Jordan Motor Car Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jordan Motor Car Company
legal form Company
founding 1916
resolution 1932
Reason for dissolution liquidation
Seat Cleveland , Ohio , USA
Branch Automobiles

"Red Arrow" (emblem of the Jordan Motor Car Company)
Jordan Playboy Roadster from 1928

The Jordan Motor Car Company (JMC) was an American automobile manufacturer .

description

The company was founded in Cleveland , Ohio in 1916 by Edward S. "Ned" Jordan , former advertising director of the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha . From 1917 to 1931 she produced automobiles using parts from other manufacturers. Jordan automobiles were known more for their attractive design than for their advanced technology. Thus, the advertising of this brand was often more original than the vehicles themselves. Jordan once said in relation to this: “Cars are too boring and monotonous” (“cars are too dull and drab”). In his opinion, ever since people started dressing smartly, they wanted to drive "smart cars" too.

The Jordan Motor Car Comp. established its plant in eastern downtown Cleveland (1070 East 152nd Street) along the Nickle Plate Railroad route. The location was ideal for shipping the finished automobiles. The plant was built in two stages: construction of the main building began on April 5, 1916. It was completed about seven weeks later. The extension took place shortly afterwards and was erected a few months after the start of the main building.

Some parts of Jordan automobiles were sourced from outside companies. Third-party components included Continental motors , Bijur starters and Bosch igniters . According to Ned Jordan's biographer James H. Lackey, the source for the bodies of the early Jordan cars was a mystery. Although Jordan had the capacity to paint the bodies themselves, to assemble them on the chassis and to set up passenger compartments, it lacked the ability to produce their own bodies. Later model bodies were obtained from a number of Ohio and Massachusetts companies .

In the first year of production in 1916, Jordan sold over 1,000 vehicles. Although most automobile brands back then relied solely on Japan Black paint, which dried in a few hours, Jordan automobiles were available in no fewer than three different red variations: "Apache Red", "Mercedes Red" and "Savage Red" ". In addition, "Ocean Sand Gray", Venetian Green "," Egyptian Bronze "," Chinese Blue "and black were on offer. The most extravagant was probably the" Submarine Gray "paintwork, as it stood out thanks to a khaki roof and orange wheels other variations differed.

The emotional advertisement "Somewhere West of Laramie" for the Jordan Playboy (1923) made advertising history

The details with which the Jordan automobiles were equipped were astonishingly progressive for the conditions at the time - for example the gasoline filler neck, which was moved from the ventilation plate to the rear of the vehicle. In its place was one of the most modern cooling systems of its time. Jordan had been producing its parts entirely from steel since the mid-1920s, around ten years before Buick and eight years before Chrysler with the Airflow model .

Ned Jordan was also one of the first automobile manufacturers to advertise its products emotionally and cheekily. This included corresponding advertising campaigns and unique names for his vehicles, for example the "Sport Marine", the "Tomboy" or the "Playboy". In 1920, the brand expanded its range of models to include the "Friendly Three" coupé with the slogan: "Seats two, three if they're friendly" .

In 1927 the company landed a failure with the luxury compact car Little Custom , which put them in financial difficulties. In 1931 JMC stopped production.

Liquidation followed in 1932 .

Production numbers

year Production number
1917 1,788
1918 5,713
1919 3,218
1920 7,817
1921 8,913
1922 4.167
1923 6,691
1924 6.159
1925 6,531
1926 8,469
1927 6,357
1928 7,386
1929 4,323
1930 985
1931 263
total 78,780

Source:

literature

  • James H. Lackey: The Jordan Automobile: A History. McFarland & Company, 2005, ISBN 0-7864-1667-X .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 790-793 (English).

Web links

Commons : Jordan Motor Car Company  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 790-793 (English).