August 26: The Mini arrives on this date in 1959

What makes one small car an icon and another a dud? Those were the questions the small team of designers at British Motor Corp. needed to solve in 1959. Ordered by management to design a workable microcar like the VW Beetle in response to fuel shortages, BMC engineer Alec Issigonis made saving space a priority — for example, turning the engine sideways and powering the front wheels for a larger passenger compartment. On this day, BMC revealed what it called the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor. Within a few years, success renamed the cars the Mini, and decades of popularity along with rallying victories made it a piece of automotive history. Here's a look at the Mini production line, featuring Britain's finest assembly techniques of the 1960s: