The Audrain Concours is a big classic-car show in Newport. The conversation is basically about the event’s reputation and how it compares to other famous car shows.
That “67 Corvette” is a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette. It’s a classic American sports car that a lot of car collectors love because it looks great and represents the Corvette’s golden era.
They talk about how the Secret Service keeps a president safe while traveling. It’s about the team’s setup in and around the car if something goes wrong.
The Ford Mustang GTD is a high-performance version of the Mustang. It’s built to be especially fast and focused on performance. The podcast mentions it because it’s considered one of the more extreme options.
The Corvette ZR1 is the high-performance version of the Chevrolet Corvette. In this conversation, it’s mentioned as a car that makes news because of its speed and capability, not because of traditional advertising.
Term
PR
“PR” here means public relations—how a company tries to get attention in the news and online. They’re saying that instead of relying on PR, these cars get attention because people drive them and show what they can do.
“Let the vehicle speak” is the idea that the car’s real performance and real-world results do the marketing. Instead of relying on polished ads, brands benefit when credible drivers, reviewers, and track footage show what the car can do.
They’re talking about the Nürburgring, a famous race track in Germany. When people mention it, they mean the car is being tested on a track that’s known for separating truly fast cars from the rest.
Johnny Lieberman is a car enthusiast/media personality mentioned as someone who talks about cars publicly. The hosts are using him as an example of how car companies can get attention through people who review and drive cars.
Matt Farah is a car enthusiast/media personality mentioned as someone who reviews and talks about cars. The hosts are saying that car brands can get attention by letting creators drive the cars and share their impressions.
The Shelby GT500 is a very powerful Mustang. It’s a performance trim that’s meant to be faster and more aggressive than a standard model. In the podcast, they talk about it because someone initially misunderstood what they were looking at.
The Golf is a compact car model. In the podcast, they’re talking about a performance version called the GTD. They mention it because they think it’s especially good.
The Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a very serious track car. It’s the kind of car enthusiasts get excited about, and the speaker is saying this other car made him feel as excited as he did about that Porsche.
“Word of mouth” means people telling other people about a car based on their own experience. The point here is that the Mustang is so well-known that it doesn’t rely on commercials.
The Buick Century is a car model line from Buick. It’s been produced for a long time, so it represents a long-running nameplate. The podcast mentions it as part of a story about experience and history related to automotive products.
The E-Ray is a hybrid Corvette that uses an electric motor to help drive the front wheels. Here, the host is saying the ZR1X borrows that hybrid setup.
This is describing how the engine’s top end is built: how many valves it has and how many camshafts control them. More valve/cam control usually helps the engine breathe better at higher speeds.
A flat-plane crank is a specific way the engine’s rotating shaft is shaped. It’s used in some performance engines because it can help the engine rev and feel more “sporty.”
The exhaust port is the opening where burned gases leave the engine. The host is saying the turbos are positioned very close to that exit to help them spool up faster.
A prep surface is a track that’s been cleaned and treated to give the tires more grip. That helps the car launch faster than it would on regular roads.
Carbon Revolution is a company that makes carbon-fiber car parts, like lightweight wheels. Jay Leno is describing how they offered very expensive wheels for European cars.
The Porsche 911 is a sports car made by Porsche. It’s known for being fast and for having a unique design that helps it handle well. People often talk about it because companies build performance parts for it, like tires and wheels.
Term
heating, air conditioning, ventilation
Heating, air conditioning, and ventilation are the core functions of a car’s climate-control system. Leno is using them to emphasize that American cars often include strong, easy-to-use climate and comfort tech as standard equipment.
It’s a feature that uses GPS to “know” where bumps and potholes are. When you’re about to hit one, the car raises itself to help protect the front from scraping.
Geofencing means the car uses GPS “zones.” When you drive into a zone it recognizes, it can automatically do something—like raising the car before a pothole.
Tesla is the automaker behind the car tech being discussed. In this case, they’re associated with the GPS-based system that helps the car react to road hazards.
Downforce is the “suction” effect from the car’s shape and wings. More downforce means the tires press harder into the road, which helps the car handle better.
Horsepower is basically how strong the car’s engine is. A number like 1,250 means the car has an enormous amount of power for a regular street vehicle.
The Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG is a faster, sportier version of the Mercedes E-Class. It’s made by AMG, the performance division. In the podcast, they mention it because it can seem normal, but it’s still a strong performer.
A V12 is an engine with 12 cylinders arranged in two rows that form a V shape. More cylinders like this can help an engine run smoothly, and it’s commonly used in luxury/performance cars.
This means the engine is a V8 (eight cylinders in a V layout) with a total size of about 2.88 liters. The host is saying it’s built to rev very high, which is typical of performance engines.
“Four valve” means each cylinder has more than the usual number of valves—commonly two intake and two exhaust. That can help the engine breathe better, especially when it’s spinning fast.
RPM tells you how fast the engine is spinning. 11,000 RPM is extremely high, and it usually means the engine is built for performance and can safely rev very fast.
California emissions are the rules that limit how much pollution a car can produce. If a car doesn’t pass those tests, it can’t be legally used in California until it’s certified.
Here, certification means the car has been officially checked and approved to meet emissions rules. If it doesn’t get certified, it can’t be legally driven where the rules apply.
A glow plug is a small heater that warms things up so the engine can start cleanly. In this story, they’re comparing that idea to a system that heats the exhaust cleaner right away.
A catalytic converter is part of the exhaust that cleans up pollution. It helps turn nasty gases into less harmful ones, and in this case it gets hot very quickly after starting.
A start button is the push-to-start system. Some cars take a few seconds to get everything ready, and here they’re saying that delay is related to warming up the emissions equipment.
The Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 is a very high-performance supercar. It’s made by a company associated with Gordon Murray, who is known for designing cars with a strong engineering focus. The podcast mentions it because they’re talking about the car and the person behind it.
Torrance, California is where the host says a lot of car-building activity is happening. They’re comparing it to Maranello because it’s becoming a center for performance-car companies and their suppliers.
“3D print the chassis” means making the car’s main structure using a 3D printer. It can help designers build unusual shapes, but the materials and strength testing have to be right.
Singer is a company that builds very high-end Porsche-based cars. The host is saying it’s nearby, helping create a local community of specialty car makers.
Maranello is a famous Italian town tied to Ferrari. The host is using it as a comparison to say Torrance could become a similar kind of car-industry hub.
Toyota is a big car company that makes lots of different models. In this part of the conversation, it’s just being used as another example of a mainstream brand.
Bugatti is a brand known for some of the most extreme supercars in the world. Here it’s mentioned to show that Singer is staffed by people from the top of the performance-car industry.
McLaren is a famous company that makes fast, high-end sports cars. In this conversation, it’s used to describe the kind of talent people move around in the supercar world.
They’re describing a long, controlled runway area used for aircraft, not a normal public road. It’s safer and more predictable for testing very high speeds.
Aerodynamics is how the shape of the car interacts with the air. At high speeds, good aerodynamics helps the car stay stable and not feel like it’s fighting the air too much.
Term
rear end came around
That phrase means the back of the car started to swing out and rotate. If it gets bad enough, the car can spin even if you didn’t hit anything.
Term
took my foot off the gas
When you lift off the gas, the car’s behavior can change quickly. Sometimes that makes the back tires lose grip and the car starts to spin.
This is the Indy 500, a major race on an oval track. The host is using it to explain how fast things happen there and how that affects what drivers and crews do.
Car
Lotus Amira Turbo SE
This is a Lotus performance car called the Amira Turbo SE. “Turbo” means the engine uses a turbocharger to make more power, and “SE” is a special trim level with different features than other versions.
