This style icon was launched by Alec Issigonis 1959 August. The 1950s was the first decade of the cold war and people lived under panic and threat of a bomb. 1950s were a time of alot of shortages , which was the result of creating a need for this sort of cars . Mini was exactly what young people of the 1950s needed , it gave the youth a voice , a place to belong and a brand they can associate and align with the future after the war.
The Mini Screamed England , but the man who designed it was born in the eastern Mediterranean in what now is called Izmir.
In November 1950 , King Farouk of Egypt demanded the total and immediate evacuation of British troops from the Suez canal zone , which they had occupied since the end of World War 2. Britain said no, the Zone was part of its Middle East Defence system. King Farouk already knew that the was the life line that Britain could live without and it was the only way for vital oil from the Arab oil fields shipped to Britain and Europe without having to go half way around the world , past Africa and the Cape of Good Hope.
Oil power. The supplier had barrel loads of it. 1951 Iran voted to control its own oil Industry, which had been co managed by British interest since 1909. By August the Brits were out of Iran altogether. Obliously they don’t go out with starting a dispute which went in till the following year. At the same time tensions around Suaz were getting out of hand .
In November 1951 British troops moved in as Egypt declared a state of Emergency. This happened to be the same month that , back home ,rival car makers Austin and Morris began a merger ,on which could create the world’s fourth biggest car manufacturing company, behind the American Giants Ford, Chrslysler and General Motors.
Source: The MINI by Brian Laban , Jeremy Clarkson.
Mini
