What car is Leno driving here?

[MarrsCars]

Putting aside the mean spirited tone of the article itself (we all know Jay is one of the kindest and most down-to-Earth celebrities around) can anyone kindly identify the vehicle he is driving? Are the mirrors and other bits original to the car? Thanks!

Jay Leno in Malibu

[trimacar]

That is a mean article... Car is a 1915 Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine, I believe the body and frame are all custom built to house this engine.....Leno has four cars powered by aircraft engines, don't even think this is the biggest.....

[Guest prs519]

Seems like the author goes to length to crucify Jay, a man who spends much time and resources to share his passion with us common fellers. I say thanks, Jay, and if you are, in fact, under duress, please snap out of it. You have given tons to the rest of us, and you deserve thanks, not criticism!

[CarlLaFong]

I would imagine driving that beast from Burbank, up to The Rock Store would leave anyone looking a bit haggard. No power anything, no insulation, no comfort whatsoever. I've spoken with him on three separate occasions, the first before he was a star. He was the same guy the last time I talked to him

[Dandy Dave]

Tough driving fast without a cap and goggles in one of these early cars. Yes, Hat's off To Jay Leno. :cool: He sometimes has the same car trouble along the road as the rest of us with early iron. I wonder if he runs casteroil in the aircraft engine??? Smelling too much of that will give you other problems. Dandy Dave!

Edited August 13, 2013 by Dandy Dave (see edit history)

[R Walling]

I wouldn't mind having a "failing" show after so many years of success (not to mention the pleasure and $millions he has received from it"

I guess some people need to throw around sour grapes to get others to read their column.

[RPrice]

Jay Leno is a class act. Not only has he preserved and restored some magnificent autos, he has given lots of money to McPherson College to educate students on the auto restoration process. I wish I could have seen the front end of that car he's driving. Rog

[Marty Roth]

I'd enjoy visiting his garages and collections when I'm in California in October for the Fall Western Division AACA Meet. The Meet is 10/25-26/2013, and we would plan to spend a few days before/after.

Does anyone have a personal contact who could get me and my wife into the collection and/or to meet with Mr. Leno?

[Steve_Mack_CT]

"we are no longer accepting comments on this article" - I wonder why?

Of course, no mention of the type of vehicle and certainly no clue about the effort one has to put into truly driving a car like that, if only it had PS, PB, AT, AC, and a GPS then maybe the writer could relate - and what kind of idiot cuts his own pay for the benefit of his staff? Yep a real talented writer here.

Jay continues to be one of the best ambassadors for the hobby - he actually drives his stuff which is just as key as the down to earth attitude.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[MarrsCars]

Great points all, we know better than to believe what was written but I wonder why the urge to defame him like that? Whatever the reason, as stated he has given half his salary away to retain staff members and I seem to recall him saying once that he doesn't even spend his salary from the Tonight Show but rather lives off his appearance and endorsement fees so while he won't even miss it in his daily life it was still one helluva gesture, well much more than a gesture, an incredible act of kindness.

[Rusty_OToole]

..... so the author had his say. Then shut off his computer and got out his bus pass for the long trip home to his bedsit in Hemel Hempstead.

[bruffsup]

That Hisso engine is one of the coolest of all time and a great car to boot. Paparazzi are the scum of the earth, especially that one.

[Rusty_OToole]

England seems to have a highly developed niche in the mass media for building themselves up by tearing others down. This is a lot easier than actually accomplishing anything.

I'm sure the tendency goes way back but it seems to have become a full blown mania since they finally realized their country was a has been, some time in the 80s.