The Lotus Emira is a sports car made by Lotus. It’s meant to be fun and responsive when you drive it. In the episode, they mention a specific Emira Turbo SE version and talk about details like its color.
AMG is Mercedes-Benz’s performance brand. If an engine is called an “AMG motor,” it usually means it was made or tuned for stronger performance than a regular version.
This means a small four-cylinder engine with a turbocharger. The turbo helps the engine make more power, especially when you’re not revving super high.
They’re comparing this car to the usual Camry setup with a V6 engine. A V6 and a turbo four can feel very different in power delivery and driving character.
This is an automatic gearbox that uses two clutches to change gears quickly. The car can “get ready” for the next gear, so shifts can feel quicker—though software problems can make it act weird.
They’re talking about the car’s computer controlling the gearbox. If the programming is bad, the shifts can feel wrong—jerky, delayed, or just not smooth.
Amelia Island is a well-known car event in Florida where people get to see and drive new cars. It’s the kind of place where you might test a car after changes were made.
The Mazda MX-5 (Miata) is a small two-seat convertible sports car. It’s made to be light and enjoyable to drive, especially on twisty roads. The episode brings it up because it’s an important example of this kind of simple, fun sports car.
Some cars will warn you with a beep if you go faster than the speed limit. The host is saying the warning behavior can be different depending on where the car is sold.
A throttle cable is the physical cable that connects your gas pedal to the engine. The host is saying this is an electric car, so it doesn’t use that kind of cable-based control.
Torque is the “pulling power” the motor makes to get the car moving. The host is using torque numbers to show the car is strong, even if the gearbox behavior is annoying.
The Porsche Boxster is a mid-engine Porsche roadster. The host is comparing the Lotus to the Boxster lineup because they’re talking about similar engine choices and competition in the same buyer space.
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is a famous high-end supercar. The host mentions it to make a point about how long these cars take to develop and that dual-clutch gearboxes weren’t common yet when it was being made.
Bluetooth is wireless technology that lets your phone connect to the car, like for music or calls. The host is basically saying this was before that kind of feature was standard.
“Ergonomics” in cars means how naturally the controls, seating position, and visibility work with your body. The host is arguing that this 2005-era car feels a generation or two behind competitors in how the cabin is laid out and how easy it is to use while driving.
The Porsche Boxster S is a sporty Porsche roadster. Here, it’s being used as a reference point for which car feels easier to live with and drive day to day.
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses a gas engine and an electric motor together. That helps it use less fuel than many regular cars. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because someone drove away in one.
They’re talking about driving on winding mountain roads (“canyons”). Those roads can be dangerous, and the conversation is about how people should behave there.
Term
crossing the mustard
It’s a colorful way of saying “you went too far.” Here, they’re talking about driving behavior in canyon roads that’s riskier than it should be.
Pixelated identity means blurring or pixelating someone’s face so you can’t recognize them. They’re suggesting that for this controversial canyon-driving figure.
LIVE
Welcome to Spikes Car Radio. Yeah, welcome back, Mr. Leto. Thank you. It's good to see you.
Good to be here. Johnny Lieberman. Thanks for showing up. This is like the Audrain Concor again.
Yeah, there we go. Where I hear we're all going back, too. Yeah, yeah, we'll see you there.
It was very exciting. I like that about it. It seems it's like what I think Pebble was probably
like. Yeah, 58, 59, 60, you know, those years he had Phil Hill and Racecar Drive. Oh, the car
thing. Oh, come to the car thing. You know, it wasn't like it now. It was just so crazy.
Do you know, I want to rename it, though. I want to call it the Newport Concor.
What do you think about that? Rather than it's Audrain? Well, because Newport, I think that's
already taken. Oh, because there's a Newport car museum down the street. There is. Yeah.
It's just the Audrain, I think, throws everyone off. Like it sounds like odd drain.
And when you go there, it's sprawling and massive and impressive and event after event after event.
But you're like a guy who reads Vanity Plates and not Vanity Plates. What's fligma hug?
Fligma hug. It's just 149. It's not. No, it's fligma hug. No, it's not. It's just random number.
Well, there you go. Well, anyway, Jay is saying this is a spike issue. Yes, this is. Most things
in life are a spike issue. Anyway, it's good to have you on the show. We have a lot to talk about.
All right. If we have big news on your show, you just had a former president on Joe Biden.
Yeah. I'll be on a couple of weeks. You know, he has a 67 Corvette and his dad gave him. And this
was not political. Please don't write me. I'd draw that boom. No, you wouldn't. Stop. You know
something? There's a certain mystique of being with a president of the United States. It's above
anything else. Right. We didn't talk politics. We talked cars, talked about growing up. You know,
and it's interesting for like an 84-year-old guy, he's great. I think for an 84-year-old president,
you might go, oh, it seems a little shaky, you know. But that's understandable. But he was
clear, concise, he's funny. I thought he might be, you know, cognitive, doddering. It wasn't a
case. No, he was fun. And then he did a burnout on my one X. Secret service just goes crazy when
he does that. Oh, yeah. So what do you mean a burnout? What do you mean? And was he going in
circles or did he just, he lit it up? Because he's been on the show before, right? Is this the
first time he brought the 67 on? No, I guess five years ago, six years ago, we went through the car
and we went down to the proving grounds where the Secret Service trains. And it's like a small town.
You know, there's a general store and there's a bank and what to do and, you know, how to deal with
situations. But you can drive like it's a highway. I mean, and we got to pretty, you know, I think
we hit a hundred, you know, in the 67 Corvette 350. What happens with the Secret Service when
you're in the car with a president? Are they behind you or is there a guy hiding in the back seat?
Well, you know what it is. Like, I'm at my garage. I don't understand. Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Because I see a guy in the roof. Oh, it's a guy in my roof with a ruffle.
Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, this is. Even for ex-presidents and Bezos. Well, I mean,
you see the crazy world we live in. Yeah, yeah, people get attacked. Yeah, so it's.
This is pretty serious. Yeah. I mean, what if you don't have a guy in the roof? Then
now you have a major problem. Yeah, right. So I saw a picture, Jack, we throw up that picture.
Here's a picture that was suddenly on the Internet the day you were together.
And it's this photo makes me laugh because of the two guys on the left. Is that Hunter
on the left? Yeah. Did he come to? Yeah, that's Hunter. That's Hunter. And is the kid in the
white shirt the Secret Service agent? No, that is a Brad Pitt. He looks so young.
The guy doesn't age. Brad looks great. You know, first of all, Hunter, I don't know anything
about the guy. What was he like? doing there? Just nice guy. He's his son and he
brought his grandkids to see their grandpa. You know, we drove down to an ice cream shop
and I caught, you know, Biden, he's just that old glad hand by golly. How are you,
fella? Nice to meet you. Where are you from? What are you, a plumber? What are you?
So he loves that kind of thing. And it's all kids, you know. So I go, you kids ever met a
president? No, he's not a president. No, he is. I remember you present, you know, I mean,
it was just very funny. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was, it was. Oh, that's cool. Anytime
you get to hang out with the next president. And again, it's not political. Too late.
