Earlier this week, the Formula One community lost one of its most popular, enduring, and colorful figures, Eddie Jordan. He was 76. The Dublin native was originally a banker until the Bank of Ireland went on strike in 1970 — during this time, he moved to the isle of Jersey in the English Channel, and took up karting. He returned to Ireland in 1971 and became a fixture in the amateur karting scene. He started Eddie Jordan Racing in 1979, running teams in the lower formulae until joining F1 in 1991. Jordan Grand Prix remained in F1 until 2005, when he sold to the Midland Group after a handful of unsuccessful seasons. He became an F1 broadcaster in 2009. I highly recommend this video that Formula One produced after his death.

During its time in F1, the Jordan team became known for its eye-catching liveries. I thought there’d be no better way to remember Eddie Jordan than by running through them with you.

1991: Jordan 191

We start off with what may be the most iconic of Jordan’s liveries — the green and blue Jordan 191 with 7-Up, TicTac, and Ireland Tourism, considered by some to be the best-looking F1 car in history. This was the first F1 car Michael Schumacher ever drove (for one lap at the Belgian Grand Prix, before departing for Benetton). Jordan finished a decent fifth of 17 teams in 1991, ahead of more established teams like Tyrrel, Lotus, and Brabham.

1992-1993: Jordan 192 & 193

Okay, so not all of the early Jordans were winners in the livery department. Every major advertiser departed after Jordan’s inaugural season, leaving Jordan with a blue, red, and teal monstrosity. Ireland Tourism remained, though! During pre-season testing in 1992, the team did have a majority-green livery, but Sasol’s arrival before the first race of the season saw them switch to Sasol’s blue. They retained this livery for the Jordan 193 in 1993.

1994: Jordan 194

Jordan’s final year with Sasol as the primary advertiser, and they mixed up the livery a bit. I get strong ’90s vibes from it — all the swoops and the more prominent teal elements place it perfectly in that mid-’90s aesthetic era. We also saw the return of Irish green for the Ireland Tourism ad. At the French Grand Prix, held after Ireland upset Italy 1-0 at the 1994 World Cup, the team replaced the Ireland Tourism ad with the scoreline from that match. When Italy ended up advancing in the World Cup and Ireland did not, Italian team Minardi poked fun at Jordan by carrying “Italia – IN, Ireland – OUT” at the next week’s British Grand Prix. This season, Jordan got their first podium, with Rubens Barrichello placing third at the Pacific Grand Prix. The team would finish fourth a further seven times that season.

1995: Jordan 195

Listen, I told you that the early Jordan liveries weren’t all winners. Personally, I think this could benefit from a few more ads and a few more colors. Engine supplier Peugeot gets the most real estate here (plus the perhaps-accidental-perhaps-not French tricolor on the engine cover), though officially the team’s primary advertiser was the Total Energies petroleum company. The team would score its first double podium in this car, with Barrichello and Eddie Irvine finishing second and third behind old friend Schumacher in the Benetton at the Canadian Grand Prix.

1996: Jordan 196

1996 marked the beginning of Jordan’s relationship with tobacco company Benson & Hedges, at a time when every leading F1 team was advertising cigs. Benson & Hedges would remain as Jordan’s primary advertiser for the remainder of Jordan Grand Prix’s existence, but the team would get quite creative as tobacco advertising became more restricted towards the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, which we’ll get to in due course.

Peugeot and Total remain from last year, but Ireland Tourism is gone, as is any hint of green (or teal, or blue). This would be the only year the team would go with a gold-and-black color scheme, as they would go to a mustard yellow-and-black scheme starting the following season.

1997: Jordan 197

So now we’ve reached the reason I wanted to share Jordan Grand Prix with you. In 1997, Jordan adopted a striking yellow-and-black livery, with a menacing snake painted on the nose cone. The front wing attachments are also painted yellow, to look like fangs. A long forked tongue flies back towards the driver.

It instantly became one of the most legendary liveries in Formula One history.

For races held in countries with restrictions on tobacco advertising, the Benson & Hedges logos were replaced by a scale design and “Bitten & Hisses.” “Sssssschuey” and “Fissssssi” were painted on the front and rear wings for drivers Ralf Schumacher (Michael’s little brother) and Giancarlo Fisichella.

