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angelmb · Mar 19, 2006, 11:27 AM

The original Mini has ranked fourth in a poll of British design icons organised by BBC Two’s The Culture Show and the Design Museum.

The nationwide poll invited people to vote for their favourite example of British design conceived since 1900. Winning honours went to Concorde, followed by the London Underground Map and the legendary Supermarine Spitfire.

The Mini was the only car inside the top 10 results; the E-Type Jaguar was voted 11th, just ahead of the Aston Martin DB5 in 12th.

The Alec Issigonis-designed Mini was designed as a cheap, fuel-efficient four-seater, and it revolutionised the way small cars were built. The engine was turned sideways to provide more cabin space, and powered the front wheels, negating the need for a bulky transmission tunnel. Every nook and cranny in the car is utilised to perfection - leaving 80% of the three metre-long Mini to be devoted to its occupants.

When released it instantly appealed to a huge spectrum of the population, regardless of their wealth. Celebrity owners like the Beatles only added to the Mini’s kudos, and helped it to achieve five million sales over a period of 40 years.

FeLiZeCaT · 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by angelmb

The original Mini has ranked fourth in a poll of British design icons organised by BBC Two’s The Culture Show and the Design Museum.

The nationwide poll invited people to vote for their favourite example of British design conceived since 1900. Winning honours went to Concorde, followed by the London Underground Map and the legendary Supermarine Spitfire.

The Mini was the only car inside the top 10 results; the E-Type Jaguar was voted 11th, just ahead of the Aston Martin DB5 in 12th.

The Alec Issigonis-designed Mini was designed as a cheap, fuel-efficient four-seater, and it revolutionised the way small cars were built. The engine was turned sideways to provide more cabin space, and powered the front wheels, negating the need for a bulky transmission tunnel. Every nook and cranny in the car is utilised to perfection - leaving 80% of the three metre-long Mini to be devoted to its occupants.

When released it instantly appealed to a huge spectrum of the population, regardless of their wealth. Celebrity owners like the Beatles only added to the Mini’s kudos, and helped it to achieve five million sales over a period of 40 years.

Thanks for the Mini, we have also mini-skirts.

At the time, fashion was for long tight skirts. The Mini being targeted increasingly towards a young, hip clientele, and the seats being so low, moving in and out of the car was almost impossible.

The mini-skirt changed all that: freedom of movement, plus the changes with sex-appeal made the Mini a sexy car.

Kevin · Mar 19, 2006, 11:39 AM

Actually the mini had nothing to do with mini skirts being made.

baw · Mar 19, 2006, 11:54 AM

Mr. Bean is awesome.

SimeyTheLimey · Mar 19, 2006, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by angelmb

The original Mini has ranked fourth in a poll of British design icons organised by BBC Two’s The Culture Show and the Design Museum.

The nationwide poll invited people to vote for their favourite example of British design conceived since 1900. Winning honours went to Concorde, followed by the London Underground Map and the legendary Supermarine Spitfire.

The mini is definitely a style icon, but Concorde is an odd choice for a British style icon. After all, it was half French.

Anyway, my vote would have been for waxed toilet paper. What could be more quintessentially British than the completely non-absorbent bog roll?

angelmb · Mar 19, 2006, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by baw

Mr. Bean is awesome.

Everyone loves Mr. Bean !, Benny Hill & Mr. Bean TV shows are so good, so great

Another pict for you

Lateralus · Mar 19, 2006, 01:59 PM

Doofy · Mar 19, 2006, 02:39 PM

The Mini represents everything that's wrong with Britain... ...from the twee design to the fact that because Issigonis didn't like in-car radios he didn't leave a space for anyone else to have one. It's all there, in a nutshell.

On the other hand, the Spitfire represents everything that's great about Britain. I could be biased 'coz Reggie was a home boy.

Diggory Laycock · Mar 19, 2006, 05:19 PM

I'm surprised the web didn't make it in the list - I suppose it's too intangible/techy.

JohnM15141 · Mar 19, 2006, 05:21 PM

I had a Spitfire it was a crappy car!

