Car of the Century

[Rollins <73500.616@compuserve.com>]

A few comments stimulated by recent postings.



Although the Honda Civic was very well executed -- better built  and
appointed than the Mini -- it was an evoulution of a prior revolution not a
revolution in its own right. The real conceptual breakthrough was still the
Mini.  Issigonis' design did many things well -- some  the Civic never
matched, and most important,  long BEFORE the Civic existed. Considering
the pattern of the Japanese auto industry to copy rather than create, it is
questionable that the Civic would have come forth at all if the Mini (and
some others) had not  shown Honda the way. The brilliantly-conceived layout
of the Mini introduced a new level of space efficiency to automobiles.
Certainly beyond the Honda version's achievements. It is still more
space-efficient than almost any car produced in the four decades since it
was designed. Another significant feature of the Mini was the ability of
the design to do so many things well. It was not only an economy car and a
family car, it was an extremely successful performance car for rallying and
road racing. This was probably the first, large-scale-production,
four-passenger, family car that could outcorner most "sports" cars of its
time.  The design was also extendable to other forms -- estate wagon, van,
pickup and Moke. In the Austin America and MG 1100 forms, it was extremely
roomy. To say that all modern cars owe their layout to the Civic is to say
they  copied the copier. They are Nth-generation photocopies of a
touched-up photo of the original. 

If you honor the Civic over the Mini, you must love Ted Turner's colorized
versions of The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, and copies of the Mona Lisa
painted in dayglo on velvet.

Raymond Lowey is often credited for the design of the *1953* Studebaker,
but that's because his name was on the door of the studio. Bob Bourke was
the real designer of this timeless beauty.

Paul Rollins
Vancouver, WA