Obama was a friend and Bush is a great guy. And it just sometimes the office transcends the
politics. But that's, you know, the show is about car people. Doesn't matter if you're a car guy,
it's fine, you know. But, but I noticed in this shot, he was wearing a very special watch
right there. And this is something that you gave him, right? Yeah, I gave him the presidential
edition of the Jay Leno watch. Wow. We had the box made for it. See, if you look at the hands,
that green, it doesn't look green there, it looks white, but that's the same color. That's the green
from his Corvette. So this is a one off Sheffield watch. Yeah, we have that made specifically
for the price. Oh, that's cool. Show us the back. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. This is what a big moment for
Sheffield watches here. Again, they're now, they're now kind of fun, you know, on the wrist of the
president of the United States. And he's a, he's a watch guy by his own. Mark Royce, Mark Royce,
wears one too, president GM. Oh, wow. Yeah, I gave him one too. So there you go. Well, look,
your official ambassador, Mr. Leno, fantastic. And it's so funny when you give an important
it's a watch. It's not expensive. Yeah, yeah. But they fill out the forms and you can't, they,
like, like Mark Royce had to buy it. He goes, I can't accept, I have to buy it. Well, I don't,
all right, fine. Yeah, yeah. But it's just so crazy. It is hard. Well, people,
they, it does trigger some emotional response. Like I have a, I have a bunch of watches for
marketing from Sheffield that I give out and there was, I can pay for this. And I was like,
no, the point is I want you to take it. And if you want to talk about it and tell people about
it, go ahead. Right. And that's it. And it's hard for them to kind of grasp that. Let's get back
to you, Jay. Yes. You're, you know, a lifelong car guy, you're at the stage of life that you are
now. You've had a lot of years behind you, but you're still buying cars. What? And I was speaking
to our friend from New York, the comedian, he said, Oh yeah, Jay's like, he's like,
it's kind of fucking buying years. And I like, this is fantastic. I go, what do you mean? He's
like, he goes, he just wants to buy beautiful cars and enjoy them. What, what have you bought?
What is he talking about? The W1. Okay. Well, you did buy the W1. I bought a Zinger. Wow. I bought
a Mustang GTD. Whoa. And I bought the Corvette ZR1. Wow. And that's the car you brought here? Yeah.
That's this guy right here. That's like, that's like over 4,000 horsepower. You know what's
back in the 1900s, advertising really wasn't what it is today. So you sold cars on performance,
right? Henry Ford wasn't a racer, but he made old 999 and it went like 100 miles an hour and
made all the papers. Stanley Steamer held the record 127 miles an hour in 1906 with the steam car.
And we're seeing that now. For example, you've never seen an ad for a GTD Mustang, right? You've
never seen an ad for the ZR1X. You've never seen an ad for the Zinger, because when a product is
good enough, it sells itself. I mean, people want to know about the GTD. Oh, so they go to a YouTube
and the Max and Sapron and all those guys driving it and the Nuremberg ring and going for it. And so
the car is selling itself. You know, the days of, hey, kids, racing strikes. I mean, most of the
turned down the PR and the marketing and they let the vehicle speak. Well,
here's what the Mustang GTD Nuremberg ring. Whoa, look at that. That's pretty. Yeah,
fastest American car. And then Chevrolet came with the ZR1 and broke that record. That's fine.
And he got all these American cars making headlines just because they're cars, not because
because of what they can do as opposed to the image or whatever else you're trying to sell.
Well, they have people like Johnny, who will just drive their cars, talk about their cars,
and they do it for free. So if you're an advertising guy at a car company, you're like,
yeah, but you know, why am I making an ad when I can just give it to Johnny Lieberman, Matt Farah,
you know, these guys in the old days, you'd be afraid to give it to Johnny Lieberman because
it wasn't very good. It was like, I see, I see. When the Mustang GTD wasn't veiled,
I said, what's that? I thought it was a wheel and stripe pack.
Yeah, same. I thought it was a GT 500 with 50 horsepower, you know, with with anniversary
stripes or something. And then you saw that chassis and I went, oh, my God, this is this is
the real deal. The GTD is the greatest, by the way. It is. It is just the greatest car. It is.
I'm so annoyed. You have driven it. I drove it and I literally wrote it off and then it's the
greatest. Like the last time I felt that way was a GT3 RS. And I hate saying it, but I mean,
it's a Mustang that's never had an ad produced for it because everybody knows about it because
selling word of mouth is still the best advertising in the world, you know.
It's also a $400,000 Mustang. We should never leave that part out.
Well, here's how I justify it. Yeah. If you said to somebody, you give a ratio,
here's my Mustang, make this break the record at Nürburgring. Okay. It would cost you $3
to $5 million to get that done. Oh, yeah. Now you can have it done for you for a 10th of the price.
Right. I mean, that's really what that's that's its only job. You can't travel in it. There's no
trunk or anything. Yeah. Yeah. So but but I guess what I was leading to is so you seem to be growing
the collection. Oh, yeah. You know, I'm 76. I got like five years left.
That's more than me. Yeah, much more than me. But it's true. I mean, you might as well enjoy
yourself. But I only bring it up and it's not a criticism in any way, but a lot of folks will
slim down in those years. You're it's get out. I can't leave my own show. What kind of talk is
but this but it's I find it interesting and I'm and I love that you're doing well. I mean,
it seems to me you have more time. Yeah. Okay. So you can spend some time with the cars and stuff.
You know, I mean, I turned down a movie because I don't want to go to a movie for six or eight
weeks when I can spend more time. Right. I mean, I mean, it's really kind of the way it is. But
yeah, I'm really enjoying it. And you know, I've always bought cars I had to work on. Right.
To have cars. So you just you just drive it.
That's pretty good. This isn't a bad deal. Wait, what movie who's asking you to be in a movie right
now? I just pass on a movie. It's only because I'm taking camera away. So that's yeah, yeah,
all the time anyway. And but what kind of movie was it? You don't have to tell me it was a drama
or a comedy drama. It was a drama. Just playing a part. Do you I mean, you feel like you could
play a dramatic role? The director asked me, you know, so he because I say,
is this something? Yeah, we think you okay. All right. Well, thank you. I appreciate it.
Well, I know I really can. I'm you know, I can't devote all my time and effort. Yeah, yeah,
phone. Honey, you okay? And you know, running back 68 weeks is a long time. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And you know, in New York, you know, in New York. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, let's do an ad
break. And then we're going to look at this car you brought. Let's talk about our friends at
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demand a better tire, demand Vredestein. All right. You brought something very special for us
today. What is this car? That's a ZR1X based on the C8 platform. Convertible. Yeah, convertible.
The front wheel drive hybrid system out of the e-ray. You know, it's really amazing. It's an
amazing car when you realize this car is faster than probably the fastest Ferrari.
For less than the sales tax on the Ferrari, you get this car. And you say, and you go,
well, what makes it not like what, you know, it's so funny. When this came out, I thought,
okay, it'll probably have cast iron transmission and a few other things. There's not that the
amount of magnesium, carbon fiber, lightweight aluminum, it equals any of the European exotics.
I don't want to trash any of the European cars, but the fact that you get all this,
well, this is the most expensive iteration of this car. You can get this, this C8 for less than
$100,000. Right. That's about $250 out the door, but that's got every conceivable goofball.
Yeah, you can get a ZR1X for, I think, $217 for the low downforce, non-ZTK,
ZR1X. Can you take us through the basic specs? I assume I know nothing about it,
which I don't. Well, you have, it's not a Chevy Crate motor. It's a motor designed specifically
through this application. It's a flat plane crank, four valve, four cam, low on the blow.
It's not, you know, cam and block V8. It is a V8, twin turbos. The turbos are right up against the
exhaust port. So, and it's, I think it's the biggest turbos on a production car.
I don't have to double check that. They're huge. They're huge. What kind of horsepower are we making?
$1,250. So it was just 1,064 out of the V8. And yeah, 186 from the motor on the front wheel.
Wow. Right. And you have zero to 60 and 1.6.
1.6? On a prep surface. surface with stock tires.
Wow. And it does a quarter mile and 86
Wow. 9.1 on the street.
But you know, the, the, the fact that it's built in America in a union shop in union wages,
everybody makes a good living. There's nobody slave labor. You know, it's a foreign country,
you know, and the fact that it's, it's, it's a real tribute to American engineering and efficiency.
