Eddie Jordan was an extraordinary man who did so much for so many

Months after we launched Auto Express in 1988, I signed up a couple of star players who knew a thing or two about motoring, motorsport and the art of buying, owning and selling cars.

The first was Stirling Moss. Readers loved his often maverick views on everything from car occupant safety, to cars that should or shouldn’t be bought and his definitive list of F1 heroes and villains. Stirling was so on the case that by the early nineties, he assured me a go-karting kid he’d just discovered was destined to be a grand prix driver and, potentially, a future F1 world champion. The little boy? Lewis Hamilton.

My other recruit was a guy who on weekdays helped run his family’s Peugeot dealership, then at weekends raced for the McLaren, Williams, Tyrrell, Ligier, Benetton and other F1 teams. He was, and still is, Martin Brundle, who made being his ghost writer a doddle because he spoke with such authority and passion. He was a great listener, too – as I found when I suggested he move into radio or TV work at the end of his driving career, before he laughed, thanked me… and took my advice. Thirty-odd years later, he is acknowledged as the voice of F1. Rightly so.

But there could have been, should have been and very nearly was a third motoring and motorsport legend on our books. I had dealings with Eddie Jordan at the Japanese Motor Show, numerous F1 paddocks and the posh cocktail bar at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, where he hilariously held court as he played the lovable rogue role that amused so many people. The countless and deeply moving tributes and obituaries devoted to him after his sad passing last week tell us much about his extraordinary life and achievements.

But not everything. Our paths recently crossed again – in London, where I was shocked to see him, behind the scenes, working tirelessly to help raise millions of pounds for child and young adult cancer patients. Then, in a peaceful residential side street a short walk from the mayhem of the University College London Hospital, he ensured that the money was wisely spent building ‘home-from-home’ rooms and suites for the youngsters.

This was the caring, loving, serious and secret side of the man. He did not do this compassionate work for self-publicity or personal glory. Pure and simple, he did it for the kids, their brothers, sisters, mums, dads and other loved ones.

It’s not just the car and motorsport businesses that have been robbed of Edmund Patrick Jordan. The wider world will miss him enormously, too. One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t sign him up as The Father of the Auto Express House. But right up there as one of the greatest honours of my life was meeting him and witnessing the compassion, hope, peace and comfort he helped bring to my son Marcus and countless other young cancer patients. Thank you and bless you, Eddie.

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