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Bryan W. Bernart
40 articles

Tamiya 1/20 Jordan 191

January 16, 2014 · in Automotive · · 11 · 3.7K

A different sort of challenge for a guy that builds airplanes, Jordan Grand Prix's first entry into the Formula One wars. Powered by a 3.5 liter naturally aspirated 670 bhp Ford V8 linked to a 6-speed Hewland/Jordan manual gearbox, the car was fast but somewhat unreliable. Built primarily of carbon fibre, it was awarded the Autosport Racing Car of the Year Award in 1991. Not sure what the parameters were, but I'll go with it

Driver of 33 was Andrea DeCesaris, who by this time had earned the nickname "DeCrasheris" due to his habit of running off the road or into other cars. He holds the dubious honor of having started 208 Grands Prix without a win, and retired from nearly 75% of races started for one reason or another.

The kit is sort of a low-end creature-lots of opportunities to scratch build, particularly wiring and hoses. Kit decals extensive, but I painted most of the car. What decals I used set well, but were extremely fragile. I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the last moment-and could have corrected it-but broke out the Future and fired up the compressor...

Three more in the stash from this category.

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome

5 additional images. Click to enlarge.


11 responses

  1. Nice to see this quality without it being a Hiroboy kit. Lovely job, Bryan.

  2. Great job done there Bryan.
    Well done sir.

  3. Turned out very well. Nice job.

  4. beautiful paint job...and 7 up is the best soft drink ever

  5. Wow stunning build and paint Bryan

  6. Very nice and I really like the clean, gloss finish you have. The wiring and hosing that you added to the engine really add a lot. Nice additions.

  7. Good old days of F-1. Nice model

  8. Looks good, Bryan. Can't wait to see the rest. If they all come out this well, you'll have a fantastic collection !

  9. Bryan,
    This is really really nice. what a beautiful job you did on this. Photograph this in a garage or racing background and it would look real. My overwhelming compliments to you.

  10. Good to see a F1 car on this site, Bryan, especially when it's as beautifully finished as this one. The Jordan, designed by a team headed up by Gary Anderson, is considered one of the best looking F1 cars of all time, which is primarily why it won the Autosport prize. While Andrea de Cesaris was the only driver to compete in all of the 1991 races, he had some illustrious team mates, including one Michael Schumacer, who made his F1 debut at the Belgian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, despite setting a stunning qualifying time, his car's clutch failed within a few hundred yards of the start of the race, forcing his retirement. Schumacer then joined the Benetton team going on to win two world championships, before going to Ferrari, and the rest is history. What would have happened if Eddie Jordan had managed to keep him is anyone's guess. You may have seen in the news that Michael Schumacer had a very serious skiing accident this winter, and is currently in hospital in a medically induced coma, we wish him a full recovery.

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