Jay Leno Reveals The TRUTH About The Tonight Show, Car Collection & More

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Have I been robbed?

Yeah, have I gotten to my throat?

Sure, I've had all those things.

Jay Leno!

You hosted one of the biggest TV shows in America.

I am the luckiest guy in the world.

I liked anything that rolls, explodes, and makes noise.

It doesn't get more unique than this.

I have 214 cars and 168 motorcycles.

I have my face caught fire.

Boom, I got a face full of gasoline and a sparse jump control.

I had to call my face guy, hand me another face.

How did you come to be in that seat for that show?

Being dyslexic, I always had the wrong answer.

This was the cue of a dyslexic when I was a kid.

Smarten up, smarten up.

What do you think in your journey to where you are now

has been one of the toughest things you've had to overcome?

You know, my wife's got Alzheimer's and dementia.

That's a little tricky.

They say money can't buy happiness.

Yes, it can.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

Jay, when I think of automotive collectors and my favorite YouTubers,

I keep coming back to a garage, Jay Leno's garage.

Well, thanks.

I'm watching the amazing videos that you've created on your channel.

But there's so much more that I know that you've achieved

in your really long career and building this collection

than just talking about the garage itself.

Well, it's running out of collection.

I just never sold anything.

I didn't set out to collect things.

I just bought what I liked and I just never sell anything.

So, you know, you park it and you come back and, you know,

six months later, oh, it's like a new car.

You know, I was like, oh, I forgot how nice this is.

Oh, what a weather, you know.

So I don't really think of it as a collection.

But I've gotten used to saying collection now, so that's OK.

So if somebody asks you after doing so many things

over your lifetime, in your own words,

who are you and what do you do?

How would you answer that question now?

Well, it's not really that complicated.

I mean, I'm a stand-up comedian that was fortunate enough

to get a TV show and that worked out well.

But I was always a stand-up comedian either on weekends

or during the week after the show.

And I like the engine that rolls, explodes, it makes noise.

So I always enjoyed it.

You know, I grew up in a rural area.

So when I was a kid, you could buy cars for $25.

In fact, people would abandon a car on the street

and they'd take the plates off it.

They'd pick it up, they'd drag it home, they'd get it running

and you'd drive it around in the field.

You know, we had three acres of property.

We were in kind of rural areas.

So when I was 12, you know, my mom would watch from the window

watching the dishes, watch us kids drive cars around.

So of course, now they call child services

and the parents are arrested.

But then it was not unusual, you know.

So you pay in us a picture of what life was like growing up

because you've become to many such a successful individual.

You've turned that success into passion and things you love

and you're still doing things you love,

which is the dream to so many.

So you've described a few of the ingredients

that made up your childhood.

But if you had to pick a moment from your earliest years

that you think led you on the path to where you are today

that was really significant for you,

what would spring to mind?

Oh, I don't know.

It was significant.

You know, I was lucky.

I had very good teachers when I was a kid.

I was dyslexic.

This is the cue of a dyslexic when I was a kid.

Smarten up, smarten up, smarten up.

Okay, I'm smart.

I'm smart.

I got to know.

Okay.

So nobody really thought of it as,

now everything is a disability.

I was dyslexic.

Sad.

Now you were just,

my mother would always say to me,

you're just going to have to work hard

and the other kids to get the same thing.

And that seemed like a fair trade off to me.

So I always, I did that.

And as I got older,

I realized when I met other dyslexic people,

they weren't interested in something.

But when they were,

oh, God, they focused like a laser beam.

And they knew all about cars,

all about cameras,

all about motor, whatever it might be.

So I never looked at it as a particular disability.

But probably, you know,

I had a teacher tell me one time,

oh, you have to think of me in a comedy writing

or I was telling jokes.

And where I grew up,

no, that didn't even seem like a business

or a comedy writer.

But, you know, nobody was in show business, you know.

So, yeah, there are a couple of moments like that, I guess.

So where was it that you grew up?

I was born under Shell New York,

which is the suburb of New York City.

And then my dad worked for insurance company.

He got transferred to a rural office in Massachusetts

about 30 miles north of Boston.

And so that's where I spent my form of views

from age seven.

No, yeah, I guess, yeah,

six or seven on through, you know, high school and college.

You spoke about your mother twice already,

looking at you out of the window.

Who was your father?

Was he an absolute car nerd as well?

No, not at all.

My mother's from Greenwich, Scotland,

and my father's Italian.

The most hilarious combination,

just Scottish and Italian.

It was just the funniest sort of family

because, you know,

the Italian side,

each, you know, when you're a kid,

each tried to pull you off to their side, you know?

And like the Scotch side,

my aunt would say,

Jamie, would you like a scone and some Coca-Cola?

Now, since I was from Scotland,

you don't need to keep Coca-Cola refrigerated, Jamie.

It tastes the same way that it's warmed up

and it costs money to go.

So I'd get like a warm Coke

and like this stale biscuit, you know,

like a scone.

Yeah, thanks.

I mean, they're wonderful people.

And then you go to the Italian side,

there'd be meatballs and pasta

and all kinds of things like that, you know, pizza.

And it was funny because

when we go to Sunday dinner,

when the Scotch side would come,

they go, Jamie, the Italian people,

they waste food, Jamie,

there's only eight people here.

There must be 35 meatballs.

There's no reason to make so many meatballs.

You know, and the Italian side

would always like tease the Scotch side.

My uncle Alec,

he passed out at the table.

It was a hot day, just passed out.

So my dad goes to loosen his belt

to give him some excuse.

You won't get me wallet.

I don't want your wallet.

I mean, it was just very funny.

I mean, it was a loving family,

but just Scotch and Italian.

It just used to make me laugh.

So what you said is that you were quite a jokey kid.

Your teacher had even picked up on that.

Yeah.

Which you've described yourself as like an extrovert.

Like you've always been this person.

Yeah, I think so.

I always tell jokes.

You know, when you're a community,

you tend to remember things that make people laugh.

And yeah, I just kind of do that, I suppose.

What do you think

was the first time

that you really realized you had a passion for automotive?

Well, I mean, as a kid,

I always liked cars and motorcycles and things.

It was just, you know, it was, oh, a car goes by,

a motorcycle goes by.

I remember my uncle,

he was an ex-cop,

and he bought a Harley.

And he gave me a magazine.

And I went to this Harley.

It was one of those, it was a 1956 Harley

Duglide, he used to call it.

That was the big Harley.

And it had, the windshield was green at the top

and clear at the bottom.

And at the clear part, it had a decal of a girl like this,

you know, but with like a two-piece bathing suit.

I mean, the most modest bathing suit,

you know, just a two-screen.

And I went over to my mother,

and my mother said,

get away from that.

I said, I'm looking,

get away from that girl.

Don't be looking at such things as that.

I said, I'm not looking,

I want to look at the motorcycle.

You know, I just, I always remember there's a key,

because I did, I didn't care about the girl.

I didn't want to see the motorcycle.

My mother said, no, you can,

because the girl was on the motorcycle.

No, I couldn't look at it.

So stupid.

With the dream of having those motorcycles

and having the cars that were on those mags

almost feel unachievable to you at that age.

Like were you growing up?

I was growing up.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Maybe it's something about growing up in America.

When I was a kid,

I worked in a foreign car dealership.

And we did new car prep.

And I was the youngest guy.

And most of the guys were in the 30s.

And we, there was a guy named Tony Sabian,

who was a, what do you call it,

a decorator, a home decorator, you know.

And he had a bunch of Mercedes.

And once a week we would go out and clean his cars.

And I remember one of the guys who wouldn't be great

if it was their only job to clean his guys' cars.

And I said, wouldn't it be great,

wouldn't it be better to be the guy and own the cars?

And they went, what?

What are you talking about?

I feel like that could happen.

I said, why couldn't that?

And I didn't know what, why couldn't that happen?

Yeah, right.

