Thursday, February 11, 2016

Some, after achieving great things, retire, and teach high school. Chuck Jordan, MIT grad, GM designer.. taught in El Cajon's Valhalla HS, and La Costa Canyon High School, both in San Diego County

A Whittier native, Jordan launched his career in 1949 as a junior engineer in GM's design division after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jordan joined GM in 1949 and got to spend his early years on the Motorama show cars -- sci-fi examples of GM's most-fevered thinking. He called that the best job a designer could have.

In the 1950s, he moved to the advanced design studio, where he designed noteworthy dream cars for GM's "Motorama" concept showcase, including the 1955 Cameo truck and the 1956 Buick Centurian. He also was instrumental in the design of the XP-700 "Phantom" Corvette concept.

In 1957, the 30-year-old Jordan assumed the prestigious position of chief designer for Cadillac.

Jordan, who appeared in the 1996 PBS documentary "America on Wheels," noted in an interview with The Times before the documentary aired that contemporary vehicles lack the personality of cars in the 1950s.

"People back then were more conscious of cars," he said. "With the new generation, their cars are not as passionate a thing as they were back then. Now, people want minivans. They are driving a lot of trucks. In those days, people were expecting some fabulous cars."

Jordan once likened the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado's enormous pointed fins to "letting a tiger out of a cage — saying 'go!'"

"The original Cadillac fin was higher than the roof of the car on the coupe," he recalled with a laugh in The Times interview. "But even before the '59 hit the street, we had already completed the '60 design where we cut the fins off. That tells you we recognized that we probably overcooked it.

"But people loved that car. I think they probably love it more today because it was a reflection of that culture back in those days."

For GM’s Electro-Motive division, I did the Aerotrain locomotive–streamlined, slick as a whistle. When it was all done, I got a rare note from Harley Earl–and he never wrote notes–saying, “I just want you to know how much I appreciate your taking care of the Aerotrain.”

Soon after the Aerotrain, Bill Mitchell–who by then was clearly going to be the next Harley Earl–came to me and said, “Kid, if you want to get anywhere around here you’ve got to do cars.” And so they moved me over to the main building, in an advanced studio. My first car was the Centurion show car for the 1956 Motorama.

In 1962, the year Jordan was named executive in charge of automotive design, with responsibility for the exteriors of all GM cars and trucks, Life magazine named him one of the 100 most important young men and women in the nation.

In 1977, he was named director of design for the entire GM design staff. He followed Irv Rybicki, Bill Mitchell and Harley Earl.

Jordan, who began driving pickup trucks in his father's orchards at 11 and bagged groceries at Richard Nixon's family's store while in high school, was a 19-year-old sophomore at MIT when his mother encouraged him to enter the national Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild automobile model design competition sponsored by the Fisher Body Division of GM.

Motor Trend Magazine: What got you into teaching auto design to a high-school class? 
Jordan: I volunteer because I had some teachers in high school and at MIT who meant a lot to me–who understood creativity and taught me to do things differently. I always appreciated the mentors I had. Also, I’m drawing again. You can’t talk design–you’ve got to show them what you do. Besides, I’d rather hang out with kids than old folks!

http://deansgarage.com/2015/remembering-chuck-jordan/
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/19/local/la-me-chuck-jordan-20101219
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/12/retired-gm-design-boss-chuck-jordan-dies-after-decades-of-stunners/1#.VrzKdvkrKM9
http://www.motortrend.com/news/c12-0601-chuck-jordan-interview/

2 comments:

  1. I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Jordan on two occasions. Once at a toy show in Ohio and the second time at my graduation from The Center for Creative Studies.

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  2. I do believe I'd like to go back to school. Thank you for this info.

    ReplyDelete