Hello and welcome to F1 Livery Histories
the channel where we  take a look back
at the different paint jobs racing trims
and sponsor decals adopted by respective
Formula One teams throughout the eras.
Today we'll be taking a look at a team
which regularly defied the odds during
their time in Formula One.
and showed to the world just how successful a smaller
independent team could become in the
sport's modern era
Jordan Grand Prix
T he team was founded in 1980 by Irishman
Eddie Jordan as Eddie Jordan Racing, 
initially competing in lower racing
categories, such as Formula Three and
F3000.
The team's first major success
resulted in 1987 when an upcoming Johnny
Herbert became British Formula Three champion
In 1989 the team claimed
championship glories in multiple
categories, with Jean Alesi, Andrew
Gilbert-Scott and Rickard Rydell.
In 1990 Ediie Jordan turned his attention to Formula
One and made a play to buy Team Lotus.
However these plans never materialised,
and so Jordan decided to transition his
own team into the top flight.
The team was
renamed Jordan Grand Prix and produced
and tested their introductory Formula
One chassis during the winter months of
1990.
So begins our retrospective on the
team fondly remembered for its colourful
and imaginative team liveries.
Upon the commencement of the 1991 season,
the new Jordan team revealed its
striking visual identity in the form of
the team's first car, the 191, which was
painted in bottle green.
The team's
primary colour was a tip towards the
team's Irish roots and featured
promotion from the Irish tourism office.
Jordan also introduced to the Formula
One grid American soft drink giants
Pepsi which promoted its 7up brand.
7up
was seen prominently on the car's engine
case and nose cone, whilst the team's
secondary sponsor, Japanese camera
company, Fuji, mainly took up space in the
rear wing.
Along with this unique shade
of green, blue and light green were also
employed as offset colours.
The livery also carried an array of smaller sponsors
such as Osama, Denim, Brooksfield,
Shoei, Tic-Tac, Ismoban and USen 440, whilst 7-up's parent company chose
to display their own branding at
select races during the season.
The Gary Anderson designed, Ford-powered, 191
chassis ran as smoothly as it looked,
powering the team to fifth position in
the constructors standings in their
maiden Grand Prix season.
The 1991 campaign
proved to be a resounding success for
the new team, however come seasons end
the team had to deal with Pepsi
withdrawing from the sport which brought
an end to a brief but memorable
partnership.
Following the loss of Pepsi and 7up,
Jordan found itself on precarious
financial grounds.
Sasol had stepped in
to become the team's title sponsor and
official fuel supplier, which saw the 192
chassis assume the light and dark blue
company colors of the South African oil
company.
For 1992 the team made the
switch to Yamaha, which provided the team
with its engines on a gratuity basis
Phillips had also signed to sponsors for '92,
a deal which saw the color red
introduced to the team livery.
Italian
mineral water brand, Ulivetto, was seen on
the front wing along, with Unipart on the
nose cone, whilst the side pods were
devoted to cigarette brand Barclay,
adding the colours of cream and burgundy
to the car. This broad mixture of
sponsors and colour schemes made for a
rather radical team livery which once
again stood Jordan apart from the rest
of the grid.
In 1993 Diavia, Arisco and Perar
all joined as team sponsors as the team
ran with a slightly altered version of
their multicolored team livery for the
Hart-powered 193.
At races where tobacco advertising was banned, Barclay was
replaced with the drivers surname.
In 1994 the team reintroduced Irish green to
its livery, which was seen amongst the
vast rainbow of Jordan team colours.
At
the 1994 French Grand Prix, "Visit Ireland"
was replaced with "Ireland 1 Italy 0"
a reference to Ireland's World Cup win
over the Azzurri.
Eddie Jordan's team was
once again on the up, however more
changes awaited the team in 1995. Jordan
ceased their partnership with Sasol
which led Jordan to acquire Total as
their new fuel supplier, along with a new
engine partner in Peugeot.
The team's new
livery featured Peugeot's racing colours
of red, blue, yellow and white which came
together with Jordan's traditional green.
Beta Tools, Vaporetto and Polti were also
featured on the 195 in a minor capacity.
By the end of 1995 the team's search for
a new title sponsor was over, as they
landed a deal with British American
Tobacco, which was set to commence the
following season.
The 1996 season heralded the beginning
of Jordan's famous partnership with
cigarette brand Benson & Hedges.
The new
196 chassis came painted in the iconic
gold of their title sponsor, with Benson
& Hedges branding displayed prominently
on the car's engine case, wings and side
pods. Engine suppliers Peugeot remained
on the car, seen on the engine case and
rear wing, joined once again by Total
which added their touch of red to the
car's airbox.
Along with the team's major partners,
Jordan also secured deals with
various new sponsors, such as Corona and GDez Capital.