I mean, I don't know.

They just, they just couldn't dream beyond what they,

you know, they got a job washing cars.

They drank, you know, they go drinking every weekend.

And they never saw past that.

But what do you think made you recognize that

versus what was going on in their lives

if you were going up to the same place?

You couldn't achieve something if you tried for it.

I mean, I, and I tell you,

I achieved everything I tried for it.

It just seemed like, why not?

I mean, why couldn't you?

I mean, these guys just so beaten down

by the system or whatever you want to call it.

It was just depressing.

It's like, really guys, you can't see me on.

Like, yeah, right.

You think you got something?

Right, right.

I mean, I bought that Rolls because he used to work for Rolls Royce.

I used to deliver them and pick them up and, you know,

and I thought, oh, maybe someday I'll get one of those

when I bought one.

And I thought, oh, you know, Michael, Michael Cain,

I have the discussion.

Michael Cain, he's the Liverpool kids.

And he told me, he went into the dealership

to look at the Rolls Royce and the guy chased him away,

you know, because, you know, just with his accent

and the way he was talking, he was deliverable.

You're never going to find something like, you know,

English upper class snub, you know.

So the first thing he did, he made money, bought a Rolls Royce.

He didn't drive.

He had no license.

But he bought it just to piss off that guy.

And I just loved that.

It just made me laugh.

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And back to the episode.

Would you always be fascinated

if you were delivering Rolls Royces in your earliest years

and you were washing people's cars

and they had multiple cars?

Would you always want to know what they did to do that?

Were you quite like...

You've ended up being one of the greatest interviewers

at your own TV show.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, I did, yeah.

Were you always interested in the person behind?

I was always interested in that.

I used to get mad.

I remember there were a couple of hockey players

that had Rolls Royces.

And they would bring them in.

And there would be beer cans.

And, you know, the carpets would be sort of

soaked with beer.

And the lettuce all, you know.

I mean, they were fairly new,

but just abused.

And I think, oh, you should make me somewhere.

Yeah, because you grew up treating things with respect.

Yeah, yeah.

Just the idea that it just seems so stupid of me.

And I meet so many people like that in Hollywood, you know.

So what age were you delivering those Rolls Royces

and have gone into that motor track?

You obviously loved cars from those earliest years.

Ended up there.

17, 18, 19, yeah.

17, 18, 19 driving around in Rolls Royces.

You must have been over the moon at that point anyway.

Well, it was really because on those days, you see,

when you bought a Rolls Royce,

Rolls Royces are a very small company.

They never really had much money.

They didn't sell that many cars.

So cars who come in by boat to the port of New Jersey,

I would have to drive down or fly down from Boston

and then drive them back,

because the transporters are too expensive.

And when people are, why is the car 200,

oh, those are test miles done by the technician.

You know, that's just stupid.

Yeah, so that's what I would do.

I would have to go down and pick the cars up

and bring them back.

I remember one day, I'll never forget this day,

there was an auto show

and I had a Corniche convertible

and I had to pick up six Bikini models

that were going to the show.

Okay, now I got long hair.

I'm driving a Rolls Royce.

I got these six Bikini models.

I come to a red light

or like five guys digging a hole

and they look up.

They just look at me like, you asshole.

I mean, they just say, I got five bikini models.

I'm like 18 long hair.

I'm one of the guys.

It's not like, yeah, they're just like,

I can see them just getting mad or mad.

They're just waiting for this light to change.

These guys would come over and beat the shit out of me.

Yeah, but they didn't.

But it just made me laugh.

But it's just like rich hippie pulls up in a roll.

But you're 18, having moments that make you feel

like you're having the time of your life.

You know, that's the way to live.

That's the way to live.

Many people would be content with that

in their normal lives

to get to a point where they're driving Rolls Royces

and you've got something in the back.

That's my thing.

I was content at any point in my life.

I was content.

I was not angry.

Why don't I have this?

I was always very happy whatever point I was at.

I was happy whatever car I had.

I loved that car.

But I just thought, OK, let's see what happens next.

I never felt, oh, I'm going to get this.

I'm going to get even with those people.

No, I mean, it was never that kind of a thing.

I just enjoyed it.

And you know, there's that old thing

if you take like a thousand people

into each throw dice,

eventually going to get on one guy

and he's going to win the whole pot

because they're all throwing dice.

I mean, you're going to think you're pretty special

if you're that guy.

I didn't do anything.

Why did I win this?

You know what I mean?

And that's kind of where I was.

I was lucky.

Everything I kind of did,

I was pretty lucky.

OK, and some was lucky,

but some was also, you know,

I find that people that don't succeed in life,

especially really has nothing to do with talent.

Too straight, too gay, too high,

too drunk, too jealous, too envious.

Oh, something in a man about something.

I mean, there's always some inner turmoil

that has nothing to do.

I mean, assuming they have the talent to begin with, you know.

But I've seen this with movie stars all the time.

The number of times they had celebrities on

and they're on the show and they're excited.

Next time they're a star.

Next time they're high in the dressing room.

Next time they're divorced, they got in the car.

I mean, it's almost like, really?

I mean, this is this.

It's so obvious.

How do you how do you fall for it?

It's so cliche that you just fall into it.

And you notice that pattern over and over again.

I was always stunned by it, you know.

I never assumed I was smarter or better

than anybody else.

But I looked at what made most men weak

and there was drugs, alcohol, women gambling.

OK, you can get those out of your life,

but it keeps some of the women.

You get those out of your life.

You can do OK.

Because everybody, you know, it's been one of those.

Every friend I've had that was, you know, it's so stupid.

Yeah.

In this day and age, so many young people

in their 20s are in their teens.

If they're working for a business,

especially one that does cars,

you see the reels on Instagram all the time

and I'm a laugh.

It's like, oh, the social media guys come in

to take a video.

My generation is so exposed to cameras

that it's almost normal to have been

on camera or video at some point.

I'm a huge believer in low self-esteem.

It's the key to success.

If you don't think you're the smartest person,

being dyslexic, I always had the wrong answer.

So if I find if I didn't answer,

no one would know how dumb I was.

And, oh, that kind of worked because that moved me along

because other guys would answer and be dumber

and they'd be eliminated and I would move forward.

I know that sounds ridiculous,

but it really does.

You know, when I got to Tonight Show,

most people can't do anything.

Some people can do one thing

and then there are a few people who can do many things.

I can do one thing.

I was pretty good at being a comedian

and doing, okay, that worked for me.

I know I'm not a lighting director.

I'm not a...

So when I got the TV show,

I hired the best lighting guy I could get.

You do the lights, you're directing,

you guys just tell me when I suck, okay?

Just tell me when I suck.

And they did, but I had a lot of people

that would fire people who thought when they sucked.

And then eventually you had that kind of show

where everybody in the show doesn't care if they lose their job

as long as that prick loses his job

because he's so mean to everybody.

You know what I'm saying?

And that always worked for me.

I had the same crew for the whole 22 years I was on TV.

And that mattered to you a lot

because one year I read that you actually

gave up half of your salary package.

Yeah, yeah.

To keep on the key crew members that you wanted.

I was making ridiculous money.

I mean, I was making $30 million a year,

which is stupid.

And, you know, they wanted to get rid of that.

And we said,

I'm just kind of funny.

I told them, I said, look, I went home,

I sat down with my wife.

We realized if we eat just one day a week outside

instead of at home,

we can live on $15 million.

Everybody thought that was pretty funny.

So from that point on,

I had the loyalist crew.

Nobody quit.

Nobody got angry.

I mean, we saved all the jobs.

And you realize, I mean, that's what it's about really.

It's about being the time you have,

trying to make it enjoyable,

trying to make it comfortable.

And if some people around you actually like you,

it's a pleasure to go to work.

I mean, I have so many friends, you know,

they're told, don't look the staff in the eye

because you might have to find them some day.

So, you know, what's to live like that?

