1905

In the year 1905, Herbert Austin established the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge, England, mass producing the Austin Seven. After the Second World War, it teamed up with rival manufacturer Morris to come up with a brand new company called the British Motor Corporation (BMC), which was destined to make one of the finest small cars of all time.

Lord Leonard, chairman of the British Motor Corporation commissioned Alec Issigonis towards the end of 1957 to build a nippy little hatchback that would sip fuel conservatively, along with the objective of keeping manufacturing costs and development time to as low as possible. Apparently, Issigonis was so enthusiastic about this project, he actually penned down his very first ideas of the car on…a napkin. Yes, that enthusiastic. Little wonder then that he came to be known as the "Father of the classic Mini".