Like those carbon fiber wheels. I think I may have told this story before, but
I would say 10 years ago, maybe 15 years ago, carbon revolution, Australian company came to me
and they said, Hey, we're developing tires for the, some wheels for the 9.11 and, and the Ferrari's
and everything. And how much are they? 20,000 a wheel. That's crazy. Well, you want to try them
on your 9.11. Okay. So we, we put them on my 9.11. And what you could, there were 13 pounds,
I think there were, I mean, there were really light and you really couldn't feel, you could feel
different. And I said, well, who's going to buy these? Well, we're working with a original, we
can't say who it is. Okay. I would say two years later, maybe three years later, the 350 R Mustang
comes out with, and with four wheels and the 350, it's $20,000 cheaper than just the wheels.
And you get the whole car because of American manufacturing, the ability to economy of scale
and all that kind of stuff. You know, so that's what's pretty amazing. I mean, when you, when you
buy some of these European exhausts, you're paying for the fact that some guy is making it by hand,
you know, blub, and you get American manufacturing tech sneakers in there and you figure out how
to make the same wheels, nothing different. You're just making it for a 10th of the price.
Show us the interior there, Jack. I love the driver's sides. That's fantastic.
Yeah, that's kind of a, you have, you have the competition seat for the driver and the comfort
seat for the passenger. Super, there it is. The roll of buttons is missing, you know, that when
you see it, yeah, you had that thing of buttons, they got rid of that. And I think that that's good.
It has the Corvette steering wheel. Yeah. And the electronics on it are excellent. When you get in,
that's the great thing about American stuff like this,
heating, air conditioning, ventilation, electronic, even the 4GT, I get in, the phone
syncs. It syncs the second you get in there. You know, I've got some European stuff and you get
in and oh, I'm pressing. Yeah, yeah. Eric kicks the phone. Yeah. Would you make this selection? Yes,
I would. How do you enjoy your selection? Fine. There's a lot. I do a lot of behind your car we
can talk about. And you know, it's got, it's got tech on it that nobody has. Maybe some do not.
Like for example, you have the GPS lift system. You get in the car, let's say there's a pothole
in your street. You approach the pothole, you press the button, the GPS, so the front end
knows to lift anytime you come near that. Every time you come back, right. Geofencing, right? Yeah.
Yeah. It's really, it's Tesla actually developed that. Yeah. It's really good. It's very convenient
in LA. There's no cowl shake. Yeah. I just drove, I drove, so this, with this giant wing,
the high downforce car, the ZTK package, and I drove the non-giant wing version. And I think
the shocking thing is that it's a legit 1,250 horsepower vehicle, which by the way,
do you ever think you'd be driving a 1,250 horsepower streetcar? Yeah. Yeah. But it's,
it's like the most relaxed 1,000 plus horsepower vehicle, like, you know, the Guntherworks F26.
Yeah. Which is like, I just drove it. Literal insanity at all times. Yeah. It's just great.
This is relaxing. And then when you want it, it's there. But like, this is the calmest
4-figure horsepower. When you put it on, when you put it on tour, oh, it's like,
you can have a conversation in the car. You press the button, the roof goes up, you know,
it becomes a hard top that nobody can break into, you know. Let's get a shot of that briefcase
off to the right. Look at this. Oh, yeah. Tell us about your briefcase theory. What is the briefcase
about? Well, a guy made that for me in Texas. And they're handmade. And he just gave it to me
as a gift because he saw I was carrying a ratty old kind of piece of luggage. And it works great.
And what do you do? Papers and snacks and? No, no snacks, but you know, passport and I
need to get out of town. I just take the bag. That's it. So this is a quick escape bag.
That's the quickest. Yeah. Is there a go bag? A go bag. Go bag. You're not one of these apocalyptic
no, you're not. Okay. Jay, welcome to the apocalypse. If there was an apocalypse, what car
would you take to escape in? Hey, you need something nondescript. Probably like my E 55.
Oh, because that look, oh, you could be. Yeah. Yeah. It could be, you know,
this is when the revolution comes, you know, when it comes, you keep a piece. Do you have a
do you have a tell people I had an accident once. It's an accident I can never tell anybody about
except my friends. When I backed my orange mirror into my yellow mirror. I said,
okay, I can never discuss this because you can never discuss it screw you. I'm glad you
wrecked it. People just give you so much relatable. Very relatable. Exactly. Exactly. I didn't do that.
Yeah. Yeah. So there's not a weapon in the bag. You don't travel with weapons. No, no,
don't travel. You're not a weapon person. Do you have weapons? I try to use my
tanks. I try to use my skill as a negotiator. That usually works. He's gonna take with a
50 millimeter with real bullets on it. You know, the airport police came over and said,
could you at least turn around so the gun isn't facing you? No problem. You said,
well, you know, my son Jack is producing today when he came in last time you saw him. He was
just a little guy and you took him for ribs in the ferret. What is it? Yeah, the ferret. Yeah.
But then you said to him, we go, since you've grown up, I've gotten two more tanks. I got a
Scorpion, which is the, I think it's the fastest tank, 55 miles an hour. It's an aluminum tank.
Does that have a big gun on it? Yeah, big gun. Yeah, it's a big gun. Yeah. I got one shell.
Save him for the apocalypse. Whose name is on it? Yeah. And then what's the other tank?
The other tank is another ferret. What happened was the King of Jordan came to my garage.
And he's a big cargo. Also relatable. Very nice guy. Big cargo. So he goes, oh, you have ferrets.
I said, yeah, we use these in the Jordan for policing and whatnot. I said,
he says they have trouble getting in it. I said, well, I have to crawl in through the top. I said,
I'm 76 years old, but you know, I don't have any problem. He goes, you know what we do,
we cut a door in ours. I said, oh, that's interesting. Maybe I'll do that with mine. He goes,
I'll send you a tank. I said, no, no, I'll send you. I said, and I said, well, actually,
I mean, I think by the time I paid duty, no, no, the Royal Jets will drop it off right here at
the runway. Fantastic. All right. So then he surprised me. He sent me two tanks. He sent me
the Scorpion. So wait, did the plane land in Burbank? Plane land. His plane lands in Burbank
with tanks for Jay Leno. Tanks Well, no, I had to register as an arms dealer
because I'm bringing in heavy equipment. So Jay Leno is registered as an arms dealer.
Fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah. So you see my gun, where my little gun question has just led here.
He's an arms dealer who's importing tanks from the Middle East. Right. And they get dropped off.
Well, you know, it's so funny. The Scorpion, I took it out one day. It's got treads. I'm going
down San Fernando. What's going on here? I go, neighborhood watch. They thought that was the
neighborhood watch. I'll take it back. Yeah, put it back in your garage. Okay. Thank you.
Awesome. There you go. But there's so funny. What are you doing? Neighborhood watch.
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let's talk about this other car you bought, this Zinger. Well, there's the three American cars.
Yep. And they all sort of the same thing. They don't need to advertise them. The thing I like
about Zinger is, to me, the heart of any automobile is the engine. But a lot of people now even Bugatti
will use a Mercedes V12 or whatever. The fact that Zinger built their own engine developed
in-house 2.88 liter V8, a 4 valve, revs to 11,000 RPM. And the most amazing thing and the reason I
bought it, it meets California emissions. Everybody from the F1 to all these cars that come to
California, oh, we're getting a certification. I have these people bring supercars all the time from
Holland and whatnot. Can we drive it? Well, it's going to be legal in about two weeks.
The certification never comes. It never passes California small. Zinger develops a motor,
or an engine motor is electric, I guess, and it passes on the first get-go. You know how they do it?
You know how they do it, right? Big bore. No, I don't know. Okay. Payoffs and bribes?