I mean, what are you doing, you know?

I was very happy with all of it.

You know, we had, when I took over the show,

we hired everybody that's brand new.

And so consequently, they're at the show

like 16 hours a day, 18 hours a day.

So they all intermarried.

And when we ended the show,

we had 64 children born on the show.

From all the people that intermarried

from working on the show.

I mean, some of them were 18 and 19 and 20.

Some of them were just a few months old.

But we all brought them out at the end.

And it was very moving.

It was fascinating.

It was just fun to see, you know?

It was like, oh, it was great.

It was kind of like a fun family.

And everybody ended and there was no bitter feelings

in lump shows.

Somebody's bitter, probably.

But for the most part, you know, yeah.

That's just life is not, you know, show business is not hard.

People just make it difficult.

And I don't know, that makes any sense.

My generation are so used to being in front of the camera.

When did you go on camera for the first time

to forget to get from delivering the cars

to on a show that's earning $30 million a year?

Like what's the magic in between?

Well, I remember when I was a kid, I was like six.

My uncle Tony, yeah, he was like 20 years younger than my dad.

He got married.

He went on a TV game show.

We lived in New York at that time.

And the show taped in New York.

I saw him walk on on the TV black and white, you know,

like this big.

And I thought, that's unbelievable.

It's like, I'm my uncle.

How did he get that time?

He got it.

Because everybody's like, after the show,

he came to the house.

Oh, Tony.

Oh, that's pretty good.

You're on TV.

Look at all the attention you get.

That's pretty good.

You know, I was just aware of that.

It just made me laugh.

It was a totally different thing

that everybody has a camera now.

Like when I was a kid, to me, the thing still to this day,

when I was a kid, at least once or twice a month,

somebody would have a picture of a UFO

because they just happened to have a camera

as that flying saucer came around.

It was in every paper.

It was on TV.

And the flying saucer looked like a flying saucer.

It had rivets and everything in it, you know.

Now everybody has a camera.

There are no UFOs.

Everybody knows this.

Why aren't we seeing UFOs?

We all just want that to be a UFO so bad.

Or bigfoot or any of those things.

Yeah, it just makes me laugh.

So, yeah, it is different now.

You know, I see people my age,

like when I was growing up,

you couldn't print something if it wasn't true

because you would be sued and it would be illegal.

So, I have some people, I know they,

I just saw something on the internet.

No, it's fake.

It's on the internet.

It can't be fake.

This is not, there's no law anymore.

You can do whatever you want, you know.

So, it just strikes me funny when I see that.

There's a lot of AI content out there

as well as we enter this new generation

that only makes that problem worse.

But if you take it right back

to when it was the beginnings of all that

and you were going on screen for the first time,

do you remember the first time you got,

let's say, a big break

or a moment that you got you in front of the camera

that you feel is like significant

and without-

The first thing I did is an American TV show

but the show I eventually took over, the Tonight Show,

that was my first big show.

And-

Because before that it was the Jay Leno show, right?

No, I had nothing before that.

No, this is 1977.

And VCR did just come out.

So, because I was going to be on TV,

I bought a VCR.

It was as big as this table.

It was this huge thing.

It had a big, big handle on it,

and then you put this cassette in,

and it would take a half hour.

And I taped myself on the show

and then we watched it back out.

This is unbelievable.

It just seemed because you couldn't tape a TV show.

So, the VCRs were just coming out,

but it was as big as this

and it cost $1,200 in 1977,

which is like $10,000.

And it weighed like 300, 400 pounds.

Hilarious.

Yeah.

You might be wondering how I'm interviewing Jay Leno,

the most incredible interviewer of all time.

Well, this is our 100th episode of Road to Success,

and we're also about to hit 100,000 subscribers.

We might have already hit it by now.

And if you want to launch your own podcast

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Then I've put together a guide

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it's the perfect thing to help you get to this position.

Thank you.

How did you come to be in that seat for that show?

How did that happen?

How did you find yourself in that position

to take over that show?

They were looking at a lot of comics.

And, okay, Johnny would have guest hosts.

Now, Johnny owned this show.

I knew that.

So when did I get a call from this agent

and he had represented six comedians

who were also guest hosts?

And he said, you know, I'm getting $25,000 a show

for my clients to host.

I said, well, I'm doing it for $512 a show,

which is the scale.

He goes, if I can get in 25, we're getting $25,000.

But I knew Johnny owned this show.

I said, you know, thanks.

I just stay where I make a mistake.

And I'm like, okay.

All right, at the end of the month,

Johnny goes, okay, we spent $300,000 as guest hosts.

You know, it's really about $512.

Do you get about the same ratings?

Yeah.

Well, we make him the permanent guy.

That's very simple.

I mean, it couldn't be simpler.

You know, to me, I always looked at the big picture.

It was always about doing the job.

What was that?

He's flicked off his clip on his mic.

That's hilarious.

I thought you took it to a show.

Oh, I thought you'd shot, mate.

No, I just remember that.

To this day, I take just about every job I'm offering.

Because I say, I'm not going there for that money.

Really?

What are you doing on the Tuesday that's worth $5,000?

What are you doing?

What are you doing on that Tuesday?

Yeah, just take the job.

Just shut up.

Just me.

So do you think some of the key to your success is always being humble enough to take every

opportunity you're given?

Well, yeah, I think there's probably that.

No, just not to think you're anything special.

You know, you're only as good as your last joke.

That's really what it comes down to.

And always have something to offer.

I'd always see comedians that go on show, be funny, be funny.

And then the next two or three times, they just go on it themselves.

Yeah, I just want to talk to them.

I don't want to do my act.

I just want to talk.

Okay.

Well, they're not there to be yourself.

You're there to be the person they think is funny.

You don't go on unless you're prepared.

So how many times have you seen a comedian really funny, pretty good?

He was okay.

I wasn't very good at this stuff.

You know, it's diminishing returns because it's hard writing jokes.

It's a hard job coming up with jokes.

And if you don't, you eventually just fizz out, you know.

So that's the thing, you try to keep it going, you know.

Well, you clearly were keeping it going and it's enabled you to build a life

where you're able to get some of the most incredible cars you could ever dream of.

Flairis!

What was one of the first that blew your mind?

Like, oh my God, I've been able to buy this.

Well, I bought that McLaren F1.

That's a pretty good starting point.

I'm not sure I've done a podcast with the McLaren F1 in the back shot of it before.

That's a pretty good one there.

You know what's so funny?

That car, I remember, I bought it secondhand.

I heard one was for sale and I called my brother and I said,

I don't know, it's a lot of money.

He says, well, if you wanted it.

I said, yeah, but it's 800.

That's crazy.

I said, let me call.

So I called Harold Dermott.

He was the salesman.

Yes, we have it here.

It's secondhand, 800,000.

I said, well, it was 800,000.

Well, we think we're going to go up in value.

He was right there.

Well, I said to him, I said, I tell you what,

I'll call you in two weeks.

If you haven't sold it, then I'll buy it.

So I'm praying that it gets sold.

So I don't have to buy this.

Yeah, because you played Mr. Kool-Doo, but really you're like,

I leave.

You know, so I wait and I call Harold.

Anybody came in?

He said, we had an inquiry today.

And I think, of course, that's phony.

I said, well, he goes, well, it's massive journey.

I said, all right, I'll buy it.

I'll buy it.

I said, but I'm paying the same price as one of us knew.

We think they're going to go up in value.

Is that all right?

Fine.

And then the really funny story was there are only 64 of them.

So I buy this one.

I'm driving at home and I come up my street and I see

another one parked three houses down from me.

What?

Who?

I don't know everybody on my street.

So I pull in behind it and I go up to the house and I knock on the door.

And this beautiful supermodel opens the door.

We're in just a towel.

She goes, yes?

So I'm in the shower.

What is it?

I said, whose car is it?

She asked my boyfriend's car.

