Minissima Explained

Minissima
Aka:Elswick Envoy
Production:1972
Designer:William Towns
Successor:Microdot,Elswick Envoy

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 original Mini in 1972. It was displayed by British Leyland on their stand at the 1973 London Motor Show after they bought the prototype from Towns.[1]

In common with the early Mini, it was designed around its initial 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.[2]

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.[3] 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 award in 1978,[4] 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.[5] In 2007, an Elswick Envoy was the subject of a 24-minute short film, Elegy for the Elswick Envoy, which shared the prize for best documentary in the 2008 Aspen Shortsfest film festival.[6]

References

  1. Motor 1985 volume 167
  2. Web site: Adams . Keith . Minissima . The Unofficial Austin-Rover Web . 8 March 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927005601/http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?ado15minissf.htm . 27 September 2007 . dmy-all.
  3. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2421045/Fred-Hart.html Telegraph 16 July 2008
  4. The Engineer 1979 volume 248
  5. Web site: Elswick Envoy road car, United Kingdom, 1986. Science Museum. 17 October 2012.
  6. Web site: Adelman. Kim. Jury, Audience, and Industry Buzz Agree: Docs Rocked Aspen Shortsfest 2008. 17 April 2008. IndieWire. 21 July 2013.