With the after effects of the 1956-1957 Suez Crisis being felt worldwide, Leonard Lord commissioned Alec Issigonis to work on a radical small car project.

His response was the now legendary Mini.

Featuring an ingenious transverse-mounted powertrain (with engine sat atop of the gearbox), all-round independent 'rubber cone' suspension, front-wheel drive, compact rack, and pinion steering, the newcomer was a packaging masterpiece; not to mention one of the most influential automotive designs ever conceived.

Launched in the summer of 1959 as Sir Alec Issigonis's sideswipe at the bubble car which had swept through Europe in the late 1950s, the Mini was truly a revolutionary car.

Packing a remarkable amount of interior space into its 10ft length by placing its 'A' series engine sideways from 'east to west' in the engine bay, the practicalities which had dominated its design concept seemed almost accidentally to produce a small car which on its rubber-cone suspension and 10-inchwheels was...