I said, you know, I've got one just like it.

And she goes, so?

Well, I mean, you see, it's a very rare, and she's dripping wet.

I said, look, here, they just have your boyfriend call me, you know.

And he did.

He called me.

He goes, you want one too?

I said, yeah, yeah.

And he had his.

And you only had a short time and someone offered him a million three.

You know, I think he paid a little less than I did.

He thought, well, I'll never see that money.

I don't want to sell it.

But okay, I'll get stupidest thing you ever do.

Yeah, it was very fun.

I know someone that I grew up with owned a builders merchant in the UK.

And they bought him a clarinet one for 300,000 pounds.

I know.

And sold it for 600,000 pounds thinking they'd made.

And they're a genius.

Yeah.

And I think the funniest story would not be him.

He sold his business and was very successful years later.

And he said, you know, I've worked all these years to build this business.

Blood, sweat and tears.

And if I'd still just had that car, I could have sold it for four times what I'd just gone

for my business.

I know.

But you can't think that way.

You got to think, whatever had an accident, I couldn't afford to repair it.

You couldn't.

And you would have taken insurance loss or whatever it might be.

And I'll see.

See, I'm always, see, I never shoot for happiness.

I shoot for contented because happiness is like a euphoric stage.

If you're happy all the time, you're a crazy person.

Nobody's, you're not happy all the time.

You're like an idiot if you're happy all the time.

So I just, I shoot for contented.

And then the little times when I am happy, oh, it's a nice little thing for a few minutes.

Let's get right back to contented.

And that's right.

You know, I never believe the good stuff or the bad stuff.

People go, I hear the greatest comic ever.

Thank you.

You're the worst comic ever seen.

Okay.

Thank you.

I believe you.

I listened to everything and then I just tried to try to live in the real world.

That's, that's the key.

Who was it that you rang other than your brother to tell them that you just bought your first-ever

hypercar?

Well, more than, you know, my mother had no idea.

The one, you know, my mother's is very funny.

Well, I'll find it.

Here's the Scottish mom.

And I got it was the tonight show starring Jay Leno.

And my mother was starred in Jay Leno.

Oh, listen to Mr. Big Shot starred in.

He's got to put his name on the phone.

I go, mom, that's what they do on TV.

They put you in the opt-out.

Like your people know you're there.

You put starred in in Big Word.

So finally after two weeks, I changed the tonight show with Jay Leno because I knew

my mother would not light up on this.

You know, just that Scottish.

Oh, listen to Mr. Big Shot.

Yeah, just very funny.

But would she still tune into every episode?

Yeah.

My mother to the day she denied never understood.

When I got to tonight show, I was on the cover of Time magazine, which is a huge

magazine in the United States.

So I called mom and said, mama, cover time.

Oh, Big Shot.

Time magazine.

Oh, good.

Yeah.

I said, call Uncle Frank in Florida and call and say New Jersey.

Tell him on.

She goes, I don't like your thing.

So why, why?

What do you mean?

Well, I think to put you on the cover of the ones they sell around here

because they knew you're from here.

I don't think they put you on the cover in those states.

No, ma, I'm on the cover everywhere.

I don't think so.

No, ma, they don't just put me on in the town I grew up in.

You know, just, yeah, hilarious.

But would that frustrate you, make you laugh?

Yes, that always made me laugh.

My Italian, my Scottish relatives just always made me laugh.

I heard my mother explain to her sister what I did for a living.

I'm in the other room and Nettie was older than my mother.

She was always wanted to try and, you know, upper, you know.

And what she says, who is he?

And my aunt Nettie said, what's Jamie doing now?

And I said, oh, he has a little skit that he puts on from town to town.

You know, I go, I don't go into town and do a skit.

You know, I mean, she, she never understood what I did.

She, she, she never, I remember she said to me, no one wants someone that's funny all the time.

Tell her, Joe, do a little dance, sing a little song.

I go, it doesn't work. Nobody wants a song and dance.

You just have to tell her, I don't think so.

No, you do, trust me.

Very funny.

Was your dad stood around when you started?

Oh, my dad was great.

My dad was Italian.

My dad was a prize fighter.

I mean, I was a tough guy.

Yeah, it's very funny.

It's very funny.

I had the Italian on, of course, he has five dollars.

Don't tell your mother about that.

Yeah, you know, I always do that kind of thing.

So it sounds like they were always trying to keep you humble

within their own way, through a lot.

Oh, yeah.

They were trying to keep you completely humble.

Oh, yeah.

Some people would say that this is a lot.

A lot of cars, a lot of flowers, a vast area.

I walked for five minutes.

I don't think I went in every room.

Right, right.

If they were with us right now in the van, what do you think they would say about it?

My mother just, you know, I think my mother enjoyed it.

I think, you know, I was dyslexic.

So I was a kid who was a terrible student.

And I would hear those describe, what are you going to do with Jamie?

What's going to happen with him?

You know, because my brother was smart.

He went to Yale.

He was a lawyer.

You know, I was the one, you know, so, you know, so, yeah.

I think my mother got a kick out of it because everybody else is so serious.

You know, you know, I was, I was probably the favorite.

I think it's fair to say.

Please subscribe to Roads of Success because the road has obviously taken a horrible detour to this point.

So only you can get it back on the proper route.

It clearly means a lot as well that you were able to achieve what you have whilst being dyslexic.

Do you think it's good that kids these days have a little bit more opportunity

or do you think they're molly-cuddled a little bit too much?

No, I think every generation is the same.

Nothing makes me laugh is if since the birth of Christ to the day before us, everything was great.

And this generation, you know, when I was a kid, they were blown up a bank of America

building students were burning down college campuses.

It was horrible.

It was crazy.

And, you know, whenever you think it's bad, you know, I enjoy something that's horrible in America is the price of college.

So I like to try and give out scholarships when I can.

So I met this kid.

He was a car fan.

You know, he'd come see me and I said, what do you want?

I want to go to UMass.

Okay.

He said, yeah, but I don't have any money.

You can't afford it.

So I'm going to go to a little community college now.

So I thought, well, I call up his mom searching to think on some creepy guy.

I said, do you mind if I pay for his college?

He goes, hold on.

Okay.

So I'll pay for his college.

So they pay for the college.

So I pay for his college.

And the end of the first year comes.

He calls me up and he goes, Miss Leno, I want to thank you.

And I say, don't worry about it.

You know, we got three more years to go.

He goes, that's what I talked to you about.

He goes, you know, when he gave me, I worked really hard and I got a scholarship.

I don't need your money anymore.

It still breaks me up to this.

I mean, I go, it just renews your faith.

You know, you think, oh, these kids are screwed up.

And here's a kid.

He had a free ride for four years.

I mean, he could have taken the money, but he didn't.

He worked hard because he didn't want to take the money, but he had to because his family was poor and he didn't have any money.

And, but he worked hard.

So hard.

He impressed the school and they gave him a three year, the next three years and a full scholarship.

I was like, oh, I said, well, that's pretty good.

You know, because I mean, I hear somebody's on crack and somebody else is smashing up Lamborghini.

I know whatever it might be.

So when you see those things and hear those things,

they kind of renew your faith.

So you speak about that lad was so much like passion and like it restored your faith in humanity a little bit.

So was it sometimes hard to have guests on your show that could have been huge global celebrities?

But let's say that you may not have had the same level of love for.

Well, it's not.

I didn't have the level.

First of all, I try not to have everybody on it.

I don't like that.

That's it.

I try to be fair to everybody.

I don't have to like them.

But, but, you know, it's just a Charlie Sheen is a good friend of mine.

Now, I don't want to be Charlie, but Charlie amuses me.

You know what?

One day I get a call.

Charlie's on that day.

I'm not Charlie in yet.

No.

It's Charlie Sheen.

Charlie.

Jay, Jay, man.

Listen, I'm in a limo.

We get T-Bonded in a second.

