How classic was the 1959 mini Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

How classic was the 1959 mini - Essay Example In the aftermath of the Suez Canal’s closing, car sales plummeted, and the cars which were being sold off at that time had low performance and were unattractive. Upon recognizing the need for better cars, all car manufacturing companies responded by producing cars that were efficient in terms of the technology which as there at that time. Germany introduced the â€Å"bubble cars† which were slow and had only three wheels (Mini Cooper History, n.d.). Sir Leonard Lord who was then currently managing the British Motor Company did not find the bubble cars much to his taste. Coincidentally, the British Motor Company rehired Sir Alec Issigonis, who was given some basic requirements on a car that was to be developed by British Motor Company. The fundamental requisites for the said car were: Sir Alec Issigonis took the current A-series engine from the British Motor Company Austin car and set it in a transverse position on the front wheel drive chassis, while placing the radiator on the left side of the engine. The early mini that was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis was publicly released on August 26, 1959. it was sold as either the Austin Mini Seven or the Morris Mini Minor. The engine offered was the said Austin engine that had a 850cc and generates a thirty-four (34) horsepower speed (Mini Cooper History, n.d.). Since Sir Alec Issigonis had a passion for smoking and dislike of music, the first mini car design had an ashtray and without any radio for musical entertainment. It also consists of sliding windows which avoided the construction of mounting of car window handles on the car door. Hence, with the extra door space large pockets were built. It also sported a centered mounted large speedometer. The first mini sold more than 116,000 units in its first year of production (Mini Cooper History, n.d.). But given that not everyone