Description:

Background

The Jordan name has long since gone into legend in F1. The team was a consistent fan favourite thanks to their daring liveries, unique marketing and legendary owner, the late, great Eddie Jordan. Eddie headed up his eponymous team from their entry to F1 in 1991 until the name disappeared at the end of 2005.

Unthinkable now, and extremely rare at the time, Jordan took his team from the junior formulas, having been front runners in F3 and F3000, and brought it into F1 in 1991. This was far more than simply moving up a class. Gone were off-the-shelf chassis, suspension, aerodynamics and gearboxes; they had to design and manufacture everything themselves, and that is exactly what they did. That debut year with the beautiful Gary Anderson-designed car brought not just points finishes and a debut for Michael Schumacher, but most of all it put the F1 world on notice: Jordan were here to stay.

The team continued to grow in stature and results. Damon Hill gave them their first win at Spa in 1998, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen remained in contention for the World Drivers' Championship until very late in the 1999 season.

But the early 2000s brought financial woes, and whilst they continued to score points, sponsorship became harder to secure. 2003 brought a memorable and final win for the team at the Brazilian Grand Prix, courtesy of Giancarlo Fisichella, but the writing was on the wall. By the start of 2006 the team had been sold to the Midland Group and raced under that name. This bookended the 14-year story of one of F1's most colourful teams. The team, under various names, continued and still does, later becoming Spyker, then Force India, Racing Point, and now Aston Martin.

The EJ12

The EJ12 was Gary Anderson's first design for his second stint at Jordan, having originally left in 1998. Co-designed with ex-Williams engineer Eghbal Hamidy, it was essentially an evolution of the EJ11, with a brand new front end and heavily revised sidepods. Power came from Honda, their final year with the team before they chose to concentrate on rivals BAR for 2003. The result was a striking car, which carried the Benson and Hedges branding for which Jordan are famous, along with new partner DHL.

In the cockpit was Jordan returnee Giancarlo Fisichella, fresh from a stint at Benetton, and Japanese rookie, later Indy 500 winner, Takuma Sato.

Money was tight, but the team continued to show flashes of brilliance, a pair of fifth places for Fisichella being the major highlight. Ultimately both drivers scored points throughout the year, which was enough for Jordan to finish sixth in the Constructors' Championship.

The Car

This is an official show car built by Jordan’s technical partner at the time, Bob Salisbury Engineering. A company intertwined with the Jordan team and one that continued supplying show cars to the team until late in the Force India years. The car carries a real test used front wing, rear wing, complete gearbox housing and most of the outboard suspension components, not to mention correct OZ wheel rims. The cockpit features a real carbon fibre seat, seat belts and an accurate steering wheel. The car retains a complete floor with a used worn skid plank.

Inside the cockpit, the chassis plate denotes this as EJ12-S, with the S denoting that it was built as a show car.

It originally spent its life undertaking promotional duties for the team and its partners before entering a private collection. One its final performances for Jordan saw it be repainted with the livery of their 2004 racer for static display at the Regent Street 2004 F1 Parade, an event where F1 cars put on a show in central London. This particular car was used by Jordan for various photoshoots during the event. This EJ12 has since been completely restored and is now presented with a fresh livery accurate to how it raced in 2002.

This piece of history is available once again. Please contact our team to enquire about the car and global shipping.

Website:

https://www.f1authentics.com/products/jordan-f1-ej12