You all right?

I'm okay.

I'm a little more caught fire.

There's those kinds of.

Listen, I think I'm going to make it.

I can't make it.

Stay where you are.

Go get checked out.

We're fine.

We'll get a comedian.

We'll get somebody else.

Don't worry.

We'll get somebody.

No problem.

Okay.

Charlie, take care of it.

Jay, thanks so much for clicking on it.

Charlie got an accident.

Okay.

Now, I don't hear anything about this accident.

You know, Howard goes by, I got the TV on your local news.

Charlie, she gets in a limo, catches fire accident.

I don't hear anything.

I said, he got Joe's number, a little more driver.

Hello, Joe.

Jay.

Jay, what's up?

Charlie with you?

I'm in front of the house.

He hasn't come out yet.

What?

You didn't get T-Boned?

He goes, no, no.

So I called Charlie.

What are you, four years old, like the giant bear?

Yeah, T-Boned or the fire.

You don't think people are going to, a T-Bone gets, a limo gets T-Boned in an intersection.

It catches fire.

You don't think that's a story?

Because I'm sorry.

I got, Charlie is fine.

Just tell me you're high or you're stoned.

Or another prostitute through your Mercedes off the cliff or whatever it is.

It was so stupid.

You know, I told him the next night, it was a great story.

It was so, it's so stupid.

It is.

It's like a child going, there's a monster under the bed and it ate my cookie and

or whatever it might be.

You know, so, yeah, so that's, yeah, that's very fun.

You said to me earlier that you strive for contentment and not happiness.

Right.

However, a comedian's job is to make people really happy.

Is it true that sometimes you go through these moments where you can have so much fun

and you're making an audience laugh so much and then have a little bit of a spiral off the back of it?

Well, no, I, you know, I don't drink.

I know how to drink in my life.

I don't get high.

I don't use drugs.

No, I have no, I have no moral or religious reason not to do it.

I just, it just doesn't interest me.

It just doesn't.

I have a sense that I could drive.

I was a designated driver.

I take all these high drunk idiots, you know, around because I was always the car guy.

So, no, I mean, the time is, again, you, you just try not to talk.

You think the good with the beat.

You try.

Don't believe the good stuff.

Don't believe the bad stuff.

Just try to, okay.

No, that's great.

Thank you.

I try to be pretty even keeled about it, but I do have friends of mine that spiral off

and depression.

And I can't imagine what that's like, but I'm not one of those people now.

So you're hosting one of the biggest TV shows in America.

But with the, in the back of your head, it always there to start Jay Leno's garage.

Like you wanted to turn that in front of the camera to do stuff with cars.

No, it just, it seemed like YouTube was just coming into widespread use.

It seemed like it might be a fun thing to do.

I just didn't think I would have the time or enough product to do it every week.

I mean, to me, I realize with YouTube, it's about content.

If you're not on every week, don't bother because then people will watch it.

But then it'll come back again.

Then you got to start all over again.

We've never done a rerun or anything, but if you're on every, if you're on every

week, people will just check in by nature just to see what you're doing, you know.

So that kind of worried me when we started it.

But it was always, again, I did it for free.

There was no salary, any money came in, I paid the crew.

So this way I'm not disappointed if it doesn't work out.

I'm not losing a fortune because I'm doing it for free anyway.

I'm not a vacation guy.

For any spare time I have, I would donate to doing the YouTube show.

And I enjoyed it.

It was fun.

It was something I'd like to do.

I like talking about cars and I'd say, let's see if people are interested in it.

So we've got about four million subscribers now.

So that's pretty good.

When you started putting out those videos, was it all from your brain, all your own ideas?

And like, do you think that by starting the YouTube channel and making the videos,

that it's made your overall experience that you have with cars and the car community even better?

Well, if you're not an interesting person, do something interesting.

It makes you interesting.

I'm not a sports guy.

I can't really sit down and talk football or soccer or tennis or hockey.

I just don't have any interest in those things.

I mean, F1 I like a lot.

So I thought, well, what's going to make me interesting?

Well, my hobby is cars and a lot of people I know seem to like that.

So let's make YouTube about that.

I would say more people now know me from the YouTube show, especially younger people,

because if you're like 25 now, you were like 12 when I left my TV.

So you have no idea who I am and I don't expect people.

I'm not going to do, oh, they didn't know me.

I'm not one of those people.

But when I meet young people now, they know me from the movie cars or something like that.

But it's usually automatically related.

Do you think it's, though, enriched your experience in these cars?

Because when you open yourself up in front of a camera and put your passion on camera,

you tend to get opportunities to drive all the latest and greatest stuff that you might not even own

and get invited to do this and that.

Were you always happy that you did the channel because you've got to do so much stuff around it?

I don't pretend to be a race car driver.

I always marvel at Chris Harrison.

These guys are unbelievable.

But to me, I'm not good enough to make that car do what it's capable of.

That's why it keeps me entertained, you know.

One of my favorite videos of recent, because you've just drove the new Mustang.

Right, right.

Have you seen the video that Chris...

I saw that, yeah, and Max did.

Max did, yeah.

That has to be for me one of the most incredible videos.

We've got the car over there.

The same car.

Well, not that one.

But one of those cars.

Yeah, I got one.

I got car number 12.

When do you stop collecting, James?

How many cars and bikes have you currently got in this production?

You sound like my wife.

Well, there's about 214 cars and 168 motorcycles.

And what does it take to keep them all sat here perfect,

on charge, all clean in an amazing environment?

You've got like a team here to run this?

No, it's only about four or five guys.

But this is California.

There's no humidity.

Your car doesn't sit, and it has a crankcase full of water

from humidity going up and down and all that kind of thing.

So if I do one oil change a day, it takes 18 months.

This is stupid.

So I try to do one oil change a day,

and it takes me 18 months to come around again

to the front of the line.

But I enjoy it.

I like it.

It's what I like to do.

I like to keep busy.

I probably would have done well in the military

if I had been drafted, because I take order as well,

and I'm good at simple repetitive tasks.

Well, you're clearly good at collecting McLarens.

We've got four incredible ones behind us,

from the SLR to the F1, the 12C, the P1.

There's a whole area.

And the W1.

W1.

You've got the W1 coming, which we'll talk about.

There's a Carrera GT over there.

That's one of my favorite cars, and you're behind us.

I'm a huge Lamborghini guy.

But there is one brand of Supercar that isn't in this building.

And I want to talk to you about it,

because why have you never found yourself in a Ferrari?

Well, I just, you know, a Ferrari is a bit different company.

It's much different now.

When I was a young man, if you went into a Ferrari dealership,

you couldn't buy the GTO or whatever model you wanted.

You had to buy two Mondials first and, you know,

put a swing over it.

It didn't interest me.

I didn't like the idea that I had to put Italian air in the tire.

It's not that way anymore, because there's so much competition.

But there was a certain elite feeling to it.

I didn't like it.

You know, you go to the club meetings

and guys got the turtleneck with the black turtleneck

with the big medallions.

They see these Lambo guys sometimes with that, you know.

And it just always makes me laugh.

You know, when I bought, I've told the ceremony many times,

when I bought my McLaren, they said,

do you want carbon fiber brakes?

I said, yeah.

They go, you know, you've got to track it?

I said, no.

Save 20 grand.

You don't need them.

They're just as good.

Oh, thank you.

You know, and then I had it.

I had it a couple of months.

And they said, there's an upgrade to 600 and some odd horsepower.

I said, how much is that?

Oh, it's free.

Oh, thanks.

I mean, I felt like a customer when I bought my Courage ET.

The first, I bought the clutch first,

because I heard about the clutch.

Six inches carbon fiber.

I said, well, I bought a clutch.

We took it apart and all the guys were amazed at it.

I said, yeah.

The clutch is this good.

The car has got it amazed.

So that's probably a little car good.

They brought one here.

We put it up on the lift.

