William Daniels (automotive engineer)

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William John Daniels, known as Jack Daniels, (8 February 1912 – 27 November 2004) was a British car engineer who worked closely with Sir Alec Issigonis for about 35 years. He helped develop the Morris Minor (launched in 1948) and the Mini (launched in 1959). He was a guest at the 1999 awards ceremony in Las Vegas when the Mini was named the second most influential car of the 20th century.

Daniels spent his career from 1926 to 1977 as a draughtsman, designer and development engineer for Morris Motors, MG Cars, British Motor Corporation (BMC) and related companies. His projects included the 1935 MG R-type, the 1962 Morris 1100, the 1969 Austin Maxi, the 1973 Austin Allegro and the 1971 Morris Marina, among others. He formed a long-running working partnership with Issigonis, contributing to turning ideas into working drawings and real cars.

Born in New Marston near Oxford to a farming family, Daniels excelled at woodwork and technical drawing at Oxford Central School for Boys. At 16 he joined MG as their first unindentured apprentice draughtsman, and by 1929 was mentored by Hubert Charles, MG’s Chief Draughtsman. MG moved to Abingdon, where Daniels began his 35-year collaboration with Issigonis. He helped design the MG R-type and later worked at the Cowley factory. During World War II the factory built military vehicles, and from 1942 he worked with Issigonis on a secret car codenamed Mosquito, which became the Morris Minor in 1948.

Daniels later helped complete the Minor project as a front-wheel-drive car with a transverse engine, a concept that influenced the Mini. He described their relationship as mainly his hard work complemented by Issigonis’s inspiration. He married Mabel and had two children, one of whom died. In 1956 he moved with his family to King’s Norton, Birmingham. He died near Bournemouth after a two-year battle with cancer.