Well, no, no. What's the dirtiest part of an engine? When you turn it from cold,
you're spewing out hydrocarbons, and that's the emission. Okay. What the Zinger has is
like a glow plug, you turn the key, the catalytic converter gets red hot instantly,
and you burn off. Oh, wow. Oh, is that why when you hit the start button, it goes initializing
for like 10 seconds? Yeah. Oh, I didn't even want it. But to be able to buy a car like this,
go to the DMV like it's a Ford Focus, 17-digit go. There you
There you go. Yeah. You know, the number of times, you got to get them on 10.
I'm not getting them on 10 a plate. Yeah. I don't want to register at the end of the state and pretend
I live there. You know, you make criminals out of people. And the fact that they actually take the,
because think about it, think of the T-50, and Gordon Murray's my hero, I don't mean nothing,
but that could, that can't pass California emissions. It can't. You know, even a lot of the
Porsches, you know, that a can up and those guys bring in, you can't get it passed. You can't get
into the country. So you have to lie and pretend you live here and then you get arrested. And it's
just, no, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah, no, I know exactly what you're saying.
It's such a question to go in and go, so this car meets all crash standards. Oh, yes. So it's not,
so you buy it and you can, the day you get it, you can drive. You don't have to wait in your
garage for some guy at the DMV to come down and go over the car and look, where's the stamp from
this and where's the little unleaded thing only on the gas. You know, it's all taken care of.
It's also a unique driving experience. It's a very unique driving experience.
Which is nice in a world of hypercars. And it's American. I mean, my dream, they build them in
Torrance, California in a shop, well, bigger than your place here, but not huge. It's not that big.
It's not that big. They make the whole thing smaller than Leno's place. Yeah.
They 3D print the chassis. I mean, to me, and right next door is Singer. And nothing would
make me happier than having a little automotive community where suppliers live near the Singer
and Singer and all these other guys. It's happening. You know, and it's like I'm saying,
Torrance is a new Maranello. I mean, I say it as a joke, but it's sort of true.
Yeah. I mean, you know, we've driven Tesla out of California. We've driven Toyota out of California,
you know, and then trying to drive classic cars out of California. Okay. What are we doing? I mean,
it's not that big a market and it provides a lot of jobs. You get all the brain guys. When you go
to Singer, these are all McLaren Bugatti guys at work. It makes sense. Yeah. I mean, California is
one of the biggest car markets in the world. That's what I'm saying. We were just talking before
the show about the Palisades Concords. Wouldn't it be nice if we had the Concord right there in LA
instead of all this traveling? Yeah. You know, I'm exactly right. I had the president of Alongan
Zone, the watch company. He's a big Porsche guy, kind of my garage. So he could drive a Courgette,
because there are none in Germany. Yeah. Really? I mean, there might be, but he's never seen one.
Right. They'll go to a meet and they'll be one on display because it's so expensive.
And I don't know whether it's emissions or whatever it is. They're pretty green there. So
they can't, you know. Yes. I mean, Singer, from the ground up, these are all guys that went to
college. Yeah. I mean, they're hot rodders, but they're hot rodders with a PhD. So consequently,
they know how to deal with emissions and do it legally. Every other manufacturer, well, here's
how you get around it. Well, no, I don't want to have to tend to lean it out and do all that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that's what sold me on the car.
But also, like, for a brand new company to get it so right. Like, I'll save the story for when
the video comes out, but I went 210 miles an hour in a Singer the other day. And like, it's great.
Like, and it was just fine. It's just absolutely fine. Yeah. Where was this that you could go that
fast? Air Force runway. Yeah. So sectioned off in a straight line. Yeah. Yeah. But like,
by the way, the top speed of the one, I was driving the no wing one, the V max,
probably 250 miles an hour. What was the error like over 160?
Fine. It was. It was just yeah. At what point did it start to feel a little, you know, the air's
hitting it? It never did. It was it was so out again. Do you know what I mean by that, right?
Yes. No, it just never felt like it was slowing down. You know, it's amazing how far aerodynamics
has come. Because 15 years ago, we took the courage ET to Talladega and we got to 100 laps
in 190. Yep. Okay. So you know, you know what happened there. So we're doing a lapse. Okay. And
after about 20 laps, I mean, you every input is so just so slight. You just moving. Yeah,
that's right. You know, you go into a corner 190 that banking. I mean, you just feel a car moving.
So I'm coming down the back straight and the guy goes like this. I go, okay.
Okay. I just took my foot off the gas. The rear end came around, spun eight times down the
center. I didn't hit anything. But yeah. And then 15 years later, we take the first, the last
generation, the R1, the C7. I show up there with metal brook and we're going to go 200 miles an
hour for like 50 laps. So I meet Taj Jukna there. So Taj is the chief engineer gets in.
This is exciting. Yeah. Yeah. I said, before we go, tell me the first time you went 200 in a car
of that. He goes, I never have. I said, you never have. So your first time is with a 70 year old
comedian who's never been in the car and never been on the track before. And this is the first
time you go to go. He goes, I guess so. All right. All right. Let's let's go 200. You know,
and you know, we're lapping it 208 to 12. And it was, it was way more stable than the Porsche.
Aerodynamics have come that far. Entires. Entires. Yeah. I mean, it was,
we're having a conversation. I slowed down to 60 and you can see how drivers died back in the day.
You slow down to 60. You think you can get out. It feels like you're going 15 miles because that
is happening at the early Indianapolis 500. The guys that circle at 100, 110 pull into the pits
at 40 miles an hour and the mechanic would jump out of the car to, yeah, and break his neck and
die because they, that is a funny, I've experienced that. I remember I was, I was going like,
trying to go 250 in a Bugatti. It was like 245. And then they're like, on your return run,
don't go below 100 because you need the cooling. Right. 100 miles an hour feels like walking.
Yeah. Yeah. Literally. It's just like, come on. It's so weird. Yeah. It's a weird thing.
All right, Johnny, you brought a lotus of some kind here. Let's have a look at it.
This is, first of all, it's kind of brown, which I like. This is the Lotus Amira Turbo SE.
2026 Amira Turbo SE and that's important because this is the AMG motor. So it's a turbo four cylinder
which has a eight speed dual clutch instead of the normal Camry V6 with the old Lexus diesel
manual. But when they released this car in 25, the transmission was programmed very,
very poorly. And all the reviews, especially our friend Ferris, were just scathing.
Yeah. Yeah. Screw this car. I hate this car. It's the worst car ever, but all that stuff.
I mean, I drove it too. It just felt like it was a lot of money for something with a four cylinder
engine. Yeah. And it just didn't feel exciting. It felt like a Toyota. What's the car you have?
The Toyota? The GR Corolla? Yeah. It felt like that. Wishes it felt like that. Yeah, there you go.
But they redid the transmission and I drove it briefly at Amelia Island. Yeah. Yeah. This is
stunning. Yeah. This is great. Well, they're beautiful cars to look at. And it's a car company
secretly everybody loves. Yes. And they'd buy one if they could. I would agree with that. Yeah.
You know, and that's the trouble with it. It doesn't, you know, I remember I drove the first
generation of it and it was nice and I got in and the switch gear all looked like 90s. I mean,
looked like like a Kenwood stereo and, you know, just things that don't really
integrate anymore. You know, I've got a 26R, which is just the greatest car. Yeah. I mean,
it's what Lotus, Lotus, they invented the Miata and they, they, they could have had the world's
most popular sports car. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. It's a good point. But the British,
it's like when World War II ended, they told the British, you can have anything in German
you want. Would you like Volkswagen? No, that's not going anywhere. We're not going to stop.
We're going to take Bristol. Yeah. They took the Bristol and left the VW to the Germans.