The mechanic showed us how to work on it.

Something I don't think I would have gotten,

at least at the time, from a Ferrari dealership,

because they don't need my business.

I like people who need my business.

I like to be helpful to you.

And you can be, oh, okay, great.

Like when they're claring, I was kind of in the ground floor.

I got one of the very first MP412Cs,

a very clever name in the MP412C.

He just rolls off the tongue.

You know, and I love that thing.

And it's great.

And, you know, I would do videos and do things.

And McLaren would say, oh, thank you so much for helping us publicize the car.

Oh, okay.

You go to Pebble Beach.

You're invited to the McLaren tent.

And of course, by this time, now they've sort of earned their medals,

so to speak.

You know, the P1 had come out.

And I bought one of the first one of those.

And I just, I like the company.

I know everybody involved in the company.

And they have good customer service.

I'm sure some of you are like, David Solano, I hadn't,

it's not been my experience.

So with so many cars in the collection,

you mentioned that you're getting a W1 coming soon.

Does that still make you, like, as giddy as a school kid,

like thinking about my car tow?

Well, yeah, yeah.

Is that coming soon?

Well, when it's probably a year away, you know, yeah.

But you see, I'm in Hollywood.

All of this is still cheaper than hookers and cocaine.

It's way cheaper.

You should have recommended the cost to Charlie.

Yeah, yeah.

I should have.

You know, I mean, Charlie always used to make me laugh.

I did a joke about Charlie Sheen.

He went through $200 million.

He had $200 million.

He spent it on gambling, women, drugs,

and the rest of the money, he just wasted.

That's what was my favorite joke.

It just made me laugh.

And yeah, I love Charlie.

When I tell a story, I don't say to be mean to Charlie.

It just makes me laugh.

Because he's so childlike, you know,

the idea that the limo caught fire on the highway.

Like, there wouldn't be cameras and helicopters

filming this, you know.

Ready to get it.

The movie star, they would have closed down the freeway

for an accident like that.

Yeah.

I had that dream again.

My small business needs to hire,

but I don't use LinkedIn,

and I hire an energy vampire.

But also, they're a literal vampire,

and suddenly my team is spending all their time

sharpening wooden stakes

and buying bulk silver

and rehearsing ancient chants,

and then I wake up.

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Today is why we wear the uniform.

ABC Tuesday, The Rookie returns.

To ensure the safety of all Angelinos.

Try not to mess it up.

I'll do my best.

But don't do your best.

Do my best.

And for the first time ever,

this is a global operation.

It's an international sting.

LAPD has agreed to help the FBI

track down terrorist targets.

Nothing like a day in the job

to remind you how quickly life can change.

Get out of there.

The Rookie sees a premiere Tuesday,

10-9 central on ABC.

Next day for Hulu Subscribers.

But you talk about the fact that Charlie

wasn't in a car crash.

But if you're going to do stuff with cars,

you are going to end up potentially getting injured by them.

In 2022, I think it was your last,

maybe big injury, am I right?

Which is you were in here and did something.

I got a fire.

Yeah, my face got a fire.

And then, yeah, boom,

I got a face full of gasoline and a spark jump.

And that took that out.

And then I got my face fixed.

And then two months later,

I'm riding that Indian motorcycle.

And the guy has a wire across the road

with no flag on it.

And the sun is on my eyes.

And boom, that tore my face.

So I had to call my face guy,

I need another face.

Remember the face you gave me?

You did a great job,

but I need another one.

So I had to go get another face.

But it worked out okay.

You can't see this.

But did any of that stuff ever like shit you up?

Like did you ever just think like,

oh, it might be time to calm it down a little bit now.

Like I've had two faces.

Well, the nice thing about being a guy over 40 is

you don't learn from your mistakes.

You know, that's a great thing.

They're always here.

They can teach an old dog new tricks.

The greatest thing ever, you know.

No, you don't learn from me.

You don't learn from me.

No.

I mean, I guess you learn something, but yeah.

You can only appreciate the happy times

and the content times and everything you've got

when you go through periods of time

where you struggle

and where there's periods that are really tough.

What do you think in your journey to where you are now

has been one of the toughest things you've had to overcome?

Well, there's a lot of things I suppose.

You know, my wife has got Alzheimer's and dementia.

That's a little tricky.

But you know, okay, you've gotten all this stuff.

Let's go back to being a good husband.

Let's do what you're supposed to do.

I'm very proud of the fact that I didn't run off

with a cashier from the mini-mart

or any of that kind of nonsense, you know.

I would see my friends do that kind of stuff

and I'd go, I don't want to be that guy.

You know, I've never really been tested.

I've had friends.

They were in Vietnam.

They've been in Afghanistan.

They get tested or they have some horrible disease

or they go blind.

I was lucky.

I never had any of those.

And I consider the Alzheimer's and the my wife has

to be my test.

Am I going to be a good husband here?

And you know, I enjoy it.

I enjoy taking care of her.

You know, you try to find the humor in it.

You know, my wife is a big civil rights,

women's rights person.

Even got a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

So one day we're watching...

Do you remember the TV show Hawaii 50?

Yeah.

Well, because we're Alzheimer's,

we can't really watch anything that's like a five-part drama

because she forgets...

I didn't see that last night.

So we watch all TV shows.

So I'm watching Hawaii 50 in the 60s

when my wife's just sitting there.

And McGarrett, Steve, the other guy,

every woman is honey.

Honey, come here.

Sweetie.

Sweetie, come over here.

Honey, let me ask you a question.

Everybody's honey sweetie.

So watching this episode,

we're Stanley Holloway, the actor,

gets kidnapped by the red Chinese.

And he's a genetic scientist.

It's silly.

We're watching this.

So McGarrett goes to see his daughter,

who's like 40.

And he says to her,

what kind of genetic engineering did your dad do?

And she says,

well, I'm just a woman.

I don't understand such things.

My wife's like...

and she's getting pissed,

screaming, fuck you, it's TV.

I said, oh, she's still got the fire, you know?

She's doing...

I mean, the Alzheimer's,

but still, she still gets mad enough.

It's sexism on TV.

And you know, you have those little victories.

And now that's the fun part for me,

just to see her get all worked out.

It really made me laugh.

I don't know.

He's sweetie, honey.

Honey.

Do you think it's important to sometimes

laugh in those moments as well?

Well, yeah.

I laugh when mom was when you're not supposed to laugh.

Yeah, so yeah, it is.

Yes, it's really important because that's...

that's what life is.

It makes it worthwhile.

Do you think cars are one of the best methods

of therapy?

Well, you know, they used to be a saying,

the heart is healthiest when the head

and the hands work together.

So during the day, I work on cars or motorcycles.

I was working on that chassis when you came in.

And at night, I brought and I tell jokes.

And I realized, boy, if I had been working

with my hands all day, I would have made

80 bucks for taking out a transmission.

But if I just stand here and talk,

who would get like bags with 20s in them?

Yeah, that's pretty good.

So, yeah, it makes you appreciate.

Like I said, I always meet...

I'll tell you, I had a big movie star.

I'm not going to tell you who he is.

He was on the Tonight Show once.

And during this commercial break,

he said, hey, you know cars.

I'm going to get sports cars, which I get.

And I said, well, you know, this new Ferrari

is unbelievable.

And he said to me, yeah, but everybody has a Ferrari.

I said, okay, first of all,

my hand over the mic, everybody does not

have a Ferrari.

If you say everybody has a Ferrari,

this audience will take you outside.

They'll kill you.

They will beat you to death.

Okay?

Where do you live?

And he started to laugh.

I said, you know, stupid.

That sounds everybody.

I know people that have never seen a Ferrari.

They would love to see a Ferrari.

And he actually started to laugh

because you know how stupid it sounds.

But I mean, but that's what happens

when you live here.

You get this idea of, oh, you know,

like flying by private jet.

Who are these other people on the plane?