1998-1999: Jordan 198 & 199

After hitting a home run with last year’s livery, Jordan returned in 1998 with a hornet design that went down the length of the car. Though not as fierce and intimidating as the snake design, it proved even more popular than the snake, and the livery was retained for two seasons. At races where tobacco advertising was restricted, Benson & Hedges was replaced by “Buzzin’ Hornets“.

The 198 driven by former World Champion Damon Hill actually got Jordan its first ever victory in F1, at a chaotic 1998 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Jordan would finish third overall in the Constructors’ Championship, bolstered by wins at the French and Italian Grands Prix by Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

2000: Jordan EJ10

Jordan kept the Buzzin’ Hornets livery for a third season, but brightened the yellow to match new secondary advertiser Deutsche Post (the color of the car looks almost neon in some pictures), and changed the design of the nosecone hornet to give it a more stylized and less entomologically correct look — here’s a better look at the new hornet.

Jordan would fall all the way back to sixth this year, their worst result since 1995.

2001: Jordan EJ11

After three years of the Buzzin’ Hornets livery, Jordan opted for a shark motif for 2001. The shark design evokes the nosecones of those World War II fighter planes, and the black elements on the sidepods look like a shark’s fin. Benson & Hedges was minced as “Bitten Heroes” at the no-tobacco races.

After the Sept. 11th attacks, Jordan added an American flag to the engine cover. Driver Jean Alesi also sported a livery celebrating his 200th race at the US Grand Prix.

2002: Jordan EJ12

And so we’ve reached the end of the mascot era of Jordan Grand Prix, and we’re really just playing out the string here. Despite a new advertising deal with DHL, the team was hemorrhaging money even with the new advertisers, but the team would score only nine points all season and the livery became less unique, probably to look more like a DHL truck.

2003: Jordan EJ13

DHL departed after just one season, and Benson & Hedges (who had been a secondary sponsor in 2002) returned as primary advertiser, minced to “Be On Edge” for Grands Prix held in countries with tobacco advertising restrictions. Deutsche Post also departed, and the livery was starting to look concerningly bare. The livery is basically the same as 2002, except the sidepods are black again.

The team finished ninth out of ten teams, even with Fisichella winning the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix in controversial fashion.

2004: Jordan EJ14

It was a minor miracle Jordan Grand Prix survived the 2003-04 offseason at all, so when they turned up at the first race of the season, they fittingly applied “Lazarus” next to a shamrock to their sidepods. Benson & Hedges was still backing them, but not many other companies were. The team was forced to take sponsorship money from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Ostensibly a charitable cause, as many of the logos Bahrain had applied to the EJ14’s engine cover were charities and foundations linked to the race location (like the Ayrton Senna Foundation at the Imola, where Senna was killed), it was really to promote the first-ever Bahrain Grand Prix.

The team again finished ninth.

2005: Jordan EJ15

This is the end. Jordan added a black-and-red stripe down the nose, and with most countries on the Formula One schedule now limiting tobacco advertising, we saw the “Be On Edge” more than ever before — some countries, like Canada above, didn’t even allow that, so the drivers’ first names were applied to the sidepods instead. I do like the message against the NHL lockout the team used for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The team again finished ninth, though they did get a podium…in a race with only six cars.

Aftermath

Following the 2005 season, and under pressure from F1 grand poobah Bernie Ecclestone, Eddie Jordan sold Jordan Grand Prix to the Midland Group, who rebranded the team Midland F1. Before the end of the following season, the team would be sold again to Dutch automaker Spyker. After several more sales, the team now competes as Aston Martin.

After signing the contract selling the team to Midland, Jordan is said to have sat in the office of his friend Ian Phillips and cried.

He returned to Formula 1 as a broadcaster in 2009. He was the public face of a consortium that took over struggling rugby club London Irish just last month. He received an honorary OBE for his charity work. He played the drums in a rock band.

For many F1 fans, Eddie Jordan was Formula One. He may be gone, but his legacy — from his liveries to his charity work — will live forever.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, folks.