Jochen Arden

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Jochen Arden, ADAC Junior Trophy in Zandvoort, 1974

Joachim "Jochen" Arden (born August 26, 1951 in Kleve ) is a German racing driver , automobile designer , entrepreneur and founder of Arden Automobilbau GmbH.

life and career

Jochen Arden was born on August 26, 1951 as the son of the farmer Kurt Arden in Kleve .

Vehicle construction and trade

At the age of fifteen, he was already building his first motorcycle. In 1972 Jochen Arden went into business for himself and traded in high quality automobiles. In 1976 he founded Arden Automobile GmbH as a contractual partner of Mitsubishi Motors .

In 1982 he signed a dealership agreement with Jaguar , laying the foundation for what is now the company that specializes in the visual and technical modification of Jaguar and Range Rover . As early as December 1982, Jochen Arden presented the world's first refined Jaguar XJ V12 sedan. In 1985 Jochen Arden founded Arden Automobilbau GmbH and, based on the Jaguar XJS, presented the Arden AJ 2 Cabrio at the IAA in the same year, the first Jaguar full convertible since the legendary E-Type . An article in Spiegel from May 1988 mentions that the vehicle was the basis for the XJ-S Convertible model presented by Jaguar in February 1988, which looked "amazingly similar" to the AJ 2 convertible. On the basis of the XJ-S, he also designed a noble station wagon in 1986 , the "strongest and fastest station wagon in the world" with 455 hp and a top speed of almost 300 km / h. He is considered the main supplier of luxury station wagons on a Jaguar basis.

In 1991 Jochen Arden opened the company branch on Untergath in Krefeld . Arden Engineering GmbH was founded. In 1996 Jochen Arden emerged as the winner of the "First Class" sales competition of Jaguar Deutschland GmbH, which he won three times in a row. In 1999 Jochen Arden said goodbye to the operative Jaguar trade and devoted himself exclusively to the expansion of his own company. The worldwide sales structures were expanded to 22 countries, and he founded the first foreign branch in England in 1982 with Duncan Hamilton .

In 2002 Auto Bild titled him in a portrait article as "The King of Cats". In 2008 Arden expanded the product range and began with the first construction and modification plans for Mini and Bentley . As the youngest branch of the group of companies, Jochen Arden has been expanding the Arden Classic department since 2011. In 2014 he caused a stir with the world's most powerful Jaguar F-Type with almost 700 hp.

Since 2016, Jochen Arden has organized Arden British Day every September. Classic car owners and classic car fans are invited to spend a day on the meadows around Zelem Castle . The Arden British Day is always under the patronage of an individually built Arden vehicle (2016 - AJ 1, 2017 - AJ 2, 2018 - AJ 3).

In 2018 Auto Bild Klassik named Jochen Arden the most famous Jaguar tuner in the world.

Racing

Even as a teenager, Jochen Arden dedicated himself to automobile racing . In 1974 he started his racing career in touring car racing . In the same year he achieved his first class victory at the ADAC Junior Trophy in Zandvoort with a BMW 2002 TI in the touring car class 2000 and achieved an excellent place in the overall result. Further success on national and international racetracks led to an offer as a works driver for a Triumph Dolomite , which he turned down in order to devote himself to self-employment. In 1992 Jochen Arden founded the Arden Racing Team (not to be confused with Arden International ).

In 2004 he took over Sebastian Stahl's vehicle for four races in the Alfa 147 Cup . During the MINI Challenge 2007, in which he also took part in 2009 and 2011, he drove as a guest driver in the Piro Sports team and won the Gentleman League in Zandvoort. In 2012 Arden made his debut in the Kremer Porsche RSR at the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and in the 2013 season drove the same vehicle with Clemens Schickentanz .

Personal

In 2000 Jochen Arden acquired Zelem Castle near Kranenburg. The entrepreneur had the building with a history of almost a thousand years renovated at great expense over thirteen years. Jochen Arden has been married since 1984 and has three grown children.

Web links

Commons : Jochen Arden  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arden Engineering GmbH. firma-24.de; accessed on November 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Jochen Arden. The trainer. In: HMI Profil, September 25, 1991, issue 9, p. 16.
  3. ↑ http://www.arden.de/company/company-history/1972/
  4. ↑ Heiner Stertkamp: Jaguar. The complete chronicle from 1922 to today. Heel Verlag, Königswinter, 2000, p. 268.
  5. ↑ Halwart Schrader : Jaguar. The complete brand history. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 1999 (2nd edition), pp. 294-296.
  6. ^ Automobile: Good wood. Der Spiegel 18/1988, May 2, 1988.
  7. ↑ With 455 hp for shopping. Der Spiegel 36/1986, September 1, 1986.
  8. ↑ Automobile: Desecrated Carpet. Der Spiegel, 16/1988, April 18, 1988.
  9. ↑ http://www.arden.de/en/company/company-history/1990/?site=1
  10. ↑ a b Thank you sick. Auto Bild Sportscars, No. 7, July 2010, pp. 59–59.
  11. ↑ Portrait: Jochen Arden - The King of Cats. Auto Bild, April 23, 2002.
  12. ^ Franz-Peter Hudek: Portrait of Jochen Arden and his Mercedes 300 SL. Motor Klassik, 5/2011, p. 52.
  13. ↑ Jaguar F-Type R Coupé: Tuning from Arden - Most powerful F-Type R makes 700 hp. ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Auto Bild, August 27, 2014.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.autobild.de
  14. ↑ 350 classic cars at the second Arden British Day. Rheinische Post, September 14, 2017.
  15. ↑ People: Jochen Arden - The playwright. In: Auto Bild Klassik, issue 11/2018, p. 44.
  16. ↑ http://touringcarracing.net/Races/1974%20ADAC%20Junioren%20Trophy.html
  17. ↑ 1990. Arden Automobilbau GmbH, accessed on November 22, 2015 .
  18. ↑ https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/middle-east/photo/detail/P0038917/the-podium-on-saturday-second-place-ben-spouse-jochen-arden-winner-of-the-gentleman -league-winner-jeroen-bleekemolen-and-in-third-place-maximilian-werndl-l-to-r-06/2007
  19. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arden.de
  20. ↑ Guido Radtke: A lot of heart and soul goes to Haus Zelem. Rheinische Post, August 14, 2001.
personal data
SURNAME Arden, Jochen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arden, Joachim (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German automobile racing driver, automobile designer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Kranenburg