James Douglas Muir Leno, or Jay Leno as everyone knows him, is an American television host, comedian, and writer. But, most of us reading this know him as one of the world’s most famous gearheads. He tried his hand at stand-up for a few years before getting a job as the Host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2009. The Tonight Show was paramount in giving him the fame and money to fill his garage with such exotic and exciting cars. Now, people consider his automobile collection to be one of the most diverse in the world.
From century-old cars to the latest supercar, from a car running on a turbine engine to a car running on a freaking tank engine, Jay has got them all. He even has a show called Jay Leno’s Garage that features him sharing his passion for automobiles and meeting fellow gearheads on the way. But that’s not what we are here for. Instead, we’ll shift our focus on the insanely impressive car collection that’s waiting for us in his garage. Leno has such a great list of impressive and important vehicles, like the first vehicle with pop-up headlights, different Bugattis, a turbine-powered car, a Dodge Viper, classic muscles, and so on. We have hand-picked the 10 absolute coolest cars out of them.
10
Jensen C-V8
Jensen was a sort of unique company at the very least. Younger car enthusiasts might recall a Jensen Interceptor used by Michelle Rodriguez in Furious 6. If that Interceptor was underrated, then this one is quirky. If your ears ignore the comments on its looks, you will hear the roar of a 305-hp Chrysler 6-Liter V8 under the hood (or should I say, bonnet in this case).
That’s right, it’s a British Gran Tourer with an American V8. The C-V8 was faster than your typical supercar from that time, with a 0-60 mph time of just 5.7 seconds thanks to its lightweight fiberglass body. Also, only 500 were made, so it is super rare too!
9
1967 Lamborghini Miura P400
The Miura is arguably the world’s first-ever supercar, and it was a key factor in putting the Italian former tractor company on the global map. Out of all the Miuras, the 1967 P400 was the very first one, so it’s safe to say that this is THE car that started it all.
Only 764 examples were made, out of which many are locked behind museum doors throughout the world. Leno’s garage is somewhat of a sanctuary for rare vehicles, so, naturally, a 3.9-liter V12 Miura worth $3.5 Million found its way over there.
8
2014 McLaren P1
British manufacturer McLaren is one of Jay Leno’s favorite companies in the entire world. And the $1.35 Million P1 is one of McLaren’s most exquisite and intense cars ever. Jay knew he had to get one as soon as he could. Evidently, Jay managed to get the first-ever P1 that touched the US grounds.
One of the “holy trinity” of hypercars, the Mclaren P1 provides one of the most ruthless and rawest driving experiences of any car in the world. Its 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 and an electric motor make 903 hp combined. 0-60 mph takes 2.8 seconds and its top speed is limited to 217 mph.
7
1925 Doble Steam Car
That’s right, Jay Leno has a steam car made in 1925 and he is really proud of it. The car itself is actually a pretty big deal. While the usual steam engines had a lengthy process of lighting boilers and some waiting for steam to build, Doble used an (innovative at that time) electronic ignition system to produce power early on.
Its peak power figures were impressive at 150 hp and 2200 lb-ft of torque. Best of all, there were no gears, just buttery smooth acceleration all the way. Sadly, these cars had a price tag of $10,000 in 1925, whereas Ford’s internal combustion Model T sold for just $260.
6
1939 Lagonda V12
In 1939, British luxury leader Lagonda had made some of the sportiest cars in the world. The Aston Martin Lagonda might come to your mind, that’s the model that came after Aston Martin bought this brand. But back in the ‘30s, Lagonda made some crazy models, which were penned by former Rolls Royce designers.
So, finding the original models became next to impossible, but the sheer rich history behind it grew on Jay so much that he ordered a custom-built replica of this iconic roadster. The vibrant red paint job does it justice though.
5
Blastolene Special
Remember in the intro, where we mentioned a car running on a tank engine? This is it. The epic roadster that is given the name ‘Tank Car’ is a car that oozes the words ‘Massive’ and ‘Huge’ more than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biceps. The length of this car is over 6 meters. “How much does it weigh,” you ask? In the immortal words of Vegeta, “It’s over 9,000!” …or 9,500 lbs, to be precise.
Even more impressive is its top speed. The 1600-hp Continental V12 AV1790 borrowed from a Patton M47 Tank is powerful enough to make this behemoth reach 140 mph! It’s truly a one-of-a-kind vehicle, and that too, road legal.
4
1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing Coupe
Ahh, the gullwing doors. So unique and impressive enough to be called a fashion statement on its own. Presented to the world over 6 decades ago, The SL300 Gullwing Coupe was certainly ahead of its time and other cars with gullwing doors owe it to this O.G. that started it all. Jay Leno himself considers it to be one of the most spectacular cars ever made.
The one in Jay’s garage has had two previous owners and was a race car in its prime. Leno’s team had to restore the car to its original beauty and had to rebuild the 3-liter 6-cylinder engine that provides 180 hp.
3
2006 EcoJet
This car is among the ones that can be found in every single “Awesome Cars In Jay Leno’s Collection” list ever made. That is because this car is the result of Jay Leno’s absolute savagery when he called General Motors and pitched the idea of developing a turbine-powered supercar. Yup, Jay Leno and General Motors partnered to make a one-off project.
A 650-hp Honeywell Lt-101 turbine engine consumes biodiesel and launches it to 245 mph through an automatic transmission. It was so fast, it blew off a window on the test run. If that’s not a technological showcase, we don’t know what is.
2
Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita
No one will be surprised if you just drooled upon looking at this piece of art. Any Koenigsegg is worthy to be in a collector’s garage, but the Trevita is a special one. We all expect black carbon fiber chassis, but this roughly $4.8 million hypercar gives you Diamond studded sparkles for maximum style points.
It’s not all show and no go either. Not surprising for a Koenigsegg, the Triveta goes from 0 to 60 in less than 3 seconds. Jay Leno was such a fan of this car, he took the delivery personally from Koenigsegg’s Founder and CEO Christian von Koenigsegg himself! If that’s not enough, there are only 2 of these in the entire world.
1
1994 McLaren F1
Out of all the cars in Jay Leno’s garage, this one is perhaps the absolute coolest. We have heard him say this is his favorite many times. And let’s not forget the amazing story he told Jeremy Clarkson in Top Gear about the time he took his F1 to a car show. The designer, Gordon Murray hit a home run with this car. It broke Jaguar XJ220’s speed record and made a production car record of 240.1 mph with a 627 hp V12 engine.
What’s even better, is that the 27-year-old F1 still holds the record of the fastest naturally aspirated road car ever. Only 64 road-going units made it out of the factory so they are super rare and super expensive, costing around $12 million.
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