Jay Leno just picked up his new Corvette and posted a little video of its reception on Jay Leno's Garage. As you might expect based on some of his other vehicles, this isn't just any Corvette. No, it's a ZR1. Jay gives us a quick walk-around of the vehicle and points out the unique touches make this the most powerful Corvette ever. He even offers up some trivia, letting us in on the little known fact that the clearcoat used on the ZR1 costs $60,000/gallon. After the tour, Jay takes his newest addition out for a spin and shows off some of the steak behind the sizzle. Our favorite line? Jay tells us that repairs are relatively simple for the Corvette in his own unique way.
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The Lamborghini Countach is the poster child for the modern Italian supercar. Literally. If you're of a certain age (and there are a few of us here at Autoblog who are), you probably had a series of Countach posters on your bedroom wall throughout your formative years. Put simply, the Countach was awesome. Still is, too. The clean-looking LP400 cars, as shown above, are simply gorgeous. Successive updates added visual muscle, but the basic goodness remained the same. (And yes, the 25th Anniversary car's cheese-slicer grates are an abomination.) While the Countach is capable of being outperformed by a number of modern, far less exotic sports cars, none of them carry its overwhelming wow factor (or the excellent bold oblique lamborghini logo) Roll up in a Z06 or 911 Turbo today and no one will bat an eyelash, despite their being world-class machines. Arrive in a Countach, however, and you have an event on your hands. That's just how it is. Always was. Always will be.
Jay Leno, no surprise, has a Countach -- a nicely-worn, red, carbeurated '86 Quattrovalvole that once served as his daily driver and now has 70,000 miles on the clock. Obviously, he loves it, and it's the subject of the Jay Leno's Garage video we've got embedded after the jump. Jay gives a brief history of his car, which includes nuggets such as his deletion the rear wing because he thought it was stupid. (And really, it is. These cars look so much better without it.) Make sure you watch the whole thing. If you bail early you'll miss the ending. And really, who wants to miss Countach burnouts?
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It's the battle of the big chins! (Who are we kidding, Leno would win that fight against anyone.) Two gentlemen who stand as giants in automotive culture have finally weighed in with their opinions on whether or not the Detroit 3 should be rescued by the U.S. government. Jay Leno is all for it, citing the loss of this country's manufacturing infrastructure as the most compelling reason to save the automakers. He also cites a number of points that have been mentioned here and elsewhere, including the disparity between helping white collar workers on Wall St. while hanging blue collar workers on auto assembly production lines out to dry, the huge number of suppliers and businesses that depend on U.S. automakers, and the fact that domestic products have become competitive with the world's best in the last few years and it would be a shame to "get so close to the finish line and not win the race."
Jeremy Clarkson, on the other hand, disagrees. Though the top host of Top Gear says that we may be encountering the "end of days" for the auto industry, he fears the repercussions of letting another industry off the hook. Clarkson claims that he's against state intervention while at the same time acknowledges the immensity of Ford and GM (he calls Chrysler "two bit") and the number of people who depend on them for employment. Despite the ramifications of letting the Detroit 3 slip into oblivion, he leaves us with, "Where does it end?" We'll find out soon enough.
Jay Leno is a big player on the antique car auction circuit, and his loaded airport hanger in Burbank is proof that the Tonight Show host has purchased his fair share of rare rides. One such vehicle was a 1931 Model J Duesenberg that he aquired from Manhattan's Windsor Garage back in 2005. The car was owned by the now deceased Macy's heir John Strauss, and his estate is suing Leno because they contend the garage sold it to him illegally. The garage states that Mr. Strauss, who suffered from dementia, owed over $29,000 in parking fees, giving them the right to sell the Duesenberg and a 1930 Rolls Royce that was purchased by another auctioneer. The Srauss estate says the garage was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for parking over the years, and $29,000 was drop in the bucket. We don't know all the legal issues (like title transfer of the Deuse) surrounding the suit between the Strauss estate and Jay Leno, but it seems as though the Windsor Garage would be a better target for the lawsuit. They did, after all, sell the vehicle that they were paid to care for. Then again, we have no idea what the laws are in Manhattan concerning garages that aren't paid and the delinquent cars that sit on their property, either.
We were as surprised as anyone to see Jay Leno's name on the entry list for this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Then we saw that he would be arriving in a 1953 Chrysler. As nice as 1953 Chryslers may be, Jay's is pretty special. It's an imposing custom hot rod that is powered by a 28.4-liter Chrysler built tank engine. Most people call it the Tank Car, and last year this time it was on display across the country at the Woodward Dream Cruise. The heart of the Tank Car is the 1792 cid V-12 Continental-designed, Chrsyler-built tank engine that in turbocharged form puts out something like 1,600 hp and 3,000 ft-lbs. of torque. The engine alone weighs 2,000 lbs and easily qualifies Jay's car in this year's featured 20+ liter class. While performance isn't this car's main goal, it can scoot along pretty well with all of that power being routed through an Allison 6-speed transmission. Switching from the original 3-speed trans doubled Leno's gas mileage, which now stands at around 5 mpg. As bad as that might seem, it comes across as almost reasonable when you hear it guzzles 80 quarts of oil every time Jay swings through a Jiffy Lube. We have to admit that we were among the many fans who rushed to see the car as Jay entered the Pebble Beach fairway. It's really a spectacular sight, even at an event that is known to stop even seasoned auto afficianados in their tracks every few seconds.