Well, this is what normal flying is like.

You don't have your own plane.

You know?

So that's, that's one of what I travel.

I travel by myself because nothing funny happens

if you have a entourage

or you have people carrying your bags.

There's nothing funny about that.

You know?

So yeah.

So that's what I do when I travel.

I try to keep it as basic as possible

and try to have experiences

that real people have.

And it's very funny.

And you're still traveling and doing

as many shows and opportunities

that come your way to about

175, 200 or something shows a year.

Something like that.

Yeah.

So you don't think it's important

to slow down, enjoy the cars.

That's when you have your stroke.

When you have your stroke, you can relax.

When my face is on fire,

I was down for like two weeks.

I said, all right, that's enough time.

Yeah, that's fine.

That's fine.

And you were back in the garage.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Talk to me about the buildings

and the collection behind us

because it's appeared in obviously

so many of your videos.

They normally start right in this spot

that we're in.

No.

Whatever it is that you're driving

and how long has it taken you

to curate and put everything together

in here?

And well, there's no,

nothing has to be,

all these pictures we hand paint,

they're not posters.

We hand paint them all.

When something's done, it's done.

It's like, you know,

like I tell the guys,

there's only one asshole customer.

It's not like a shop where you have people.

It's just one me.

You know, something's not ready.

It's not like I don't have anything else

to drive.

Hello.

You know, so it's fine.

It's a very low stress place to work.

Yeah.

I first saw you

at SEMA in

2023.

Okay.

Right at the entrance by the J,

I think it was Jay Leno's car care product.

Oh yeah.

Through the entrance.

I remember that clearly.

Do you try and get yourself

to as many of those,

those shows still?

And do you enjoy it?

Do you enjoy it?

I feel like I'm targeting people.

Because what I find fascinating about you

is you've had the opportunity

to interview so many incredible celebrities

and talk about that guy.

It's kind of what I was getting at earlier

with that Ferrari story.

Right.

Like people live in different realities,

but I'm amazed.

And it's not normal

to be able to curate

and have all the things

that you've managed to put together.

But it's not always,

everyone doesn't always stay

so humble and so level headed.

Well, and I think the magic in you

from many people that sit opposite me

in that seat is,

I don't think you necessarily even appreciate

how amazing it is to stay that level.

Well, that's right.

My mother,

my mom was a Scottish.

Oh, Mr. Big Shot.

Start in Chile.

Oh, he started with his name.

You know, it just always made me laugh.

Have you ever struggled to deal

with the fame of it all?

No.

First of all, okay.

When you're famous,

you have money.

And they say money can't buy happiness.

Yes, it can.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

Well, you know,

I find money just makes you

more of what you are.

I know people are horrible people.

They got rich and they became worse people.

You know,

many people are nice people.

They got rich and they became nicer.

You know, I mean,

I think wealth or fame or anything,

it just exaggerates what traits

you already have.

And I think that that's pretty much,

much true.

So I don't,

I don't pretend, you know,

like I'm with my wife with her

Alzheimer's and dementia and all that.

I can afford to take care of her.

I don't know what people do who are nurses

or policemen or teachers.

I think they work all day

and then they go home

and they have to change a parent

or, you know, do all this.

I don't, you know, I mean, I do it,

but I can afford to do it.

I can afford to have people during the day.

So I don't bitch and moan about it.

It's not a problem for me.

So, yeah, I'm always amazed.

I always have that in the back of my mind.

Because to me,

it sounds like almost your therapy going to the show

is meeting all these kinds of people

and just absorbing yourself.

Realities.

Reality is a very good therapy.

Most people don't,

don't even see that.

They, you know,

do you have a favorite saying?

Favorite saying?

No.

Well, a lot of favorite things.

Mark Twain once said,

I like progress.

It's changing.

I don't like that.

I thought that was pretty funny.

Oh, yeah, I do.

I can't think of what it would be right now.

No, I can't say I have a favorite,

favorite saying.

Yeah.

No, just try to,

what do you want your legacy to be?

Does it matter?

No.

I think it's hilarious.

You know,

I did at college a couple of years ago.

And they said,

we had Elvis here.

I said, really?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So that's pretty good.

But when?

They said it all about six years ago.

I go, six years.

No, he was, he was dead.

What are you talking about?

He said Elvis.

Yeah, Elvis Costello.

Oh, I thought he meant Elvis Presley.

They went, what?

Elvis Presley?

Oh, yeah, okay.

The name meant nothing to them.

I mean, they knew it,

but they knew,

the only Elvis they knew was Elvis,

was Elvis Costello.

And you go, okay, there's your legacy.

Okay, that's Elvis Presley.

Okay, these people have really forgotten who he is.

You know, so I know,

I don't worry about later.

Enjoy yourself while you're here.

The conceit of, you know,

after I'm dead,

I've got to make sure people know

that I did all this.

I mean,

I've been on the front cover of the magazine.

Your mother and tell you to stop.

Yeah, yeah, that seems very funny to me.

I did, you know, while you enjoy your life,

while you're here,

you know, the greatest book ever written

is The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

He doesn't change his life through religion

or prayer or hard work.

It's just, if you want to be a good person,

do it right now.

Do it, go back and live the life you're living,

if you're living,

and everything else will take care of itself, you know.

And I always thought that was such a seminal book

when it came out,

because especially England had such a class system, you know.

And here's a guy, rich man,

and he changed his life

not through sacrifice

or something else,

just seeing what could happen, you know.

I think it's the greatest book ever,

it really is.

Probably changed more a lot.

I think it changes many lives in the Bible,

and it's a story that's told in every religion now

in a different form,

but it's basically The Christmas Carol, you know.

It's a great book, it's a great book.

Well, Jay, we've been going for just over an hour now.

Oh, all right.

We've spoke about all the cars behind us.

Well, some of the cars behind us.

No, I was calling us.

214 cars registered.

We spoke about three.

We talked about three cars.

Is there any cars you'd love to talk about?

No, no, I like them all.

You know, the fun part to me is the story.

Like I have a Hudson Hornet down there.

Now I have a 51 Hudson Hornet,

and I get a call from this woman, 94 years old.

Her and her husband bought a brand new 1951 Hornet.

Mine's a 53.

She had the 51.

They bought it in New Jersey.

They drove to California.

He bought a gas station.

They raised two children.

He died in 96.

The car has been in the garage with four flat tires.

Well, I come look at it.

I go, well, you know, I have one.

Oh, we're clean.

All right, so I go out to look at it.

And it looks very nice.

You know, it's well maintained.

He was a mechanic.

And she's, oh, but you're buying it and freezing.

All right, so I bought it.

And now I have to buy it, you know.

I get back.

I start work on it.

It takes me about two years to get it restored.

Let me call her up and see if she's still alive.

Now she's 96.

And she's still alive.

I said, you want to go for a ride?

Oh, yeah.

It's all finished.

Oh, can I bring the kids?

I said, yeah.

Well, the kids are 74 and 72.

Okay.

So I drive out to her house and the two kids have got her blindfolded.

And she's touching the car.

I take the blindfold off and she starts crying.

Let's go for a ride.

Okay.

So we get in the car and she puts the two kids in the background.

So we're driving along and she's talking about coming out here from the

Jersey and crossing America back in the late 40s and early 50s rather.

Meanwhile, the two kids start poking each other.

She goes, hey, I told you, and she stopped to whack in the crap out of

them.

I mean, the three of them are like, Mr. Lennon was nice enough to take

a ride and you kids can't behave for two minutes.

And she's just whacking them in the head.

And the three of them are laughing so hard.

And I said, you know, this is what it's about.

I mean, it was like the funniest.

It was like the greatest day.

She lives to be 106.

But just to see her slapping a 74-year-old guy in the head for poking

his brother.

I mean, it's just hilarious.

And the kids got, yeah, it was just very funny.

It was just very funny.

