Jordan Motor Car Company

The Jordan Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer established in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1916 by Edward S. “Ned” Jordan, a former advertising executive associated with the Thomas B. Jeffery Company. Unlike vertically integrated producers such as Ford, Jordan operated as an assembled-car manufacturer: it combined engines, axles, ignition systems, bodies, and other components obtained from outside suppliers, then completed, painted, trimmed, and marketed the vehicles at its Cleveland plant. Jordan’s factory was built in the Collinwood neighborhood on East 152nd Street beside the Nickel Plate Railroad. The location supported both inbound component shipments and distribution of finished automobiles. The company sold more than a thousand vehicles during its first year, and over the following decade developed a reputation for combining conventional mechanical components with distinctive styling and color choices. Jordan cars were not generally regarded as engineering leaders, but the company adopted features such as cowl fresh-air ventilation and moved toward all-steel construction during the mid-1920s. Its model range used Continental six-cylinder and later eight-cylinder engines, with specifications changing across the company’s series. Ned Jordan believed that automobiles were too visually conservative. He treated styling, naming, and advertising as central parts of the product rather than as secondary sales tools. Jordan offered colors with evocative names including Apache Red, Mercedes Red, Savage Red, Ocean Sand Gray, Venetian Green, Liberty Blue, and Chinese Blue. It also gave its models memorable names such as Sport Marine, Tomboy, Friendly Three, and Playboy. The names and advertisements sought to associate the cars with youth, independence, romance, travel, and modern fashion. The company’s best-known promotion was the 1923 Saturday Evening Post advertisement for the Jordan Playboy, commonly identified by its opening phrase, “Somewhere West of Laramie.” The copy used imagery of a daring Western woman, open country, speed, and freedom. The campaign helped establish Jordan as an unusually imaginative advertiser during an era when automobile marketing was becoming an important part of brand differentiation. Other advertisements, including “Port of Missing Men,” also used suggestive or atmospheric narratives that attracted attention beyond the mechanical specifications of the vehicles. Jordan expanded its range through the 1920s, including the Line Eight and Great Line Eight models and several touring, sedan, coupe, and sport variants. The company’s 1927 Little Custom, a compact positioned as a luxury automobile, proved unsuccessful. Its weak market reception placed additional financial pressure on the business and contributed to control passing to bankers. Ned Jordan and his wife reduced their interests from 1928 onward, although Jordan remained the company’s titular leader for a period. The company continued operating after the 1929 stock-market crash, but it faced the broader problems affecting independent automakers: intense competition, limited scale, financial strain, and the economic collapse of the Great Depression. Production ended in 1931. Surviving references disagree about total production, with estimates ranging from roughly 30,000 to more than 100,000 vehicles. The Jordan name is now principally associated with collectible American automobiles, assembled-car manufacturing, and some of the most memorable advertising prose of the 1920s.

Edward S. “Ned” Jordan founded the Jordan Motor Car Company in Cleveland in 1916 after working as an advertising executive at the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His background influenced the company’s unusual emphasis on presentation and messaging. Jordan did not attempt to reproduce the vertically integrated manufacturing model of the largest automobile companies. Instead, the business assembled vehicles from components purchased from specialist suppliers. The company’s first plant stood at 1070 East 152nd Street in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood, adjacent to the Nickel Plate Railroad. Construction began in April 1916 with a 30,000-square-foot building, followed by an expansion completed within months. The railroad connection gave Jordan practical access to suppliers and helped move completed cars to market. During its first production year, the company sold more than 1,000 automobiles. Jordan’s early cars used outside components, including Continental engines, Timken axles, Bijur starters, and Bosch ignition equipment. The company could paint bodies, mount them on chassis, and complete passenger compartments, but it did not manufacture all body components itself. Bodies were supplied by several manufacturers in Ohio and Massachusetts, and later examples included aluminum construction. This arrangement allowed Jordan to offer differentiated automobiles without bearing the full cost of an integrated body and component manufacturing system. Mechanically, the cars generally followed established industry practice. Six-cylinder engines powered many early models, including the 1917 Series 60, the 1919 Series F, and the 1920–1921 Series M. The 1922 Series MX used a 246-cubic-inch six-cylinder flathead engine. Eight-cylinder cars appeared in the 1926 Line Eight and Great Line Eight ranges, while the 1931 Model 90 used an eight-cylinder engine rated at 85 horsepower. Jordan also introduced details that were comparatively progressive for an independent assembled-car producer, including an early cowl fresh-air ventilation system and all-steel construction during the middle of the 1920s. The brand’s strongest distinction came from styling and marketing. Jordan rejected the restrained visual conventions of many period automobiles and offered numerous finishes, including several shades of red, multiple greens and blues, bronze, gray, and black. One Sport model could be ordered in a particularly flamboyant combination of submarine gray, a khaki top, and orange wheels. Jordan also gave models names designed to create emotional associations. Sport Marine, Tomboy, Friendly Three, and Playboy sounded more like characters or lifestyle propositions than engineering designations. Advertising placed these names within stories about modern identity and escape. The company photographed vehicles in affluent Cleveland suburbs such as Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. Its most famous advertisement, for the Playboy in the June 1923 Saturday Evening Post, presented the automobile through an energetic Western narrative involving a daring female driver, open landscapes, and freedom. The earlier “Port of Missing Men” advertisement used a more mysterious setting and generated correspondence about its suggestive visual implications. These campaigns helped make Jordan notable in advertising history even though the company remained relatively small. The 1927 Little Custom was a major setback. Conceived as a luxury compact, it failed to win sufficient consumer interest and drained company resources. Bankers subsequently took control, while Ned Jordan and his wife began selling down their interests in 1928. The company survived the 1929 stock-market crash but could not overcome the structural disadvantages of a small independent manufacturer operating amid intense competition. The Depression further reduced demand and restricted access to capital. Production ended in 1931. Total output remains uncertain: published estimates range from approximately 30,000 vehicles to more than 100,000. The surviving Jordan automobiles are valued mainly for their distinctive styling, colorful model history, and connection to one of the period’s most creative automobile advertising programs.

