Jordan Motor Car Company: Somewhere West of Laramie

SOMEWHERE west of Laramie there's a broncho-busting, steer-roping girl who knows what I'm talking about. She can tell what a sassy pony, that's a cross between greased lightning and the place where it hits, can do with eleven hundred pounds of steel and action when he's going high, wide and handsome.

The truth is the Playboy was built for her.

Built for the lass whose face is brown with the sun when the day is done of revel and romp and race.

She loves the cross of the wild and the tame.

There's a savor of links about that car of laughter and lilt and light a hint of old loves and saddle and quirt. It's a brawny thing-yet a graceful thing for the sweep of the Avenue.

Step into the Playboy when the hour grows dull with things gone dead and stale.

Then start for the land of real living with the spirit of the lass who rides, lean and rangy, into the red horizon of a Wyoming twilight.

The Jordan Playboy (Hemmings)

The Jordan Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 by Edward S. "Ned" Jordan in Cleveland, Ohio. Known for its stylish and innovative designs, the Jordan Motor Car Company produced vehicles that prioritised aesthetics over advanced engineering. Some notable models include:

- Sport Marine: A car designed for women, featuring "fashionably low" 32×4-inch wheels

- Tomboy: A model with a unique name reflecting the changing roles of women during the 1920s

- Playboy: A car named with a term that would later become iconic, symbolising freedom and style

The company used components from other manufacturers, including Continental engines, Timken axles, Bijur starters, and Bosch ignitions. Jordan cars were available in various colours, including "Apache Red", "Ocean Sand Grey", and "Liberty Blue". Despite its stylish offerings, the company struggled financially and ceased production in 1931 after intense competition and personal problems besetting Ned Jordan.

In recent years, a car enthusiast named Dylan Farmer reincorporated the Jordan Motor Car Company in Ohio, purchasing the trademarks and aiming to revive the Jordan brand, although the company's future remains uncertain.

MORE: Jordan Playboy: The epitome of 1920s automobile style

Red Dust Revival Brings Motor Racing History to Life in the Outback [video]

The Red Dust Revival, a week-long event held in 2019 and 2022, brought the thrill of vintage motor racing to Lake Perkolilli, a dry lake bed in Western Australia. The event re-enacted the races that took place on the lake's hard, smooth surface between 1914 and 1939, where drivers reached speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.

Ken Adams, automotive aftermarket pioneer

 My dear Uncle Ken, now in his '90s, was a pioneer of the automotive aftermarket business, starting with a humble wrecking yard on Port Road at Beverley in Adelaide's early industrial heartland.

The first enterprise, Main Motors, grew to become Mainstyle, a network of retail outlets along the lines of today's Supercheap Auto or AutoBahn.

In the late 1960s, I used to earn some pocket money helping my mum (Ken's sister) stuff envelopes with marketing bumf for mailing to new car buyers. I'm not sure how he did it, but Uncle Ken would get computer (or whatever machines they used back then) printouts from the Motor Registry with the names and addresses of all the new car registrations. This was revolutionary direct marketing before anyone knew what it was.  

An early newspaper advertisement c.1966

Here are some of his recollections:

Ken Adams

In the late ‘50s and the early 60s, the typical new car purchased by the average Australian was very basic. 

There were none of the creature comforts we are so used to today.

Some of the more expensive models like Wolseley 6/80s, Austin Princess, Mercedes, etc. did have a radio and possibly a heater.  However, if the average motorist wanted to hear the news or music, they had to buy an expensive radio and have it fitted. 

Even if available, the early automobile heaters were very basic. For example, a heater core was placed under the vent which opened in front of the windscreen or a hole cut in the firewall with a 3-inch tube running up to the radiator bringing in warm air. I could go on at length describing all of the primitive heaters manufactured at the time, enough to fill a book. 

A mainstyle logo from the early 1970s

One of the innovators was Reg Tilley who designed a rudimentary, under-dash heater for 48 Series Holdens in the '40s. 

There was even a bar-type heater which quickly proved itself dangerous and rapidly drained the car’s battery.

In my opinion, the best one at the time was the English-built Smiths fan-driven heater. It was round with little doors which fitted under the dash but was fairly expensive. 

Towelling seat covers were a must followed by clear plastic ones. If you could afford it, a lay-back seat was a bonus for camping. These were distributed by Wiltshires.

This beautifully accessorised 1963 EJ Premier is owned by Peter Barbadonis

Other exterior accessories available at the time included the very popular sunvisor. These were made in a metal mesh and sold in all colours. If you could afford it, a metal one painted in the same colour as your car could be purchased. 

The first windscreen protectors were large and clumsy mesh things that were later replaced by more practical plastic ones. 

Then there was the vinyl roof and rear-wheel spats which covered the opening in the rear mudguard. Some of these fancy items were vented. You could add whitewall tyres or chrome wheel trims of all shapes and sizes. The cheaper aluminium ones went under the hub cap while the full covers came in many designs. Some even looked like wire wheels. Mag wheels came much later.

For an interior with all the comforts of home, you could get a Venetian blind in black or white, but they often rattled. 

You can argue whether it was classy or crass, but a fluffy rear deck mat with a nodding dog or cat was seen on many cool cars as was an electric, blue-bladed fan on the dash. (We think the brand was 'Marenu') 

642 Port Rd Beverley as at July 2021. The original mainstyle showroom built by Uncle Ken remains

To be continued