And you know, whenever I drive that car, it makes me smile because I

just think of her reaching over and not like that.

I mean, she's whacking the crap out of them.

It'll be very funny.

So that's what I mean.

So every car here has some sort of story for the most part.

Do you think it's ever been hard when you're that nice to not be

taking advantage of in the position that you've come to be in?

You take advantage all the time.

That's fine.

It's fine.

Does anything piss you off?

No, it's not.

Look, I mean, sometimes I'm disappointed in people and then

you meet someone else who reaffirms your faith again.

So yeah, I mean, I'm not naive to walk through bumping into walls.

But I mean, you try to, I've been very fortunate.

I've been very lucky.

Things have paid off well.

I try to believe in people.

It doesn't always come true.

But for the most part, it does.

Enough to offset.

It's 51% on this side.

And that's all it has to be, you know?

Yes.

Have I been robbed?

Yeah, have I gone to my throat?

Sure.

I've had all those things.

Yeah, but that's going to happen.

Have I had a gun to your right?

Right.

To my throat, not a gun.

And what the hell happened there?

I was hitchhiking.

I got picked up by a gang of guys and got robbed.

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Is that, that's normal here then?

Well, this was embossed.

See, that was another thing because that was select.

So I go to the police station to report it.

And this cop says to me, you want to get your money back?

I said, yeah.

Where do you live?

I give my address.

I'll come tonight.

Should I have to get your money back?

I said, is it legal?

No.

Yeah.

All right.

Yeah.

So.

Come sit and fill suitcase.

I said, how am I going to get money back?

By selling Echo Silverware.

What?

And he sets up this little thing.

He's got a record that's playing.

Echo Silverware, the finest silverware I've made.

And you can make money in commission base.

You know, I'm thinking, okay.

This is like hilarious.

This cop.

I thought he was going to find out who the guys are

and get my money back.

But his thing was to sell me.

And I listened to his whole spiel.

I mean, it was just so hilariously stupid.

It was just so funny.

It just made me laugh.

It just, that wouldn't have happened had I not been robbed.

That's what I mean.

You try to find the humor.

You know, one day I come down from my apartment.

And where I lived, it was old boss.

He had like a little street, not really for cars,

but big enough for cars.

And he had some grassy area.

And then he had the main road.

So he had like a service room.

So one day with my girlfriend, I pull up

and I see your refrigerator out on the street.

It's someone that's abandoned, you know,

for the pickup for the truck.

And I go, you know, he's supposed to break the door

because, you know, kids could crawl on the side.

So I go up, I get my hammer.

I smash the crap out of it.

That's not going to shut us.

I go, put it up.

My girlfriend, I come down and see the guy goes,

hey, you guys over here?

Yeah.

Somebody smashed our refrigerator.

Did you see him?

What are you talking about?

We're just moving in.

Maybe somebody thought you threw it away.

It's a brand new refrigerator.

Why would we throw it away?

I'm like, oh, somebody might have,

who's stupid enough to do that?

I don't know who's stupid.

My girlfriend's like, I'm thinking,

don't let the guy see my girlfriend.

Yeah, just kill me.

Just funny.

I mean, that's what I mean.

You're trying to, if you can't see the humor

in those situations, yeah.

Do you ever see the humor in an electric car?

Because we're surrounded by machines.

There was one over there that you told me earlier,

this is going to test if I've got this right now,

had a 27-liter engine in it.

Right, right.

The Merlin aircraft, yeah.

When you've got vehicles with that many liters

and that much petroleum put in happiness

through your veins when you put your hands on the wheel,

how have you adopted to the world of electric cars?

Electric cars.

I mean, there are people who don't like cars.

I mean, people don't seem to understand

if you want to save the petrol car by an electric,

because then there'll be few and far between

and they'll be seen as pleasant diversions

as opposed to, you know,

someone's going to poison the entire atmosphere.

I mean, first of all, you're going to have

petrol cars for at least another 100 years in some form.

The logic being you still have cars

from the turn of the last century,

you know, when you have the Bright London and Brighton run.

Those are all pre-1904 cars.

You're still driving your full Model T.

Yeah, I'm still driving my Ford Model T.

But I use my electric car, so, I mean,

to sit on the freeway with a 426 Hemi polluting

and getting five miles per gallon seems ridiculous.

So I use my electric vehicles during the week

and then I use my gas car.

So, no, I'm a big proponent of it.

I think it's fine.

Is there anyone that you love,

that you look up to as like an automotive visionary

that you think has changed the space?

Well, certainly Elon.

I mean, did it break your heart when he went political?

Well, it didn't break my heart,

but it's just like, I mean, yeah, it just seems...

That's a perfect example of what I was talking about before.

You know, people have the ability,

but something changes, you know.

Yeah, I don't know.

We'll see if he comes around.

I don't know.

Because there's other great people,

Mate Remac with the Remac.

Remac is great.

I'd absolutely love to have him on the podcast.

There are people doing such incredible things.

Is there anyone that you've held a candle like

you look up to those kind of guys?

Because people along the journey...

Well, the ones that, to me, are the engineers, really.

There are a lot of people behind the scenes.

Adrian Neuys in Tesla.

Yeah, Adrian Neuys.

Yeah, those kind of guys.

People who people don't really know what it is they do.

You know, Bugatti was great,

but he had great people working for him.

Edison had people working.

You know, they didn't like to give credit.

You know, Bugatti didn't like to give credit.

Neither did Henry Ford.

He had a guy named Child Harold Wills,

who was his partner.

They split everything 50%,

but they finally had a fight

because he invented vanadium steel.

He invented the Ford logo, the blue oval.

He invented the planetary transmission for the Model T.

He invented the magnetos.

The whole thing.

But Henry Ford was like,

oh, I thought this up one day,

but he, you know, threw rocks at each other

and they split it.

But yeah, that's...

So, mostly behind the scene, the engineers, yeah.

There's a McLaren F1 owner,

one of the greatest cars of all time.

Correct.

What do you think of the new Gorton Murray cars?

Oh, the T50 is great.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Gorton Murray.

Yes, I have Gorton Murray's first car here,

the Rocket, which is, to me,

is one of the all-time great.

775 pounds, 147 horsepower,

12 speeds, 6 high, 6 low.

Yeah, it's a fabulous car.

I think the T50 is wonderful.

Have you had a chance to drive it?

Oh, I hadn't driven it.

I'd been in it with Dario Francescetti.

We went for a ride in it.

Yeah, it's a great car,

but you can't get them here in California.

I would have bought one,

but you can't get them certified.

So is there one car on that subject,

other than the T50,

that you haven't been able to bring to the collection

that you'd love to over the years?

Yeah.

You know, I'm very happy with everything I have.

What did I know you was going to say that?

Well, because, you know,

if you're happy with what you have,

just make sure you have enough.

That's what I like.

Yeah, I'm very happy with what I have.

I mean, there are other cars,

well, that'd be kind of cool.

But I don't really need the W1.

I mean, the P1 or the F1,

certainly I can barely get them

to do what they're capable of.

You know, so, but,

and when you drive the F1,

you realize how old it is.

Even carbon fiber brakes

hadn't been invented yet

when that came out.

It's an old car now, you know.

Yeah, but it's still great.

Well, Jay, we've been in the van

for about an hour now.

That's right, man.

It's like your story.

I'm surprised.

No, no.

It's like your story

and how you got to where you are today.

And so humbly,

I don't think I've had anyone else

with this level of humility.

So what's there in the van?

Well, whatever.

So thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure meeting.

It's a pleasure meeting.

Now, humility.

Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure meeting.

Well, thank you.

Enjoy being in the van.

Yeah.

Jay Leno Reveals The TRUTH About The Tonight Show, Car Collection & More

Mclaren F1

Ford Mustang

Porsche Carrera GT

Mclaren MP4-12C

Hudson Hornet

Buick Century

Ford Model T

Gordon T50

About this episode

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