• 1931

  Production ends

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Jordan ceased automobile production after failing to withstand competition and Depression-era economic conditions.

• 1928

  Jordan family reduces its interests

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Ned Jordan and his wife began divesting their interests as the company operated under increasing financial pressure.

• 1927

  Little Custom becomes a strategic setback

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The luxury compact failed commercially and contributed to financial strain and bankers’ takeover of company control.

• 1926

  Eight-cylinder Line Eight range introduced

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Line Eight and Great Line Eight expanded Jordan’s offerings into eight-cylinder automobiles.

• 1923

  Somewhere West of Laramie campaign published

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Jordan Playboy received a nationally prominent Saturday Evening Post advertisement built around Western imagery and adventurous prose.

• 1922

  Series MX adopts six-cylinder flathead engine

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Series MX featured a 246-cubic-inch six-cylinder flathead engine.

• 1920

  Friendly Three coupe marketed

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Jordan introduced the Friendly Three coupe, whose name and slogan emphasized its compact social seating arrangement.

• 1917

  Series 60 limousine introduced

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Series 60 limousine used a six-cylinder Continental engine and represented the company’s early luxury-oriented product range.

• 1916

  Company founded and Cleveland plant opened

  [1]Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Edward S. Jordan established the company in Cleveland, Ohio. Its Collinwood plant was built beside the Nickel Plate Railroad, and first-year sales exceeded 1,000 vehicles.

A style-led American luxury and mid-to-upper-market automobile brand that differentiated itself through expressive design, colorful finishes, evocative model names, and literary advertising.

• Sport and lifestyle automobile

  Jordan Playboy

  The Playboy was Jordan’s most famous model name and the subject of the company’s celebrated “Somewhere West of Laramie” advertisement. It was presented as a stylish, spirited automobile associated with youthful independence, open-road travel, and unconventional modern identity. Its importance to the brand extends beyond its mechanical specification: the Playboy demonstrated Jordan’s strategy of selling an emotional lifestyle through naming, color, illustration, and prose.

• Sport automobile

  Sport Marine

  The Sport Marine was one of Jordan’s evocatively named models. It was marketed with a fashion-conscious identity and offered styling intended to distinguish it from more conservative automobiles of the period. Jordan’s use of expressive colors and low, visually assertive proportions supported the model’s positioning as a youthful and stylish car rather than simply a transport appliance.

• Eight-cylinder passenger automobiles · 1926

  Line Eight and Great Line Eight

  Introduced in 1926, the Line Eight and Great Line Eight represented Jordan’s move into eight-cylinder automobiles. Their names directly highlighted their engine configuration and placed the models toward the more prestigious end of the company’s range. They formed part of Jordan’s effort to remain competitive as larger manufacturers expanded their premium and performance offerings.

• Luxury compact automobile · 1927

  Little Custom

  The Little Custom was Jordan’s attempt to combine luxury positioning with a smaller automobile format. Introduced in 1927, it was commercially unsuccessful and placed substantial pressure on the company’s finances. Its failure became one of the key business setbacks preceding the transfer of control to bankers.

• Eight-cylinder passenger automobile · 1931

  Model 90

  The 1931 Model 90 was among the final Jordan automobiles. It used an eight-cylinder engine rated at 85 horsepower and reflected the company’s continuing emphasis on larger, more prestigious powertrains even as production approached its end.

• 1923Somewhere West of Laramie

  United States

  The Jordan Playboy advertisement paired Fred Cole’s illustration with highly imaginative copy about a daring Western woman, speed, horses, and open-country freedom. It framed the car as an expression of personality and adventure rather than as a list of engineering specifications.

  Outcome. It became Jordan’s best-known advertisement and one of the most frequently discussed examples of creative American automobile advertising from the 1920s.

  Source
• 1920Port of Missing Men

  United States

  This Saturday Evening Post advertisement used an atmospheric image of a Jordan Playboy near a seaside cottage and prose about men seeking escape and distant places. Its suggestive presentation prompted a response from Jordan to the magazine’s editor, making the advertisement notable both for its creative tone and for the debate it generated.

  Outcome. The campaign became an example of Jordan’s willingness to use ambiguity and narrative mood in automobile advertising.

  Source

• 1931

  Termination of automobile productionStrategy

  Background

  The company faced the Great Depression, intense competition among American automakers, financial strain, and difficulties connected with its leadership.

  Action taken

  Jordan ended production of automobiles.

  Aftermath

  The Jordan Motor Car Company became a defunct automobile manufacturer, while surviving cars and advertising continued to attract historical and collector interest.

  Source

• 1927

  Launch of the Little CustomProduct launch

  Background

  Jordan sought growth through a smaller luxury automobile at a time when independent manufacturers faced strong competition and limited financial resources.

  Action taken

  The company introduced the Little Custom as a luxury compact model.

  Aftermath

  Consumers largely ignored the model. Its financial drain contributed to bankers taking control of the company.

  Source

• 1926

  Expansion into eight-cylinder automobilesGeneration change

  Background

  Jordan aimed to strengthen its position in the higher-priced automobile market as larger manufacturers offered increasingly powerful and prestigious models.

  Action taken

  The company introduced the Line Eight and Great Line Eight ranges.

  Aftermath

  The eight-cylinder models broadened Jordan’s product offering, but they did not resolve the company’s underlying scale and financial problems.

  Source

1. 1Jordan Motor Car Companyen.wikipedia.org