However the gold livery
made the sponsor's names difficult to
distinguish on television, and so the
team went ahead with a radical and
inventive overhaul for season 1997.
The
new livery replaced its main colour of
gold with an ultra luminous canary
yellow, a color which would become
closely associated with the team
throughout the remainder of its Formula One tenure.
Alongside Benson & Hedges the
team picked up MasterCard and Excalibur as team sponsors.
The most
remarkable feature of the 1997 livery
was the introduction of an animal theme
which first came in the form of a
deadly python with its fangs extended
and it's bright red tongue, which flailed
along the chassis.
The black portions of
the livery were stylised as scaly
snakeskin, and in countries that
disallowed tobacco adverts Benson &
Hedges became "Bitten and Hisses".
Upon the sides of the front wing the team's
nose cone artist, S. Oliver, was credited.
All-in-all Jordan's bright new motif was
a very busy, yet well-balanced livery and
underlined Jordan's effervescent
attitude to racing.
Oliver's artwork
would again feature on the bodywork of
the Mugen-Honda powered 198 chassis,
this time in the form of a dangerous
hornet with bulging red eyes.
The rear of the car featured hornet's stripes, as well as
a stinger just above the car's rear axle.
At races where tobacco advertising was
banned the cars were labelled with "Buzzin
Hornets" in place of their title sponsor.
The team had signed Repsol as fuel
suppliers in 1998, a change which saw
MasterCard adopt free space in the car's
airbox previously occupied by Total
Hewlett-packard were also added his team sponsors.
1998 would would turn out to be a fruitful
season which yielded the team it's
first win, when Damon Hill took victory
at the incident-filled Belgian Grand Prix.
In 1999 the team produced the 199
chassis, designed by Mike Gascoigne, which
earned the team third place in the
Constructors Championship, the team's
best ever result.
The team's drivers in
1999 were Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald
Frentzen, who took two wins on his way to
third in the Drivers' standings.
The team
switched to Elf fuels and Bridgestone
rubber for 1999, as Zepter, Pearl and
Playstation all signed on as team sponsors
In 2000 the team once again
raced with their hornet mascot for the EJ10.
Deutsche Post had signed with the
team, which saw the German postal service
logo appearing on the engine case and
monocoque, whilst Brother and Intercon
were seen on the side of the rear wing.
In 2001 the team adopted a shark as its
mascot, which glared menacingly on the
sides of the nose cone of the
Honda powered at EJ 11. Whilst the black portions
of the livery were made to resemble shark fins.
The team had signed a league of
small sponsors such as Infenon, Puma and
Danzas, whilst DHL, a subdivision of
Deutsche Post, was first seen in the car
appearing on the sides of the rear wing.
The team also adopted an American flag
upon the car's engine case for the
United States Grand Prix, in memory of
the victims of September 11.
In 2002 the
team switched to Liqui Moly lubricants
for the EJ12, the first Jordan car to go
without any sort of animal themed livery
since the 1996. Benson & Hedges began to
scale back their involvement with the
team, which saw DHL acquire prominent
space on the car side pods.
IT company Damovo first joined the team in 2002,
seen on the sides of the front wings.
The team coined the phrase "Be on edge" in
place of Benson & Hedges in tobacco ban countries.
2002 though would be the final
season in which Jordan ran with Honda power.
For 2003 Benson & Hedges returned
at the side pods on the now
Cosworth-powered EJ13.
The EJ13
featured a much more plain livery than
seen in previous seasons which was
reflective of Jordan's financial
position. In a rain affected race at
Interlagos, Giancarlo Fisichella would claim
the team's final victory.
The EJ14
produced for 2004 again featured a plain
livery, along with a fluctuating list of
sponsors.
Names such as Trust, Gametrac, Phard and
Royal Plastics all appeared on the car
along with another of Imperial Tobacco's
cigarette brands, Sobraine.
The team ran with "Lazarus" on the side of its car,
hoping to invoke a comeback from the dead.
Sadly this was not to be the case,
as in early 2005 Eddie Jordan sold his team to
the Midland Group.
And so the 2005 season
would see Jordan operating as a Formula
One constructor for the final time,
albeit on name value only.
The team ran
with Toyota engines and their
distinctive yellow and black team livery
for the EJ15, which again promoted
Sobraine cigarettes, as well as Indian
automotive company, Tata, which was seen
in the car's airbox.
And so Formula One
said goodbye to one of its most
successful teams of modern times. A team
renowned for its bright and eccentric
team liveries, as well as a team that is
respected for bringing a raft of younger
talent into the sport.
Jordan, along with
their charismatic team leader, will
always retain a special place in the
hearts and minds of Formula one fans
throughout the world.
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