Jay Leno Open His Big Dog Garage

Comedian, talk show host, and noted car collector Jay Leno opened up his Big Dog Garage for the North American debut of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG hosting a select group of automotive journalists to his view priceless automotive, motorcycle and historic transportation collection.




The garage itself is about 17,000 square feet, sizeable, to say the least, for a private garage, which is enough space to work on about a dozen cars at any one given time. About a quarter of that space is taken up by the machine shop, which includes a massive amount of equipment

First and foremost, the garage is not a museum. Jay makes his purchases not as museum pieces, but because he enjoys driving the cars and motorcycles all of them! From Stanley Steamers to Duesenbergs to McLarens, Jay and his collection are fixtures in the Southern California area and can often be spotted out for weekend rides and the occasional breakdown on the side of the road. Stanley Steamers may be fun to drive, but 1906 technology isn't the most reliable in the world.

As a whole, the collection spans 100 years of automotive history. The oldest cars are a 1906 Baker electric car and a 1906 Stanley Steamer, while the newest is a 2006 Corvette. The collection also has a number of rare cars, such as a Monteverde, a Bugatti Atlantic, and a turbine motorcycle.

But perhaps the most special car in the collection is a 1955 Buick. Not only is it the first car Jay purchased, it was the car he came to California in. On top of that, it was also his apartment on wheels. As a struggling comic in Los Angeles, Jay often slept in the car in alleyways next to comedy clubs. He never sold the car and, like all the other cars in his collection, he takes it out for a spin from time to time. And why wouldn't he? A couple years ago, Jay's mechanical whizzes hotrodded it with a hot motor, a big-block engine, and Corvette suspension. Not too shabby for a struggling comic.

As a special pre Holiday present to Jay, the AMG team presented Jay with a hand-made 6.3-1 engine for a legendary Rote Sau Mercedes W108 that he is restoring.

Bruce Reynolds was on hand and has more...

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Bader TV
• Jay Leno
• Auto
• Cars
• Los Angeles

[gotham61]

@JoseKagan It's not really a big secret. North Damon Way, on the west side of Bob Hope Burbank Airport.

[rollerbenz]

Out of all the celebrities, I respect Leno the most.

[LocoMario22]

@TheEvanovitch You're damn right ! Petrol engines only !

[dustbowl19311939]

You can say what you want about Leno but he is a true car enthusiast.

[TheEvanovitch]

@perpetualmotion100 dude real car fans like jay leno and myself love the sound, rumble, smell and working of a petrol engine, electric engines, no matter how powerful and energyfriendly, can never replace that

[greenjeansmjr]

@blattdanielmain Stop prosthelytizing. Care to comment on this video?

[perpetualmotion100]

ALL of these cars canbe changed over to free energy NOW ! the parts are on the shelves SEE H2W Tech. LINEAR MOTORS & VOICE COILS WE have NOT needed GASOLINE since 1969. STOP POVERTY and SLAVERY NOW ! just TYPE ...H2W... and read ! This is 100% FREE INFORMATION. HOWEVER ! once you read this your life will change FOREVER 0 to. 200 to 600 ft lbs of linear force from 0 to 4 to 12 amps placed between your heads & piston tops ! and NO GASOLINE ! BIG OIL YOU CAN GO TO HELL !

[leedaomillz]

Even though he is rich, he has that blue collar feeling

[ryswe]

@gotham61 now it isnt it used to be though

[CoolCarsHotGuitars]

No doubt a gorgeous garage that makes every motorhead jealous. I respect Jay for remaining humble and not throwing his success in everyones face. I really think he simply enjoys sharing his passion with everyone as much if not more than I do. I just don't have the cash : (

[gotham61]

@mrprogjazzgto You missed my point. They screwed up a beautiful classic 300SEL 6.3 to make this car. They should have started with a much less valuable 300SEL 4.5 to stuff the new engine in, because besides the engine and transmission they are absolutely identical to a 300SEL 6.3. Now there's one less "real" 300SEL 6.3 on the road, and these days they're getting pretty scarce with probably fewer than 100 left on the road in the US.

[mrprogjazzgto]

@gotham61 hey homer...they only got the motor and trans from Mercedes. watch the video again....!!

Leno can butcher anything....!!