I didn't know that. Oh yeah. Yeah. The Bristol was. Well, thank God. They might have screwed that up.
Yeah. Yeah. So what do you think, Johnny? It's, I just got it yesterday. It's very good. And the,
whatever was wrong with the transmission has totally been solved. It's a very fast car.
I would just though, going with Jason, what, what, I think you'll agree with me, like
their hat, even though they, it has a modern interior now and Jack, if you want to show
the interior, it's a very nice interior. There has to be like one literally infuriating thing
about a British car or to be a proper British car. Like, because like Brits are, are reasonable
people, but they worship a king. Right. Yeah. It seemed logical until you, and so, like,
so two things, one of them, and I don't understand this, but the European Union has a rule now.
If you break the speed limit, the car beeps at you. We have that in some of our cars right now.
You turn, but you can turn it on and off. In the US, you turn it off and it stays off with this.
Now they're claiming Lotus is going to send a patch like you're talking about with the California
which will, you won't have to do it every time. Right. But it's like, you're buying a sports car
because you enjoy breaking the speed limit. You're good at it, right? It's, so that's crazy. But,
but look, it's a handsome interior. Oh, for sure. I guess that's as wide as you can go. There you
go. Another British quirky thing, like on the Rolls-Royce, the phone charger is in the glove.
You have to open the Senate glove compartment, put the phone in and shut the lid because in Hong
Kong and in China, you're not allowed to have a phone visible in the car. It's got to be hidden
away. Fantastic. Okay. But except when it rings or you need it. Right. And since it's such a small
company, you think it'd be right on the dash where you could plug your phone in. Yeah. Yeah.
But then the only, the only other thing I found that like, I don't like is getting the car into
gear. And I'm thinking like, Lotus really doesn't make a lot of automatics, right? Like they're
manuals. So it's, I know it's electric. There's no, you know, throttle cable or anything or,
you know, transmission cable, but like it's just so hard to get it into reverse and so
unnecessarily slow to get it into drive. Like they just, that's got to be fixed. That is a
deal breaker. No, it's a really nice car, but it's just, you got to, it's like, it starts in, I don't
know, park and then you have to go to neutral and then reverse. You can't just put it in reverse.
And it's like, why not? You know, what, why can't I just go to reverse? I don't mean neutral.
How quick is it? Well, it's 400 horsepower and it's 374 pound feet of torque. Let's see here.
Okay. That's pretty. 354 pound feet of torque. It's lighter and makes more power than the V6.
Oh, that's good. And again, it's a dual clutch. So it's acceleration is going to be way more than
the manual. And everyone says, Oh, you need the manual, manual AMG engine. It's an
I would just say the manual in the Lotus Amira is a 2001 diesel Lotus or a diesel Lexus manual
transmission. Cause it's the only thing that can handle the torque with the supercharged V6.
It's not a great manual that's, you know, so. Yeah. And the other thing is it's not that it's bad.
It's just that there's other stuff that's better for the same money. If this is the only sports car
being produced, oh, it's a wonderful car. You'd be just thrilled with it. But when you go, see,
it's more expensive than a C8 Corvette was 116,000. Yeah. Yeah. It's more expensive. And you just
realize, Oh, the other things you could have gotten. And then where's the Lotus dealer? Oh, well,
he's six towns over and he doesn't work on weekends. And you know, you just, it's just,
you're not going to get the service. You know, you get a Corvette, you go to any Chevy dealer,
you figure with a hammer, you know, why not put a flat six in this? What would flexes?
Porsche. Oh, because he's lighter. That's Lotus, right? They want to be light. I mean,
look, we've been kind of bagging a little bit. But you know, that's true. I mean, I remember it
being light and feeling like you could throw the car around when I drive. So it's beautiful to look
at. I love the styling of the car. Wonderful to drive. It's just a certain person's drive always
that will buy it and wants to stand out for driving a Lotus, I guess. And nobody knows what it is.
That's true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The other thing, like Lotus just said, they're going to do the
other day, they're going to do a V8, the 1000 horsepower V8 car. Okay. So that's coming.
And I assume they'll actually use the carbon tub they built for their electric 2000 horsepower thing,
which they couldn't sell any of. So that'll be neat. But again, like, if you think about a
Porsche Boxster, right, the Boxster and the Boxster S are both four cylinders. And that's kind of what
this car is competing with. You know, it's kind of like when the SLR Mercedes McLaren came out.
It took so long to develop. When it was developed, the dual clutch transmission had not been
widely used yet. You had to buy the phone that plugs in. You didn't have Bluetooth.
It didn't have all these things that became standard. So when it came out in 2005,
and this feels like it's a generation or two behind every other car out there in terms of
interior and right ergonomics and that kind of stuff. I mean, they're wonderful to drive.
I love Lotus. I hope they last forever. But I will say this is a big step up from the one that
was before. The interior is very nice. They got rid of the back seats. They always get better.
They listen, they get better, which is still not quite at
the sweet spot. Right. I mean, yeah, but like if you were to, to take this in a Boxster
S, which is actually this would have a little bit more power than a Boxster S. But like, man,
like, you know, you'd probably come back and say like, because the Porsche has a better front,
it's like more usable. Right. Therefore, I want it, but it wouldn't be like the Porsche
drive better. Therefore, I want it. It would be some silly non-driving reason you'd go with.
Does that make sense? Totally makes sense. I'm going to talk about Brooklyn bedding.
And then we're going to answer some viewer questions for Jay Leno.
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promo code SPIKE. All right, let's go through some questions. All right. Questions. SPIKE questions.
Here's one that I wrote. What's the oldest thing you own that you'll never get rid of?
What's the oldest thing I own that I'll never get rid of? Well, I've been married for a while.
But I mean, you know what I mean? It's collectors. Like, what's the one thing?
It doesn't have to be me. But see, I'm not, I watch hoarders and go, what's the problem?
The guy, the guy can get to the bedroom. That's a path through there.
But do you have something you've had like since you were a child?
You know, I don't know why I have it. I probably my glass giraffe. When I was like two,
my uncle gave me a glass giraffe. My mother said, do you don't give a child a solid glass toy?
That's ridiculous. So she put it on the shelf and it stayed there when I came to California,
he took it. And I still have it. So I've just had this glass. This solid glass giraffe. Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, I don't know. It's a giraffe that's sitting. I'm thinking, what, what, it just
made me laugh. It's sitting on what? It's just on the ground, you know, just like a, like it's sitting
like this with its legs crossed. Just an odd sort of thing. And it just, it just makes me laugh.
Why would you give this to a child? He's going to eat it. He's going to try to break.
I'll tell you why Jay. He's going to keep that for the rest of his life, for the rest of his life.
You know, we see we say that like I have a harmonica. When I was 11, my dad gave me a harmonica.
I had a marketer kid here, hang on to this. He said in 50 years, that'll be worth a lot of money.
And I, and it's 60 years later and I still have it. I don't think it's worth a lot of money.
No, it's not. But I remember my dad giving it to me in the parking lot of Tripoli's Bakery.
He went to get a slice of pizza. It was a quarter, a slice then. Wow.
And we went to get a slice and he said, oh, here's a harmonica. And I play this a while and I put
it in the drawer and it's still there. You know, someone, this is completely off, but somebody
just sent me a picture of my house that I grew up in. And I noticed that when I look at it,
all the stress in my life disappears. Have you ever had that experience? You look at your hometown,
the house you grew up in, you just suddenly you just feel like everything that's happened since
then just drifts away. It's an interesting thing. And I wonder if this glassed your F.
Well, I'm not a stress guy. That's one thing. I'm not, you know, like we're all
tonight show stuff. Yeah, whatever. Whatever. I had it again. You just roll. All right. I don't
worry about it. Benjamin Silliman has a good question for you. Who makes the best denim shirt?
