JACK DANIELS 1912-2004 INSPIRATIONAL ENGINEER
30 November 2004 - MG Rover

It is with regret that the death of Austin and Morris engineer W.J. ''Jack'' Daniels is announced.

Jack was 92 and had been battling cancer for the last two years, but died peacefully in his sleep on November 27th, 2004, at his home near Bournemouth.

Jack was affectionately known as the man who was ''90 per cent perspiration behind Alec Issigonis''s 10 per cent inspiration'' in designing the Morris Minor and the original BMC Mini. Jack was also the first MG apprentice. Speaking about Jack, product development director, Rob Oldaker, said: ''Jack was a talented development engineer, who will be remembered for his pragmatic input to many cars, the most famous of which were the new era of front-wheel drive cars, starting with his work with Sir Alex Issigonis and Alex Moulton on the Mini.

''His characteristic pipe caused a few communication difficulties for the young and uninitiated, but he guided many towards successful careers in the industry.''

Jack''s funeral has yet to be finalised, but is likely to be at St. Marks, Highcliffe, sometime in the next two weeks.

The man who was the 90 per cent perspiration behind Alec Issigonis''s 10 per cent inspiration in designing the Morris Minor and the original BMC Mini, was also the first MG apprentice.

The books of the Morris Minor and the Mini, and the many videos of that era, usually refer to Jack as Issigonis''s ''Right Hand Man''. There is a lot of truth in that. He often said: ''Issigonis''s was the inspiration - mine was the perspiration!''

Jack was born in Oxford in 1912, into a farming family. The family''s

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