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Everyone has some notion of what heaven might be like, but car buffs already know it closely resembles the jam-packed garage of American TV legend Jay Leno, whose eye-popping collection of drool-worthy machines makes it very hard to avoid the sin of galloping jealousy.
Actually, make that turbo-charged envy, because the former Tonight Show host’s decades of bringing together the best and rarest things on wheels have built what may well be the world’s most awesome private collection of automotive excellence, excess and, as the lantern-jawed revhead concedes with a smile, motorised eccentricity.
The visitor’s first surprise is that the home of these wheeled wonders is anything but wondrous – at least from the outside. Separated by a tall fence from the main runway of Burbank airport, not far from the NBC studios where the comic made his name and his fortune, Leno’s pride and joy appears to be nothing more remarkable than a pair of anonymous, pre-fab storage hangars. “My living-room is my garage, so my wife always knows where to find me,” jokes the celebrated gagster as we step inside.
He is the perfect and gracious host – and very much the proud proprietor as he offers a few suggestions about vehicles he thinks it would be fun for me to take for a spin. The 5000-pound Doble steamer – yes, it has a boiler and the pistons in its twin cylinders are driven by water vapour – is his first offering. It is also a chance to observe not only his love of arcane engineering but his mastery of their operation.
“They only made about 40 units in total before the company went out of business in 1931.” With a full 24 gallons of water aboard, the red-on-grey four-seater – an E20 model, for the information of those who share Leno’s passion for steam – could cover 1500 miles (2414km) without stopping to take on additional gallons of nature’s elixir, thanks to the innovative condenser Abner Doble perfected to re-use water. If one of his Dobles doesn’t appeal (he owns two of the elegant beasts), would a jaunt in one of his Stanley Steamers tickle my fancy?
When your collection boasts vehicles whose marques, in some cases, have not been seen on the open road in a century or more, spare parts can be hard to track down. That’s where the 3D printer earns its keep. The current job sees it whittling and shaping the shell of a spring-loaded latch needed to bring a recent acquisition up to snuff.
We pass a pair of Shelby Mustangs, two Corvettes and no fewer than four Duesenberg SJ Titans, which 85 years on, still inspire awe. Those marques are familiar, but what of the Blastolene Special? Leno owns the only one in existence. Powered by the 1600bhp (1193kW) engine from a Patton tank mated to a six-speed automatic, there is no need to wonder why it is the first, and last, of its tribe.
The first and most obvious thing about this collector is that he believes cars are not, and never should be, static museum pieces. They are built to be driven, so drive them is what he does.
“Every day I’m taking out a different vehicle,” he says matter-of-factly, as if the choice between, say, a McLaren P1 and a 1930 Bentley powered by a 27-litre Merlin aircraft engine is as unremarkable as deciding if marmalade or Vegemite better suits that morning’s toast.
The second thing to know is that Leno, unlike other well-heeled auto aficionados, refuses to regard his cars as mere investments. They are that and more, of course, appreciating in value with every passing day so that no one seems quite confident in putting a dollar figure on what would be the auction-block value of his entire motorised menagerie. By one estimate his toys are worth $100 million; by another, three times that sum.
By “stuff” he means pretty much everything that moves. Apart from his steam-powered fleet, reflecting the early days of motoring, there is a corner of the hangar dominated by the snaking cords of trickle chargers feeding volts to the comedian’s latest electric-powered fancies, starting with a Tesla Model X.
Next on his to-drive list is a Mercedes 190SL dressed up as Studebaker – or is it a Hawk with a Mercedes front end? Okay, let’s just call it a Mercbaker and marvel at the little-known and seldom-seen model’s story. It was conceived as a desperation measure and sold, but not very often, by Studebaker/Mercedes dealers just before the company went down for the count in 1966. That takes care of Tuesday.
A Lamborghini Miura and a Dodge Challenger R/T, each sprayed bright orange, account for two more days of the week to come. Finally, an extremely rare, alloy-bodied Panhard Dyna Berline and a Wankel-engined Mazda Cosmo coupe round out the coming week’s list. It’s one mixed bag, that’s for sure. The diminutive Panhard, for instance, potters around behind an 800cc engine and a mere 42 French horses, while the Challenger exalts in a supercharged 527kW. That’s the thing about Leno – he just likes cars, all cars and any car, just so long as they are interesting.
You could call it a case of “back to the future”, except that phrase brings to mind the Delorean from the classic movie. Naturally, Leno has a Delorean as well – unmodified for time travel, mind you – and doesn’t hold it in high esteem. “Okay for the movie,” he quips, “but not for much else.”
To prove its worth, he drove it from Alaska to San Diego, and nothing broke.” Bob Shotwell – who became a commercial pilot – covered 150,000 miles (241,000km) in his home-built car and gave it to Leno shortly before he died in 2004, because he wanted it restored, not broken up for parts.
Leno declines to nominate a favourite, so I hope he will pardon an exercise in intuition if I speculate that his 7.0-litre Ford Galaxie may well be closest to his heart. A meticulous work of painstaking detail, it is a recreation of the Leno family’s very first brand-new car. Then again, sentimentality might be trumped by style.
“So, what’s your favourite car in here?” Leno asks at the completion of our stroll through automotive dreamland. I could have picked something worth seven figures, but opted instead to follow my heart to a light-green over dark-green Hudson Hornet coupe. Why such an exotic choice?
The Hornet’s door opens like a vault and the cushy bench seat slides back for comfort. It’s all cabin and almost no windows, a cosy environment clad in dark-green cloth and adorned with plenty of chrome accents. Leno starts the engine, pumps the accelerator, waits a moment until she finds idle, then slides across to watch and advise.
Briefly, he invited me to share a little piece of car-buff paradise and is delighted at my obvious enthusiasm. But then, why wouldn’t he be delighted? I am but a humble visitor to his personal petrol-head heaven. He gets to live here and play with these toys every single day.