Oh, good question. Oh, who makes the best one? What brand? Well, you know, I,
wrangle is pretty good. Levi Yeah. I like the ones that have the pearl snaps.
Because you always get ones that are like, hey, we're going to make some Jay Leno shirts and
they don't quite fit and the pocket's wrong and the pocket doesn't close. And I like him with
a carry glass on the one side and phone on the other. You know, so. There you go. Yeah. But who
makes it? Yeah, either one of those is pretty good. Wow. You know, a lot of time has passed since you
were a host of the tonight show. Yes. Who was the worst guest ever? Well, you finally say it.
Well, you know, there are a lot of times you have guests. Don't come if you don't want to be there.
Yeah. You know, I mean, why are you here? I mean, if you don't want to be here, that's fine. Okay.
You know, I mean, who was the guy? I think he was on Wise Guys. He was an actor and just thought,
you know, just being difficult. And, you know, you're trying to make the guy look good. And
yeah, I remember I had, oh, walking Phoenix on one time. And he was that he's going through that
period. Yeah, actor, you know, and I said to him, hey, next time I hope you can come in person,
you know. And his PR goes, he's a genius, you know. He is a genius. You know,
talk some geniuses like that. I go, it's a joke. I got to laugh because he got no laughs.
I mean, if you don't want to be here, no, but I like him. He's a great actor. I was anxious to
have a little disappointed that, all right, well, why come with an attitude? I don't get it.
I ran into him at the soda aisle at the Whole Foods on a Tuesday afternoon.
Recently? No, this is right when, right after Joker had come out, and he was still the character.
He was still the guy, the character. That's why I am. But I never go up to people, Jay. I won't
go up to celebrities, but I had, I really loved the movie. I was really, you know, moved by it in
the wrong way, but I thought his performance was incredible. And I thought I could just have a
normal, and I turned and I said, well, Keen, sorry, just big fan of the Joker. And he turned.
Oh, and he was the guy in the movie buying soda on a Tuesday. And then I watched him. I stayed
in my car, watched him leave. He just got in a car with cases of soda, a Prius, and then drove off.
I wanted to know what was happening. Prius, Joker, and soda after that. I was in a room with Jordan
Peel yesterday. You know what I said to him? Nothing. Not one word. I left him alone. You could
have asked him, when you were on tour with Spike in the mad TV late night, why were you always a
half hour late to the van while we were all waiting for you? He was late. I literally said,
leave him alone. What were you going to say, Jay? I was going to say, that's why I like Sean Connery.
You know, just a guy's guy. He was not James Bond. You know, he was a longshoreman. He was
Mr. Universe 3rd runner-up in 1953. He would fight people at the top. He'd come up, Jay, Jay, what's
the latest filthy joke going to go through? And I tell him the joke. And he would laugh like a pirate.
He's the only guy. You know how they say something's a knee slapper? Yeah. He would go,
and he'd slap his knee. And this laughter would like echo through the whole thing.
Wow. What's going on? But, you know, he was just like a man's man. He was the only star
that ever took a shower. And we had these little stupid dressing rooms. Yeah, yeah, right. At NBC.
He'd be singing and the news crew would not go, we're doing the news. Who's he out there?
You want to tell him to stop singing? I'm not going to tell him to stop singing.
Oh, Scotland. He's just like the funniest guy. I really liked him. He really made me laugh.
And he was not the sophisticated or shaken, not stirred. I'm more pushy. You know, he wasn't that
guy. No, he was. Yeah, he was really. Is he one of these guys, you know, that would call you up,
you know, when you were doing the Tonight Show? Was he one of your like Tonight Show friends?
No, no, no. Did you have people like? Russell Crowe calls. He calls a lot. And he lives in Australia.
Yeah. So it's like, it's 3.15 in the morning. Hey, Jay, what's going on? Russell.
So let's go ride motorcycles. You know, I'm in America. Oh, oh, gee. No, it's fine. It's fine.
Okay. How you been? Yeah. Yeah. What do you, you know, we live in a time where it looks like
late night television is kind of ending, you know, it's hastened, I think, a little bit by the
government, but it's also just viewing habits. You know, here's what I blame. I like everybody.
And this is one of my things. I have never commented on another host ever. And I'm very
careful what I say. Like I did an interview with Reagan, with the Reagan Library about the humor
of Ronald Reagan. And he was a funny guy. Yeah. You know, I had dinner with him. He had the funniest
joke. He said, Jay, are you a good student? I said, no, Mr. President. He was, Jay, I wasn't a good
student either. I'll tell you something. And you know, every day I kicked myself, thinking how much
further I could have gone. And it just, it just made me laugh. It's a great joke. Jay, you had,
I didn't need motorcycle. We talked about any motorcycles. Yeah, you know, he was a nice guy.
He was, to be in the company of a president is really an honor. It's really just. So he was a
motorcycle guy. Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. But just, just, just sort of, what was your question
before that? I don't remember. Now, what about James Garner, my old neighbor? Do you ever have
him on the show? Yeah, I like James Garner. He was a great guy. He was a real car guy. He was a
real racer. He did his own driving in Grand Prix. He was my mom's favorite. Austin Mini Cooper.
The angriest golfer would literally smash his clubs, all of them. Just break them in half,
throw them on the ground, stop off. Hilarious. Like, really? It's a golf game. What do you
Yeah, but just, just an interesting guy. Were you golfing with him? No, no, I'm not a golfer.
You know, he would tell me these stories about how he got mad and, and smashed. Yeah. But yeah,
he was, and I liked him a lot. And, and he knew his cars. He had that Oldsmobile and he had the
off-road, a lot of off-road stuff too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he was a great guy. He was a great guy.
Are you aware of any of this controversy with crossing the mustard in the canyons?
You know, I watched your thing on that. And, you know, people wanted me to comment on it. I said,
you know, I don't want to be a hypocrite. I've done stupid things. That's right. And a lot of
times you exaggerate them for the sake of a joke or something. And I don't want to be out there
telling other people what not to. You know, I wish we didn't know his name. I wish he was,
I wish he was the unknown guy. And he was reporting people who do this. Right. It seemed
rather self-serving. You call yourself the Canyon Carver, which makes it sound like
obeying all laws at all times. You know what I'm saying? You know,
it's me who casts the first stone, all that kind of stuff. Well, like, apparently he had asked
that he had seen this a lot. And, you know, there is that definite point of view. But, you know,
there's a lot of death up in the canyons. And there are a lot of people dying. And it's nice
to have, I think it's a good idea for the car community to police themselves in some way. I'm
not saying that. I think, but I think it's better if we don't know who he is. Right. And so he
remains like a Batman. Yeah. So you're driving around to kind of wonder who it is. That's pretty
good. I like that. It just seems like when you're blowing your own horn, you then what's the next
step? You run for office, you get in political. That was my thing was like, who appointed him,
you know, Hallmander? Yeah. Well, maybe he's on the Reagan trajectory. Maybe that's where he's
repressed. But, you know, that's true. I mean, what you're saying is right. Because even cops will
tell you, well, that guy was a snitch. You know, I mean, they're trying to catch a guy in a gang
who killed somebody. Yeah. And the guy who turns them in is not a hero. Yeah. He's a snitch. You
know what I mean? He got a room. It's fascinating. You know, and so to me, I think, I think the
Canyon Carver thing would be great if he came on, you know, he had a, what they call a full face
helmet. No, no. Pixelated. Yeah. Pixelated identity. Yeah. A ski mask. mask kind
of deal. And we didn't know, and we didn't know who he was. That will complicate. Because when I
know who you are now, it's like, oh yeah. You would rather he's a mysterious presence. Yeah. I like
that idea. But also he can never now violate any traffic law ever again. He goes 53. He can because
he can say, I messed up. I think everybody would, you know, wouldn't, you know what it's like when
someone does something wrong, even when you're in an argument with someone in your house and they
won't just admit like, oh yeah, sorry, mistake. I left the Kettle on. They instead attack you.
