… powered by a 27 liter V-12 Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine. This is “the engine that saved civilization” because it was superior to the Mercedes and BMW engines that powered Nazi aircraft. Obviously, this combination of chassis and engine never existed “back in the day”, but Leno’s money makes this fantasy possible.
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He has both the money and the talented people to pull off these projects, and enjoys sharing them with us lesser mortals.
Just the payroll for his automotive staff is surely impressive.
I checked out a mid 30s Rolls Royce sedan for the owner long ago and found there was no great secret to the cars reliability and long life. The redundancy of 2 fuel pumps and 2 ignitions and a plumbing system that greased the chassis from the driver’s seat except for the universal joints was an obvious indication of the game plan from the manufacturer. And about those universal joints, there were buttoned down carpet swatches that covered removable access panels at the u-joints. components last much longer when properly lubed and they made it easy.
Centralized lubrication was a feature of quite a few higher end cars in the 1930’s, frequently made by a company named Bijur, which, amazingly, is still around today.
Jay Leno is all right in my book. He enjoys his car hobby immensely; but more important, seems very happy to go out his way so that others can enjoy experiencing his hobby via vdos too. Good on Jay. I’ll add that I’m glad that car belongs to Jay Leno and not to me … lol …
I have heard that Queen Elizabeth is a motorhead. I thought it would have been great for Jay Leno and Queen Elizabeth to have taken over Cartalk after Tom’s passing and Ray retirement. This would have given Cartalk an international flavor.
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I saw where the queen was a trained mechanic for the British army in WW II.
And she drove a truck. Her Majesty was known to enjoy spare time driving around the estate in military off road vehicles.
I doubt that she is still doing it at her advanced age, but it was only a few years ago that she was seen piloting a Range Rover around her Balmoral estate in Scotland. Supposedly, as a dig against the visiting King of Saudi Arabia, after he expressed shock at seeing a woman behind the wheel, she “treated” him to a hair-raising high-speed ride on the back roads of that estate.
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He’s also fairly mechanically inclined himself. He doesn’t do a lot of the work any more, but he has. He’s also considered one of the world leading experts on car Steam engines.
And he’s never spent one dime of the MILLIONS he earned while hosting the tonight show.
He’s one guy I’d love to meet.
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some people might call him a collector. some might call him a hoarder.
eventually you have to get rid of that stuff.
who was the guy in vegas that had a huge collection that was sold after he died?
i guess if you die first, than your heirs get to sell it
In my mind, a hoarder is someone who accumulates quantities of… stuff… with little value and/or little chance of price appreciation over the years. In Leno’s case, when he or his heirs decide to sell his collection, the profit will be… massive.
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Nah . . .
Nobody can effectively replace Tommy and Ray
Shouldn’t even try . . . it could only be a pale comparison
Kind of like Prairie Home Companion . . . Garrison Keilor can’t be topped. When he retired, they should have just ended the show
In my opinion, many radio shows are in effect “time pieces” . . . when their hosts can’t continue, for whatever reason, they should just let it go. Better to go out on top . . .
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I bet he spend a lot of it on his car collection. At least I hope so.
No…He banked it all. Just spent the money he earned when he did standup and endorsements and other appearances.
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Maybe, maybe not @VDCdriver. I’m amazed at how little some great old cars are bringing at auction. Leno’s collection may not bring as much as he has invested.
In that case, I suspect that… somehow… he will be able to bear-up under that financial strain.
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