini in the role of a performance car, but after John Cooper appealed to BMC management, the two men collaborated to create the Mini Cooper, a nimble, economical and inexpensive car.

Notable British car designers include John Polwhele Blatchley, Ian Callum, Colin Chapman, Alec Issigonis, Charles Spencer King and Gordon Murray.

The team was founded by David Fry and Alec Issigonis, whose previous employer John Parkes at Alvis brought his son Mike Parkes as a development driver.

* 1906 – Alec Issigonis, Greek-born British car designer ( d. 1988 )

** Alec Issigonis, Greek-born British automobile designer ( d. 1988 )

The Greek car designer Alec Issigonis created the iconic Mini automobile, while the computer scientist Michael Dertouzos was amongst the pioneers of the internet.

Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS ( 18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988 ) was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation ( BMC ) in 1959.

* Alec Issigonis ( 1906 – 1988 ), Greek-British car designer

It is also somewhat notorious for leading to the sacking of its designer Gerald Palmer ( by BMC's Leonard Lord ) in favour of Alec Issigonis.

A car fanatic since he was a boy, he wrote letters to Mini designer Alec Issigonis asking how to become a car designer and received kindly and encouraging replies.

Sir Alec Issigonis, the British car designer and engineer who created the Morris Minor and the Mini, was a first cousin once removed of Pischetsrieder.

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.

Notable British cars of this era included the 1959 Mini — designed by Alec Issigonis for the British Motor Corporation, and Malcolm Sayer's 1961 E-type Jaguar.

That Issigonis had the freedom to create such revolutionary cars is thanks to the mandate given to him by Lord.

Gillian Bardsley, Archivist of the British Motor Heritage Trust, in her biography of Alec Issigonis, credits Lord with the vision that BMC needed an entirely new range of cars if it was to remain competitive into the 1960s.

It was a departure from previous front-wheel drive cars from the company in that it dispensed with the famous Issigonis transmission-in-sump powertrain that had been pioneered in the Mini.

In 1959 Austin Mini was launched by the British Motor Corporation, designed by Alec Issigonis as a response to the first ' oil crisis ', the 1956 Suez Crisis, and the boom in bubble cars that followed.

The next major advance in small car design was the 1959 848 cc FF layout Austin Mini from the British Motor Corporation, designed by Alec Issigonis as a response to the first oil crisis, the 1956 Suez Crisis, and the boom in bubble cars and Microcars that followed.

Still during the 1960s British manufacturers sought professional help from the Italians, Giovanni Michelotti, Ercole Spada and Pininfarina. Notable British contributions to automobile designs were Morris Mini by Alec Issigonis, Several Jaguar Cars by Sir William Lyons, Aston Martin DB Series, and several cars from Triumph and MG. Ford Europe based in Great Britain is notable for Ford Sierra, a creation of Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz, and Patrick le Quément.

* August 26 – The original Mini designed by Sir Alec Issigonis is launched.

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.

The 2CV suspension was assessed by Alec Issigonis and Alex Moulton in the mid-1950s ( according to an interview by Moulton with CAR magazine in the late 1990s ); this inspired them to design the Hydrolastic suspension system for the Mini and Austin 1100, to try to keep the benefits of the 2CV system but with added roll stiffness in a simplified design.

In 1948 the Eight was replaced by what is probably the most famous Morris car, the Morris Minor designed by Alec Issigonis ( who later went on to design the Mini ) and reusing the small car name from 1928.

However it was Lord who persuaded Alec Issigonis to rejoin BMC to create what became the Mini and the 1100, Austin / BMC's two most successful products.

However, in 1959, Alec Issigonis had developed the revolutionary Mini motor car which relied on the Hardy Spicer joints for its front wheel drive technology.

From 1952 to 1955 Alec Issigonis, the creator of the later Mini worked for Alvis and designed a new model with a V8 engine which proved too expensive to produce.

The Mini Moke is a vehicle based on the Mini and designed for the British Motor Corporation ( BMC ) by Sir Alec Issigonis.

When Issigonis designed the Mini, he planned another vehicle to share the Mini's mechanical parts, but with a more rugged body shell.

Following his success with the Mini, Issigonis set out to design a larger and more sophisticated car which incorporated more advanced features and innovations.

The mechanically interconnected Citroen 2CV suspension was assessed in the mid-1950s by Alec Issigonis and Alex Moulton ( according to an interview by Moulton with CAR magazine in the late 1990s ), and was an inspiration in 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 roadwheel under good control and the tyre in contact with the road ), but with added roll stiffness that the 2CV lacked.

BMC engineer Charles Griffin took over development work from Issigonis at the end of the 1950s while Issignois completed work on the Mini.

This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis.

Alec Issigonis originally designed the Morris Minor for a flat four, but cost constraints meant it was never used.

His grandfather Demosthenis Issigonis migrated to Smyrna from Paros in the 1830s and through the work he did for the British-built Smyrna-Aydın Railway, in the engineering works that he had established, had managed to acquire British nationality.

The Allegro was designed as the replacement for the popular Austin 1100 and 1300 models, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis.

It follows the Issigonis philosophy of packaging, with innovations including a flat under floor fuel tank and specially located steering rack and final drive unit to maximise floor space for passengers.

* October 2 – Alec Issigonis, Greek-British engineer ( b. 1906 )

Initially an interconnected fluid system was planned, similar to the one that Alec Issigonis and Alex Moulton were working on in the mid-1950s at Alvis.

Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna ( now İzmir, Turkey ) in the Ottoman Empire.

Demosthenis's son ( Alec's father ) Constantine Issigonis ( Κωνσταντίνος Ισηγόνης ), was born, with British nationality, in Smyrna in 1872.

It was through his mother's kinships that Issigonis was a first cousin once removed to BMW ( and more briefly Volkswagen ) director Bernd Pischetsrieder.