Charles Morrell "Chuck" Jordan (October 21, 1927 AutoWeek Magazine – December 9, 2010

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/19/local/la-me-chuck-jordan-20101219) was an American automotive designer who was born in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated i ...

. Jordan is widely known for his work on the 1959-1960 Cadillac Eldorado and the 1992 Cadillac Seville STS — and his role as vice president of design for General Motors from 1986 to 1992.

Background

Noted for sketching during school classes, as young as age eight, Jordan graduated with honors from

Fullerton Union High School Fullerton Union High School is a public high school located in the Orange County, California city of Fullerton, operated by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. History In 1893 a special election was held to create Fullerton Union Hig ...

in 1945, studying at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

before joining GM in 1949. Jordan died in December 2010 in

Rancho Santa Fe, California Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks ...

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enl ...

, survived by his wife Sally, two daughters, and son, Mark Jordan, a designer for GM and

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, M ...

Career

While a junior at MIT, Chuck entered the first post war Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild competition, winning first prize and a $4000 scholarship. At the award ceremony, Chuck later accepted an invitation from Harley Earl's assistant Howard O'Leary, who invited him to come to GM when he completed his studies. The acceptance of the invitation led to Chuck beginning his career at GM in 1949. One of his first projects was the

Aerotrain Aerotrain may refer to: * Aérotrain, a hovercraft train developed in France * AeroTrain, an tiltrotor aircraft proposed by Karem Aircraft * Aerotrain (GM), a passenger train built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division * AeroTrain (Washington D ...

, completed when he was 28 years old. He rose to director of design for

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...

in 1957, being chief designer of the 1959

, an epitome of fin design (although it was well underway when he arrived.) He also spent time with

GM Europe General Motors Europe (often abbreviated to GM Europe) was the European subsidiary of the American automaker General Motors ("GM"). The subsidiary was established by GM in 1986 and operated 14 production and assembly facilities in 9 countries, ...

as head of design for

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA ...

He was vice president of design for General Motors from 1986 to 1992. Only six people, including Harley Earl and Ed Welburn, have held the position in GM's history.

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

. "Retired GM Design Boss Chuck Jordan Dies After Decades of Stunners" http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/12/retired-gm-design-boss-chuck-jordan-dies-after-decades-of-stunners/1 Jordan's design work includes: * 1959-1960

* 1968-1973

Opel GT The Opel GT is a front-engine, rear-drive two-seat sports car manufactured and marketed by Opel in two generations — separated by a 34-year hiatus. The first generation Opel GT (1968 –1973) debuted as a styling exercise in 1965 at the Pa ...

* 1971-1975 Opel Manta A * 1971-1975

Opel Ascona A The Opel Ascona is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) that was produced by the German automaker Opel from 1970 to 1988. It was produced in three separate generations, beginning with rear-wheel-drive and ending up as a front-wheel drive J-ca ...

* 1973-1977 Opel Commodore B * 1991-1996

Oldsmobile 98 The Oldsmobile 98 (spelled Ninety-Eight from 1952 to 1991, and Ninety Eight from 1992 to 1996) is the full-size flagship model of Oldsmobile that was produced from 1940 until 1942, and then from 1946 to 1996. The name – reflecting a "Serie ...

* 1992-1994 Chevrolet K1500 Blazer/GMC K1500 Jimmy * 1992-1997 Cadillac Seville STS * 1992-1999 Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Suburban * 1993-1996

Cadillac Fleetwood The Cadillac Fleetwood is a model of Luxury vehicle, luxury car that was manufactured by the Cadillac division of General Motors between 1976 and 1996. The "Fleetwood" name was previously used as a prefix on several of Cadillac's models dating b ...

* 1994-1999

Cadillac DeVille The Cadillac DeVille is the nameplate used by Cadillac over eight generations, originally used to designate a trim level of the 1949 Cadillac Series 62 and later to designate a standalone model in the brand range. The last model marketed specif ...

* 1995-2001

Chevrolet Lumina The Chevrolet Lumina is a mid-size car that was produced and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1989 until 2001. __TOC__ Background The first generation of the Lumina replaced the Chevrolet Celebrity and Chevrolet ...

* 1995-2005

Chevrolet Cavalier The Chevrolet Cavalier is a line of compact cars produced by Chevrolet. Serving as the replacement of the Chevrolet Monza, the Cavalier was the second Chevrolet model line to adopt front-wheel drive. Three versions of the Cavalier have been s ...

References

External links

* 1927 births 2010 deaths People from Whittier, California American automobile designers General Motors designers Opel designers Deaths from lymphoma 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub