The Minissima is a small

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

city car that was designed by

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 i ...

(as the Townscar) as his idea for a replacement for the

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 ...

in 1972. It was displayed by

BLMC British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor ...

on their stand at the 1973

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 ...

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 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 an ...

by ex

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

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 production and won a

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 prom ...

award in 1978, it did not gain government support due to high costs and the project was cancelled. GKN sold the rights to British bicycle manufacturer Elswick, and a small number were manufactured from 1981 to 1987 and were sold as the Elswick Envoy. In 2007, an Elswick Envoy was the subject of a 24-minute

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, ''Elegy for the Elswick Envoy'', which shared the prize for best documentary in the 2008

Aspen Shortsfest The Aspen Shortsfest is an annual Oscar® qualifying short film festival held in Aspen, Colorado. The internationally-recognized festival began in 1979. In 2003, director Lionel Bailliu was given the Shortfest Award for the 2002 French short fil ...

film festival.{{cite web, last=Adelman, first=Kim, title=Jury, Audience, and Industry Buzz Agree: Docs Rocked Aspen Shortsfest 2008, date=17 April 2008, publisher=

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

, url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/shorts_column_jury_audience_and_industry_buzz_agree_docs_rocked_aspen_short , accessdate=21 July 2013 1972_Minissima_Side.jpg, Side View Minissima_Dashboard.jpg, Dashboard Microdot_and_Minissima.jpg, Together with Microdot

References

*An article about the car written by British motoring journalist,

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 ...

, was printed in the August 2008 edition of '' Classic & Sportscar magazine'' Concept cars Cars of England Microcars British Leyland vehicles