[Ivan Saxton]

I need to explain the origin of this car for you. In 1965 Stuart Middlehurst converted a 2 ton Mercedes van into a useful hack vehicle for his laundry business in Warragul. He had gathered several of these vans, and two were repaired and painted , and used for transport of his rental linen service to hotels and motels across this Gippsland region. There was no Mercedes diesel engine for this one, so a reconditioned early General Motors Holden from a wrecked car was fitted. The body was altered so It had an open tray back, partly overhung by a sleeper-cab extension. Stuart had planned a test run over a long weekend to northern New South Wales. Stuart and I, and Stuart's son John who is about my age interchanged driving, being passenger, or asleep on the bunk. This way we were continually on the move in a rather under-powered outfit. First stop was a place called Baradine. A garage owner had already sold most of the interesting cars he had, leaving only the very sad basic 1923 overhead valve 6 cylinder Mercer which had long retired from service as a tow truck. Stuart negotiated and bought the Mercer for me, and I later repaid him on drip-feed as I had money to hand. Among the cars Dick Burt had previously sold were a Blackhawk OHC 6 sedan, and another, good, complete and running Mercer 6. He told us that a woman had come, and paid his price in cash. He had no record of who it was or where it went; and that car has never surfaced since. The second place we headed to was a very small town called Galong. Stuart had information that an Hispano Suiza had been dismantled at an old garage there. Apart from the chassis frame there was not much left. I recall that I spent a while scratching around in the grass and soil, and unearthed the flattened Hispano bonnet (or hood as you call it), and perhaps a few other identifiable artefacts. That is the chassis frame that has become the base of Mr Leno's car. In that trip of nearly 2000 miles over three days, we ran in that reconditioned Holden motor and ran it out. Stuart relaced it with a new current 7 main bearing Holden engine. The sleeper-cab Mercedes was very useful for many years. It was just serviced, but the engine never needed repair. Anyone and everyone drove it and it was fine after 70,000 miles. On the highway it was always driven at the speed limit of 60 miles per hour. You got valve bounce at 62mph.

Stuart had some significant parts at home of a similar lost car, which had come from a nameless ex-lawyer and conman, an "enthusiast" who had tried to destroy a fine original 3 litre Barcelona Hispano touring by discarding the coachwork and shortening the chassis frame to make a sports special. Stuart later restored this with correct wheelbase. (I reckoned that the car was too heavily built for the power of the engine, and that its performance was very disappointing.

I have a photo of the vehicle and load on the way home, with the Mercer on Henry Formby's trailer. I emailed a digitised file of this to Randy Ema, who is a friend of Mr Leno and does restoration work for him.

Anyway, the chassis frame was a longer and stronger version of that of the Alfonso. We reckoned it was a 5 litre Barcelona-built car, but I still do not know whether it would have had an overhead camshaft engine, or a T-head with four valves per cylinder. I have somewhere in a local 1920 magazine an advertisement by Brodribb Brothers, who were Bentley and Hispano-Suiza agents in Melbourne, that they had available from stock four different Hispano four cylinder models defined by engine dimensions. 80mm by 180 stroke was the T-head Alfonso, 85mm by 130 stroke was 3 litre OHC Barcelona, and 100mm by 140 stroke would be the 5 litre Barcelona. The fourth size I do not recall, but it was also a four cylinder. A four cylinder T-head car with 4 valves per cylinder has survived and been restored in Sydney, but I have never seen it. Brodribb's must have been sent a shipment of new old stock cars after the war.

Now Stuart had in all the essence of about eight Hispano Suizas, including a project of various Hispano parts including that chassis from Galong, with the 12 litre V8 aero engine that had been one of the engines used in Cornwall's racing boat "Nautilus". This was one that had been built under licence by Wolseley in England. He had envisaged building a car from this, such as Count Louis Zoborowski, Parry Thomas, E A D Eldridge, and Captain Alastair Miller built for racing. These used war surplus aero engines in large Edwardian chassis. Some were formidably effective like Eldridge's FIAT. Others may have been heroically hazardous, to the point of eligibility for Darwin Awards. On page 14 of Fred Roe's book Duesenberg: The Pursuit of Perfection is photo of the start of a dirt track race in 1921. Beside the surviving (and recently restored) 16 valve walking beam Duesenberg was a car whose engine was half a V8 Hispano aero engine. It was acceptable and fashionable to build hotrods with aero engines or half aero engines back in the 1920s, so why should we look down on that now?