We have a lot of respect for Jay Leno. Not only because he owns some seriously impressive cars, but because he actually drives them. Sure, we're a bit jealous, but even more so after watching him drive the SSC Ultimate Aero, the Guinness-certified fastest production car in the world. As you might expect, Leno was initially skeptical of the American-built supercar, but after close inspection and a stint behind the wheel he was truly impressed. The video also has some interesting info, including the news that SSC plans to build more cars -- a 220 mph four-door sedan as well as the world's fastest "green" supercar. Considering what SSC did with the Ultimate Aero, we wouldn't put it past them, but we're skeptical nonetheless. Follow the jump to watch the video.
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A couple of weeks ago we showed you some pics of Jay Leno's new Challenger SRT8. A tipster had taken some pics of Jay's car appearing outside his Tonight Show studio at the NBC lot in Burbank. We added a bit of additional info via the interwebs that told us Jay had purchased the car the day before and that it was the very first Challenger delivered in California. Now we have a full video of Jay taking delivery of the car from the Leno's Garage website that's posted after the jump.
Follow Jay as he drives his '70 Challenger Hemi over to Valley Dodge in Van Nuys to pick it up. There Jay gets a walkaround of the new version from Dodge Brand Director, Michael Accavitti. Next Leno takes the car home, giving us some insight into the car's driving dynamics along the way. He seems impressed with the car's build quality and good road manners compared to the original. Finally, we see a bit of Jay hinting at what's in store for this new car. Follow the jump to see the embedded video and head on over to Jay Leno's Garage for even more info about Jay's car collection
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Looks like late night television's most famous car nut is the latest person to fall under the spell of the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8. Autoblog friend Delbert Shoopman says he was walking around the NBC lot in Burbank and happened upon one black Challenger parked directly across from the Tonight Show studio. Further snooping revealed a Jay Leno parking tag on the spot (above). We snooped a bit ourselves and found a blurb on Chrysler's internal blog, Firehouse, where they talk about Jay's latest acquisition.
Seems Jay picked it up yesterday at Valley Dodge in Van Nuys. It will join his 1970 Challenger among the hundreds of other cars in Leno's Garage when he isn't driving it around the Valley or stopping off at local car meets. We'll keep an eye out for him at Bob's Big Boy and VCR to see what he thinks of his latest toy. We're guessing he will get quite a kick out of it, with its 425-hp Hemi V8 and retro-mod good looks. Drive it in good health, Jay.
"It ain't that hard folks -- make better cars." That's the word aimed at Detroit from Jay Leno, the late-night television host and avid hands-on car nut. According to Leno, nobody builds trucks as well as Americans, as he cites the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado as examples. Same goes with performance cars. "The Corvette Z06 has 505 horsepower, comes with a big warranty, and can hit 200 miles per hour. It weighs almost exactly the same as a half-million-dollar Porsche Carrera GT and gets higher mileage - 26 miles per gallon," states Leno.
However, Americans just can't seem to build a low-bucks economy car. "In order to make the more expensive car more appealing, U.S. companies feel as though they have to dumb down the cheaper car," the comedian reasons. "When you get into a high-priced, well-made American car today and the key is in the ignition, you hear a melodic bong, bong. But when you get in a cheap American car, like a rental, and the key is left in, it goes plink, plink, plink. It's just horrible. Every time you use the turn signal, it's like breaking a chicken leg."
Leno suggests that Detroit follow the example of Harley-Davidson, which turned around its quality-control problems and re-established itself as a market leader. Leno adds, "I believe that, all things being equal, Americans will buy American. It just has to be as good as the competition; it doesn't have to be better."
Autoblog is brimming with proof that Jay Leno is the luckiest car guy in the world. His legendary garage is only attainable in our wildest dreams, so when something like a Nissan finds its way (temporarily) into his stable, it deserves note.
The latest installment of Jay Leno's Garage is dedicated to the Nissan GT-R, with the late-night talk show host poring over the details and grilling Nissan's product planner, John Weiner, on what makes the GT-R special. The range of topics includes all the stats you've already memorized, Nissan's efforts to quell GT-R tuning and Leno's immeasurable joy that he can check the dipstick himself. Leno maintains that it's a vehicle he could get "emotionally involved with." We agree, so without further ado... Mr. Leno, the floor is yours.
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