Motor magazine, August 1962.
Alec Issigonis, technical director of the British Motor Corporation and Charles Griffin, chief engineer, answer questions from our technical editor.
Joseph Lowrey, Motor – As soon as they discovered the Mini-Minor’s remarkable qualities, Motorists began asking whether your unique design could also be scaled up into something larger. Is the Morris 1100 your reply to them, Alec?
Alec Issigonis – The answer to that question is that since introducing the transverse mounted engine and front wheel drive we have learnt a great deal about a new technique, and the trend towards bigger things is already visible in this new model. The similarity of this car to the Mini’s is great, but its engine already has 40% more power and is 30% larger than the one we started with.
Joseph Lowrey, Motor – So by now, after selling ADO15’s for three years, perhaps you know enough to design something twice as big as the original? Anyway, how long have you been at work on the ADO16 design?
Alec Issigonis – For three and a half years. About six months before a new car is ready for production we are confident about what we are doing. Six months before the public saw the ADO15, we knew its engine and architecture were sound and began to apply its lessons to a larger model. This one took us longer than the ADO15 to develop. It wasn’t so urgently needed from a commercial point of view and we were faced with problems of getting much greater refinement. In many ways, it was harder to do, in some ways also it was easier.
The interesting full interview here:-
https://www.aronline...n-the-bmc-1100/