Could never holds it timing and always flooded while starting. I found sand in the engine block from the original casting when I had to replace the headgasket (...often

).

Originally Posted by Doofy

The Mini represents everything that's wrong with Britain... ...from the twee design to the fact that because Issigonis didn't like in-car radios he didn't leave a space for anyone else to have one. It's all there, in a nutshell.

On the other hand, the Spitfire represents everything that's great about Britain. I could be biased 'coz Reggie was a home boy.

FeLiZeCaT · Mar 19, 2006, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

Actually the mini had nothing to do with mini skirts being made.

The miniskirt is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees (generally 20cm or more above knee level). Its existence is generally credited to the fashion designer Mary Quant, who was inspired by the Mini automobile, although the French designer André Courrèges is also often cited as its inventor, and there is disagreement on who invented it first. Some credit the Miniskirt to Helen Rose who made some miniskirts for actress Anne Francis in the 1956 science fiction movie, Forbidden Planet. [1]

That is what I read, and also from one of my books (I unfortunately do not have the reference).

Do you have a reference about it?

FeLiZeCaT · Mar 19, 2006, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by JohnM15141

I had a Spitfire it was a crappy car!

Could never holds it timing and always flooded while starting. I found sand in the engine block from the original casting when I had to replace the headgasket (...often

).

Good looking car, but easily turned into trash cans.

moonmonkey · Mar 19, 2006, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by JohnM15141

I had a Spitfire it was a crappy car!

Could never holds it timing and always flooded while starting. I found sand in the engine block from the original casting when I had to replace the headgasket (...often

).

They were talking about the fighter plane not the car.

JohnM15141 · Mar 19, 2006, 06:01 PM

and I was talking about the car not the fighter plane

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

They were talking about the fighter plane not the car.

Kevin · Mar 19, 2006, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by FeLiZeCaT

That is what I read, and also from one of my books (I unfortunately do not have the reference).

Do you have a reference about it?

The mini skirt existed in the 50s. It didn't become popular till the 60s. While you might be able to say that the mini might have MADE it popular. It wasn't invented BECAUSE of the mini.

FeLiZeCaT · Mar 19, 2006, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

The mini skirt existed in the 50s. It didn't become popular till the 60s. While you might be able to say that the mini might have MADE it popular. It wasn't invented BECAUSE of the mini.

Fair enough; that is plausible.

Love Calm Quiet · Mar 20, 2006, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by angelmb

The original Mini has ranked fourth in a poll of British design ...

That mini oozes style the way its celeb's expression oozes intelligence.

The *Mac* Mini leaves it in the dust.

mdc · Mar 20, 2006, 08:28 AM

I still think that my brother's original mini we used to drive around was one of the funnest cars I've driven.

nath · Mar 20, 2006, 08:35 AM

my first car was a mini estate! (station-wagon for those of you in the US)

for some reason i can't possibly fathom, americans find the idea of a mini estate unspeakably hilarious.

I once got 9 people in it. We went up a steep hill, and halfway up started rolling back down again.

wdlove · Mar 20, 2006, 10:19 AM

It is a cute little car.

Mediaman_12 · Mar 20, 2006, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by nath

my first car was a mini estate! (station-wagon for those of you in the US)

Ever wonderd why the 'facelift' they gave the mini looked very 'Ford' inspired.

British Layland had just recuited a bunch of ex Ford designers, and the lazy bastards just carried on where they left off.
Evrything form the Front grill to the air vents looked like it was taken form the previous gen Ford cars

olePigeon · Mar 20, 2006, 11:32 AM

Too bad the Mini is a $30,000 "sports" car now.

nath · Mar 20, 2006, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by Mediaman_12

Ever wonderd why the 'facelift' they gave the mini looked very 'Ford' inspired.

British Layland had just recuited a bunch of ex Ford designers, and the lazy bastards just carried on where they left off.
Evrything form the Front grill to the air vents looked like it was taken form the previous gen Ford cars

never thought about that before, but you can definitely see the old school cortina in the front end.

FeLiZeCaT · Mar 20, 2006, 05:07 PM

Some of you may appreciate this.

