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Minissima
The Minissima is a small concept city car that was designed by William Towns (as the Townscar) as his idea for a replacement for the Mini in 1972. It was displayed by BLMC on their stand at the 1973 London Motor Show after they bought the prototype from Towns. In common with the Mini it was designed around 10" wheels and the BMC A-Series engine. It is 30" (75 cm) shorter than the Mini and designed to park end-on to the curb (like the Smart Fortwo), having only one door - at the rear. It has four seats, two at the front, front facing, and two facing inwards at the rear. The Minissina design re-emerged a few years later as a prototype car for the disabled, adapted by engineering firm GKN Sankey by ex Ford engineer Fred Hart. During the engineering process, the layout changed to feature a central driving position in which a wheelchair user would enter through the back door using a fold-down rear ramp, and drive off. The styling was simplified by William Towns to suit mass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microdot (car)
The Microdot is a concept design by William Towns for a small, economical town car. The car was first shown at the 1976 London Motor Show and was an evolution of his 1972 Minissima car. The Microdot was a petrol/electric hybrid vehicle with a small 400cc petrol engine powering a 3.5kW generator and, designed to carry three people side-by-side on short city journeys, with the driver sitting in the central position. Mallalieu Engineering In 1979 William Towns collaborated with prototype vehicle builders at Mallalieu Engineering, Wootton, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, with a view to limited production. The Microdot prototype, built by William Towns on a cut-down Austin Mini chassis, was given opening doors and a longer nose, to accommodate the aluminium Reliant car engine, one of the smallest and lightest UK car engines then available, instead of the original hybrid proposal. Mallalieu Engineering was best known for making Bentley Specials, the Barchetta and Oxford, based on the Mark ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Towns
William Towns (1936–1993) also known as Bill Towns was a British car designer. Design career Towns began his training as a designer at Rootes in 1954, where he was mainly involved in the styling of seats and door handles. Later he was also involved with the styling of their Hillman Hunter. He moved to Rover in 1963 and worked there for David Bache and designed the body of the Rover-BRM gas turbine Le Mans car. In 1966, he left Rover to join Aston Martin as a seat designer, eventually becoming the force behind the Aston Martin Lagonda. He left Aston Martin in 1977 for more remunerative industrial design work, setting up his own design studio, Interstyl. As a freelance designer, he worked on the Jensen-Healey, the successful Hustler kit-car, the Reliant SS2 and the short-lived Railton F28/F29. Death Towns died at the age of 56 or 57 from cancer in June 1993 at his home in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. Car collection Up until July 2005, his own cars were on display at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Walton
Paul Walton is a British motoring journalist and photographer. He started his career in 1999, working for ''Classic Cars'' magazine before moving to BBC Top Gear'' magazine in 2002. Highlights during his time at the two magazines included a twin-engined Citroën 2CV Sahara in the Israeli desert, ''2CV Club of Israel'' 'web presence' report. a 250 SWB on a closed off section of , driving a |
Fred Hart (engineer)
Frederick Leslie Hart (born 12 September 1914, died 16 July 2008) is best known as an automotive engineer for Ford in England. Initially working for the City of London, he joined Ford during World War II as a draughtsman and continued with Ford after the war to become chief engineer in 1963. In 1969 Hart moved to GKN Sankey to become technical director. He retired in 1979. Early years Hart was educated in Walthamstow grammar school and undertook engineering classes at night school. Initially working for the city of London, he then became a landscape architect. In 1940 he joined Ford as part of the war effort to become a draughtsman and took part in the design of armoured vehicles. Hart married Margaret Lydia Bennett in 1943, and they had a son named John. Career After the war, Hart continued with Ford where he became executive engineer of light cars in 1957, his first major project being the Ford Anglia in 1959. He played a major role in the development of the new Ford Cortina l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Leyland Motor Corporation
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40 percent share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation. After much restructuring and divestment of subsidiary companies, BL was renamed the Rover Group in 1986, becoming a subsidiary of British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, then was subsequently bought by BMW. The final surviving incarnation of the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Motor Show
London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O Events, in October 1993, the name changed from the ''London Motorfair'' to ''The London Motor Show''. The London Motor Show revived in May 2016, being held at Battersea Park, with Prince Michael of Kent as its patron. The event of 2017 also took place at Battersea Park, before it moved to ExCeL London from May 2018 and continued in 2019. The event of May 2020 was cancelled, due to the ongoing pandemic, and rescheduled to take place from 16 to 18 July 2021, in Battersea Park. 2019 The fourth London Motor Show took place at ExCeL London (for the second time since its revival) from 16 to 19 May 2019, once again it featured a zone entitled "Built in Britain", promoting engineering by the British, as well as a live drift experience hosted by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GKN Sankey
GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution. The company's name is the initials of three early figures in its history: John Guest, Arthur Keen, and Joseph Henry Nettlefold. All three were key figures in the field of iron and steel during the Industrial Revolution. Ivor Guest sold the ''Dowlais Iron Company'' in Wales to Arthur Keen and Windsor Richards of Birmingham's ''Patent Nut and Bolt Company'' in June 1900. They combined the two businesses and formed ''Guest, Keen & Co. Limited'' on 1 November 1900. A little over twelve months later, Guest Keen & Co bought and amalgamated ''Nettlefolds Limited'' into their new combine giving it the style ''Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited''. Throughout the majority of the twentieth century, though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln luxury brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer Troller, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom and a 32% stake in China's Jiangling Motors. It also has joint ventures in China (Changan Ford), Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), Thailand ( AutoAlliance Thailand), and Turkey ( Ford Otosan). The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family; they have minority ownership but the majority of the voting power. Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines; by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during six, from the last year of the 1950s into the last year of the 20th century, over a single generation, as fastbacks, estates, and convertibles. The original Mini is considered an icon of 1960s British popular culture. Its space-saving transverse engine and front-wheel drive layout – allowing 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage – influenced a generation of car makers. In 1999, the Mini was voted the second-most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T, and ahead of the Citroën DS and Volkswagen Beetle. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Design Council
The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the promoting of the concept of inclusive design. The Design Council's archive is located at the University of Brighton Design Archives. The Design Council operates two subsidiaries, the Design Council Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Design Council CABE) and Design Council Enterprises Limited. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment The Design Council Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (DC CABE, alternatively Design Council CABE, CABE at the Design Council, or simply CABE), is one of Design Council’s two subsidiaries. It supports communities, local authorities and developers involved in built environment projects by providing services in three areas: design review, customised exper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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