Now Stuart Scarisbrick Middlehurst's godfather and namesake, his father's friend Stuart Scarisbrick had built and raced one of these. Stuart was able to visit Peter Helck and see the car his godfather built, but I cannot remember the details of it. Now in due course Stuart sold his own project to our friend Des Dillon, who had bought Stuart's laundry business, because Des had a lot more time ahead of him. Des also bought the third Alfonso. This prompted a Melbourne car dealer in the Vintage Sports Car Club, John Ould, to buy the extra Alfonso chassis from Stuart, and the genuine Hispano 18 litre V8 that Jack Nelson owned. (Jack is still with us well into his nineties, but unfortunately no longer very active.)

It became obvious that the 18 litre V8 was a bit too much for the Alfonso chassis, so John Ould arranged to swap chassis frames with Des. Des engineered his car to use axles and brakes from a 37.2 H6B Hispano of the 1920s, and it has been in frequent recreational use for many years, as also has his Alfonso.

The man who I understand did most to design and construction for the car for John Ould was Ray D'Alton of Baxter, about an hour from here. Ray worked for General Motors Holden as what you might call a development design engineer. He is a very competent craftsman and restorer. Someone else may have been involved in detail finishing. I can talk to Ray if anyone wants to know more.

On an occasion when Des Dillon was to visit Los Angeles, John Ould gave him Jay Leno's phone number. Des left a message on the answering machine. Mr Leno rang back, and arranged to pick up Des in front of his hotel at a particular time, in that car, of course. Des told me that it is one of his favourite cars to drive in Los Angeles traffic. It is fortunate that there are people who provide others with the opportunity to see and hear such historic machinery perform, rather than be still and silent objects in museums.

Mr Leno is obviously a very nice and generous person.

As for the person who wrote that dreadful and disparaging article, contemplate Sir Arthur Gilbert's words from the song of the Mickado :

"My object Oh sublime, I shall achieve in time; to let the punishment fit the crime, the punishment fit the crime. And make each prisoner 'pent, or wittingly represent, a source of innocent merriment, of innocent merriment........

If someone would be kind enough to receive digital file of the photo of the Mercedes and trailer with the Mercer and Hispano chassis loaded , to post it on this thread for me, I shall be most grateful.

[Bhigdog]

Anyone who personally takes a $15 mil pay cut to ease the burden of his crew is right up there in my book. As far as I'm concerned he could be driving a Prius and I'd still take my hat off to him...................Bob

[Guest]

Seems like the author goes to length to crucify Jay, a man who spends much time and resources to share his passion with us common fellers. I say thanks, Jay, and if you are, in fact, under duress, please snap out of it. You have given tons to the rest of us, and you deserve thanks, not criticism!

On the other side of the metal could it just might have been some Olds fan who was tired of all the publicity of turning a restorable 1967 Olds Toronado into a 1966 Olds Toronado with Chevy powered RWD and taking all the special features of a car that made it Motor Trends car of the year. Or, it might have been some Buick fan tired of seeing a 502 BBC in that 1955 Buick of his.

[bruffsup]

IVAN, I would be happy to post it here. I am at oldmill@kingston.net Cheers, Barry

PS I assume this is Leno's Hisso ( before he owned it) on tour in Spain as documented in Vol 28 #2 Automobile Quarterly.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Barry Brown (see edit history)

[bruffsup]

On the other side of the metal could it just might have been some Olds fan who was tired of all the publicity of turning a restorable 1967 Olds Toronado into a 1966 Olds Toronado with Chevy powered RWD and taking all the special features of a car that made it Motor Trends car of the year. Or, it might have been some Buick fan tired of seeing a 502 BBC in that 1955 Buick of his.

Not a chance that the clown who wrote that article knows the difference between a spark plug and a wheel.

[Guest]

Not a chance that the clown who wrote that article knows the difference between a spark plug and a wheel.

No, but Jay does and that's the part I and many people can't get around. A car guy yes, but what kind of a car guy. I want to see him.....perhaps his next project will be a 502 in a Stanley Steamer????