Ado · Mar 20, 2006, 07:10 PM

The funny thing about all British cars - theyre now foreign owned by many German companies and some american. Mini is one.

ghporter · Mar 20, 2006, 07:15 PM

A number of British cars seemed to indicate that British engineers could not deal with containing fluids or managing electricity (Jags and MGs...or was it the other way around?). The ONLY bad thing I ever heard about an original Mini was that they were small...which was the point, I thought.

As for the radio thing, ever hear of a car called the Bricklin? The designer, a guy named Bricklin (go figure!) did not provide a cigarette lighter in this mid-to-late 70s car because he didn't want to see one of his cars wrapped around a tree because the driver was fumbling with the lighter. I see the radio thing as the same sort of thing, but I could be wrong.

And I think there's a place for a distinctive national style for various car manufacturers. I thought for a long time that Mad Max drove a dressed up AMC Matador...until someone pointed out that was an Aussie Ford and showed me showroom pictures of it to prove the point. The Ford Prefect, for example, is about as quintessentially British as a London Cab. But there's really only so much you can do with a box that's supposed to do what a Ford Explorer does...

Doofy · Mar 20, 2006, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

The ONLY bad thing I ever heard about an original Mini was that they were small...

And slow. With crap brakes.

Originally Posted by ghporter

As for the radio thing, ever hear of a car called the Bricklin? The designer, a guy named Bricklin (go figure!) did not provide a cigarette lighter in this mid-to-late 70s car because he didn't want to see one of his cars wrapped around a tree because the driver was fumbling with the lighter. I see the radio thing as the same sort of thing, but I could be wrong.

Narh. Issigonis really was a bit of an a-hole and the reason for no radio was purely due to the fact that he didn't like them - nowt to do with safety. He had "Americanophobia" too.

Doofy · Mar 20, 2006, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by Ado

The funny thing about all British cars - theyre now foreign owned

Sorry, wrong. Most are foreign-owned, not all. There's still Ascari, Caterham, Noble, Ultima, Westfield, Bristol and Morgan.

FeLiZeCaT · Mar 20, 2006, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by Doofy

And slow. With crap brakes.

Depends of the models. The modified Cooper "S" had disk breaks at the front and acceleration was much improved over the stock Austin.

FeLiZeCaT · Mar 20, 2006, 08:57 PM

Here is a funny one. The Twini Mini.

Ado · Mar 21, 2006, 07:04 PM

And as it goes...who cares...
Morgans a rehashed hobby experiment like the Rob Nell cobras were, ascari is almost gone, Caterham and Westerfirld are not typical road cars, just lightweight frame racers, Noble uses a ford modeo engine, and the rest never got bought out cause noone wants them.

The only car British made in the last decade that rekindled the british racing DNA was TVR.....They are now owned by a Russian.

It was funny cause in Top Gear they are obviously British bias and one ep they spoke about British cars today and pretended that the Mini was still british becaus ethe germans honoured the workers to stay on in Britain, same with Rolls Royce, but then preceded on explaining how certain Nissan cars are proudly British becaus ethey made in Britian...Its like as if it was a sign of desperation to prove England is still in the game...

But for fairness, Renault F1 car has mainly british developing and woking on it.

Doofy · Mar 21, 2006, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by Ado

Morgans a rehashed hobby experiment like the Rob Nell cobras were

Wow. You don't know about Morgans then, huh?

Originally Posted by Ado

But for fairness, Renault F1 car has mainly british developing and woking on it.

Umm... Pretty much every F1 car has mainly Brits developing it.

We may not have the manufacturing capabilities any more (thanks Blair) but we still have the people. Design took over from manufacturing - as shown by the British contingent working at Apple.

moonmonkey · Mar 21, 2006, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Doofy

We may not have the manufacturing capabilities any more (thanks Blair) but we still have the people. Design took over from manufacturing - as shown by the British contingent working at Apple.

There also used to be a disproportionately large number of Brits working at Disney, don't know about now.

What other Brits work at a senior level in Apple apart from Jonathan Ive?