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I'm giving this its own thread. I'd never heard of Jones Motor Car Company or that it existed in Wichita up until WWI bankrupted it. It would be nice to have some sort of car manufacturing return just to give Wichita a little something else.
Eagle - A century after these cars were built in Wichita, 'The Jones sisters have come home'
3K or so made and only six known to still exist.
Thought this was a pretty cool part of the story. I did a report in HS on early aviation in Wichita about Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman, but I don't recall coming across this story about Jones and Cessna.
The four Jones Six cars purchased by Breault
Pretty cool story and worth the few minutes it takes to read the whole story. Really hope they end up on some sort of display and help educate us more on the history of Jones and Wichita.
Eagle - A century after these cars were built in Wichita, 'The Jones sisters have come home'
More than a century after they were built, four of the last half dozen Jones Six cars that are known to exist are back in Wichita.
“I’ve been scheming for a couple of years to get them home,” said car enthusiast Jeff Breault, a financial adviser who also owns R&J Discount Liquor.
“A guy named J.J. Jones built cars in Wichita, America, from 1915 to 1920, and there are six of them left on the planet.”
At least, that’s what Breault’s extensive research has shown.
“If there’s another one, it’s hidden pretty damn good.”
Breault’s friend Myra Devlin also owns a Jones Six and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum has one on its fourth floor. In 1981, it had to be lifted by crane and brought through a window after the museum moved to its current site at 204 S. Main St. downtown.
“I’ve been scheming for a couple of years to get them home,” said car enthusiast Jeff Breault, a financial adviser who also owns R&J Discount Liquor.
“A guy named J.J. Jones built cars in Wichita, America, from 1915 to 1920, and there are six of them left on the planet.”
At least, that’s what Breault’s extensive research has shown.
“If there’s another one, it’s hidden pretty damn good.”
Breault’s friend Myra Devlin also owns a Jones Six and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum has one on its fourth floor. In 1981, it had to be lifted by crane and brought through a window after the museum moved to its current site at 204 S. Main St. downtown.
Originally, Jones operated downtown at 210 to 212 W. Douglas where, as one 1915 advertisement noted, car demonstrations would be “cheerfully given.” It then opened a huge plant near 37th North and Broadway that was built in the 1880s for manufacturing streetcars.
Breault said he understands that “pieces and parts of it are still there” from the Jones days.
“In 1917, he meets a guy named Clyde,” Breault said. “Clyde Cessna. And Clyde needs a place to put together an airplane.”
Cessna gave flying lessons on North Broadway, so Jones laid out a runway in a field and poured a concrete pad for airplanes to turn around.
“And that was Wichita’s first freaking airport,” Breault said. “There’s so many cool parts of this story.”
Jones and Cessna were both marketers, he said. They painted Jones Six on the bottoms of some Cessnas — Cessna most likely did it in return for the space — and there was a race from Hutchinson to Wichita between one of the Jones cars and a Cessna plane.
“Obviously, the Cessna beat them.”
Breault said he understands that “pieces and parts of it are still there” from the Jones days.
“In 1917, he meets a guy named Clyde,” Breault said. “Clyde Cessna. And Clyde needs a place to put together an airplane.”
Cessna gave flying lessons on North Broadway, so Jones laid out a runway in a field and poured a concrete pad for airplanes to turn around.
“And that was Wichita’s first freaking airport,” Breault said. “There’s so many cool parts of this story.”
Jones and Cessna were both marketers, he said. They painted Jones Six on the bottoms of some Cessnas — Cessna most likely did it in return for the space — and there was a race from Hutchinson to Wichita between one of the Jones cars and a Cessna plane.
“Obviously, the Cessna beat them.”
The four Jones Six cars purchased by Breault
Pretty cool story and worth the few minutes it takes to read the whole story. Really hope they end up on some sort of display and help educate us more on the history of Jones and Wichita.
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