[Guest Barneys_Bud]

Putting aside the mean spirited tone of the article itself (we all know Jay is one of the kindest and most down-to-Earth celebrities around) can anyone kindly identify the vehicle he is driving? Are the mirrors and other bits original to the car? Thanks!

Jay Leno in Malibu

The last time I was in his shop in Burbank he had a custom built car. It was built in a shop near Grants Pass Oregon and had a huge WW2 tank engine in it. I believe this is that car. I could be wrong but that sure looks like it.

Have a great day !

[bruffsup]

No it's not.

[bruffsup]

Refer to Ivan's post above for details concerning this photo.

[CarlLaFong]

No, but Jay does and that's the part I and many people can't get around. A car guy yes, but what kind of a car guy. I want to see him.....perhaps his next project will be a 502 in a Stanley Steamer????

OK, Jay has a couple of hot rods. He also has a world class collection of restored and original classics and antiques. Let's face it, 55 Buicks are dime a dozen and his wasn't the last one in the world, so there are still enough of them out there to satisfy the purists. As far as the Toronado, again, big deal. There's plenty of them, too. As has been pointed out, Jay is probably the best and most well known ambassador of the hobby and a nice guy, to boot. I understand the focus of the club and this site, but I don't quite get the, almost anal, obsession with keeping everything, that ever rolled, 100 point original.

BTW, the car Jay's driving.....................it ain't stock. Horrors!!!

[Guest]

OK, Jay has a couple of hot rods. He also has a world class collection of restored and original classics and antiques. Let's face it, 55 Buicks are dime a dozen and his wasn't the last one in the world, so there are still enough of them out there to satisfy the purists. As far as the Toronado, again, big deal. There's plenty of them, too. As has been pointed out, Jay is probably the best and most well known ambassador of the hobby and a nice guy, to boot. I understand the focus of the club and this site, but I don't quite get the, almost anal, obsession with keeping everything, that ever rolled, 100 point original.

BTW, the car Jay's driving.....................it ain't stock. Horrors!!!

A nice 55 Roadmaster Rivera is not chump change to me and not exactly in every add you see. What you seem to be saying is a 55 Buick just doesn't mean that much to people with big bucks and they perceive those kinds of cars not worth anything that they can do anything to , but people with big bucks and a world class collection do see the merit of keeping the high dollar cars stock.

It all depends on your station in life how you look at these things. A VW Beetle may not be important or worth saving to you but is worth a great deal to someone who can only afford to collect them.

[CarlLaFong]

Well, you certainly read a lot into a simple statement. All I intended to say was there are enough old Buicks and Toros to go around and If Jay or Joe Lunchbox wants to do an engine swap, the pool of available originals will not be, significantly, impacted. Now, if he put a BBC in one of his Stanleys, as you suggested, that would be be tragic. I would bet that if either car were to go to auction, they would bring, at a minimum, twice what a restored original would go for. I know that money is not the issue, and I am not an advocate of destroying old cars, but it's not as if he made a pinky ring from the Hope Diamond. There are way more people, that you can attack, on the reality shows, who are ruining old cars for a living. How about the nice, survivor, T coupe that Boyd chopped up?

[Guest]

Well, you certainly read a lot into a simple statement. All I intended to say was there are enough old Buicks and Toros to go around and If Jay or Joe Lunchbox wants to do an engine swap, the pool of available originals will not be, significantly, impacted. Now, if he put a BBC in one of his Stanleys, as you suggested, that would be be tragic. I would bet that if either car were to go to auction, they would bring, at a minimum, twice what a restored original would go for. I know that money is not the issue, and I am not an advocate of destroying old cars, but it's not as if he made a pinky ring from the Hope Diamond. There are way more people, that you can attack, on the reality shows, who are ruining old cars for a living. How about the nice, survivor, T coupe that Boyd chopped up?

John, I've been to a few car shows this year, and I go to a car gathering once, sometimes twice a week and you would be hard pressed to find a Buick or Olds let alone a 55 Riviera whether a Special or a Roadmaster or a Toronado of any kind. I'm not attacking you, just saying I couldn't stand what Leno did.