 Unfortunately we’d never heard of Oliver Jordon of Enid, Oklahoma until lately. But Mr. Jordon must have been a man to our hearts, there’s no doubt about that. This is his story in just a few lines: in 1945 Mr. Jordon bought an existing scrap yard which he continued to run as a business. He bought and sold cars and parts, which he loved doing. But than, one day in 1953, the local government told him he had to change. The city council had plans for expansion, and there was no place for the Jordon yard. Mr. Jordon didn’t like that. And so this tough old bird simply decided to shut the doors. However, he didn’t stop buying old cars. And while his collection grew and grew, he guarded his property with more and more barb wire and mean dogs. We can also imagine he must have had some sort of a barrel gun, too, as it’s not too difficult to impersonate Mr. Jordon as a real-life good ol’ Uncle Jesse. Anyway: Mr. Jordon passed away at the age of 95 in 2003. And he left his beloved wife Ruby with more old iron then she could ever imagine. Fast forwards 10 years and she has died, too. And so, the family is now offering all of it to the highest bidder in the weekend of June 7, 2014. The seller thinks there are approximately 220 cars from the 1910s to the 1950s, with the bulk dating from the 1930s and 1940s. There’s no doubt some of the cars or bodies alone will make it to the hotrodding scene but others deserve a full restauration. How about 1936 and 1937 Cords, one of them supercharged (pictured with Oliver Jordon); a 1939 ‘all-aluminum’ Lincoln 7-passenger sedan; a 1917 Maxwell or a 1935 Cadillac with Fleetwood body? The auctioneer emphasizes that the site must be cleared so, yes, this is an end to an era. But Mr. Jordon's heritage will live on in many places. [text: Jeroen Booij; photos courtesy VanDerBrink Auctions] |
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An end to an era in Enid, Oklahoma
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