Why do you care? That's what's made this big is not that he caught him. It's that the guy who did
the stuff with the other guys hasn't gone. You're right. I've got to be more careful. All he had
to do was say that. I know what your other question was. You're asking about late night. Yes. And
as I said, I'd never commented on another thing. But at the end, the guy says to me,
how did you and Johnny handle it? So we made fun of both sides equally. The headline Leno attacks
late night holes. I didn't attack anybody. Yeah. But I mean, that's kind of what happens. But the
problem with late night now is you have a six minute monologue, a five minute commercial, five
minutes, a desk piece, another six or seven minute commercial. I mean, you try and watch,
like I like Law and Order. I watch them all. Okay. But I watch them on Peacock, uninterrupted.
Right. And then you see these commercials. If I see Jake from Stake Farm again, I'm going to shoot
myself in the hand. Do you know what I do? Because I only have like YouTube TV to watch
linear television now. I only watch quad splits because most at least three or four will be
commercials. Right. So I have to pick the one. Oh, wow. Whether it's MSNBC or tennis or some sports
game that I'm watching, because if I just want to sit down and have a meal and watch linear
television, I'm just watching commercials. That's really the problem. I mean, it's just viewing
habits of disappearing. Nothing wrong with the hosts. They're all good. They're all right.
Any of those jokes. They're all clever. You know, and then I can catch up with
the catch up with them on the internet the next day and then and then watch it. You know,
to that point, you know, I think any of them leaving the air can do this. They can have their
Have you ever thought about hosting a podcast? I know you have your own show, but have you ever
saw? No, I haven't because to do to interview people. It's too much work. And I would be doing
when I use like the thing I like about tonight show you write jokes right up until
430 or pencils down. All right, I got to go with this. I got to go with the best. Right.
Okay, if it works, great. If it doesn't, it's like laboratory mice. We'll get some more tomorrow.
You know, I mean, if I do show once the whole week would be filled with trying to make the show
better, you know, this way I can drive my cars. I can do stuff. I can come on here and just talk.
Okay, that's right. You know, rather than have it all planned out, you know, there you go. Yeah.
All right. Well, before we go, we've got to do a watch check. What are you wearing on your wrist?
That is the Alangazon Perpetual Calendar. Yikes. This is probably the greatest watch they ever
made because it was the first time everybody that had a perpetual use. I'm going to get a shot
of it. Patak Philippe or one of the other. They use somebody else's movement. Yeah.
Beautiful. They developed this themselves. It's got all kinds of features. When you
hack it, you pull it out. The seconds always go to zero. So you can, when you set the watch,
you can set it right. Oh, yeah, right. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's an amazing.
It's an amazing company. Yeah. We like them. They're German, right? Yeah. Yeah, German. Yeah.
We've got to bring those guys into this show. Alangazon. They're hooked up in a big way.
Well, they sponsor Audrain. Oh, they do. Why not Spike's Car Radio as well?
And they don't really. Or talk to them at Audrain. Yeah. Yeah. No, I've met them.
I've met to see you. I've traveled with them. What are you wearing on your wrist? I am wearing a
Seiko that I got on Amazon for, I'm going to say, $395. Wow. That I sent to a guy who
fake aged it for me for like $400 or something like that. What? Yeah. It's fake aging. He like
dips the dial and acid to turn to this cool blue, sorry, the bezel. He fake aged the indices,
fake aged the hands. And then most importantly though, the under the cover strap. This is probably
the most accurate watch in the world Seiko. Oh, yeah. With that spring drive. This is not spring
drive, but, but yeah, this is just a normal Seiko. And the Astrone, the solar powered one. Oh, yeah.
Never needs a battery. It's good for a second a year. And I am wearing a Hoyer Atevir Ziffin
for the caliber 11 blog. They made a hundred of these. Very nice. And they still got 99 left to
sell. No, they made these five years ago. They're all sold. I'm going to take this to the Indy 500.
Now, Jay, I got to ask you a question. I know it's hard to believe, but I've never owned a
perpetual calendar watch. Like, do you have to keep it on a winder? Isn't it a nightmare to set?
A winder they give you looks like the stata motor, the Luthwaffer.
It was. Is it going to crank? It's a size of a Lucas generator from like a mid sixties
track. It's enormous. And you use that? Yeah. Well, when you get to watch it comes in the box,
you plug it in, it's got a big giant gear and it's 100% silent. You can't hear it. It doesn't
sound like not even a soft home. It just turns it very slowly. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I love it.
Because I'm always worried about that. Well, perpetual means you never have to adjust it.
Yeah. And you're going to do it once, once you have to go. And that's it. Yeah. You have to
just turn this little thing. But for some people, it's too much worse. There you go. Well, Jay,
thank you for coming back to the show. Thanks for having me on, guys. We love having you here.
I have to thank you on behalf of Palisades, the Pacific Palisades High School. The fundraiser
you hosted set a record that will not be broken. You were giving away tours, not giving away,
auctioning off tours. They expected one. He did like 10 for a lot of dough.
That's great. They flipped out. You really did a solid for the Pacific
Palisades community after the fire. And I thank you, the school, thanks you. That's our show.
If you're on Patreon, stick around. We have a few more questions for Jay.
If not, we'll see you next week. Spike's Car Radio.
About this episode
From Newport Concours vibes to presidential burnouts, the conversation keeps circling back to Jay Leno’s lifelong compulsion to keep buying cars. They revisit a 1967 Corvette run with Secret Service logistics, then zoom out to how modern hype is driven by real performance—Nürburgring records, fast launches, and even tech like GPS lift systems. Leno also compares expensive wheel pricing, praises car tech like instant phone sync, and ties it all to why he’s still shopping.
Jay Leno stops by the SCR Garage to talk supercars, Secret Service snipers, and how he accidentally became a registered arms dealer. We review the Lotus Emira Turbo SE, and debate canyon carving ethics, the death of late-night TV, and what it takes to hit 210 mph on an Air Force runway.
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Jay Leno is 76 and still out-buying most of us. In this episode, he breaks down his latest haul: the Corvette ZR1, McLaren W1, Mustang GTD, and the wild 3D-printed Czinger 21C. He explains why the best cars today don't need ads, just a YouTube video and word of mouth. Jay also gets into what it was like hosting "Jay Leno's Garage" with President Joe Biden, complete with rooftop snipers, a custom Sheffield watch color-matched to Biden's '67 Corvette, and Hunter Biden showing up for ice cream.
Jonny Lieberman brings a proper review of the Lotus Emira Turbo SE: AMG engine, fixed DCT programming, and enough British quirks to fill a whole segment. The group debates Porsche Boxsters, EU speed-limit beepers, and hidden phone chargers engineered for Chinese regulations.
Jay also shares why he turned down a dramatic film role, what's in his apocalypse go-bag, and how a visit from the King of Jordan left him legally classified as an arms dealer.
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Produced by
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introducing Jay Leno
01:32 - Joe Biden's Corvette Stingray
06:53 - Jay's new cars
14:43 - Jay's Corvette ZR1X
22:11 - Jay's TANKS
27:35 - Why Jay bought a Czinger 21C
35:33 - Lotus Emira Turbo SE review
45:12 - Things we'll never get rid of
47:32 - Denim
48:08 - The Tonight Show
53:50 - Jay's thoughts on "Don't Cross the Mustard"
56:28 - The death of late night
58:42 - Watches
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