Jay Leno’s Garage: 208 Cars, Wild Stories & the Machines That Matter!
Ever wonder what **208 cars and zero trailer queens** looks like? Well, Jay Leno’s got ‘em, and every single one runs—or at least tries to. In this episode, I sit down with Jay inside his legendary garage to talk about **the cars, the stories, and the philosophy behind owning them**.
We start with **French cars**—because let’s be honest, nobody did weird and wonderful like the French. Jay walks us through a lineup that includes **Talbot-Lago, Delahaye, Delage, Citroën, and Panhard**. The highlight? A **Citroën DS21**, which Jay swears is the most comfortable car in the world. No brake pedal, just a button on the floor. Yeah, the French were always ahead of the curve—sometimes by accident.
Then we hit the **Bugattis**—back when they were "just expensive" instead of "sell-your-house-and-a-kidney expensive." Jay tells the story of how one of his, bought from **Robert Dunlap**, skyrocketed from a **$100,000 weekend toy to a $2.5 million collector’s piece** just because of the name attached to it. That’s the magic of provenance, or as I call it, winning the automotive lottery.
And then comes one of the best stories of the day—a **one-owner classic from a woman who used to be Marilyn Monroe’s roommate**. Yeah, you heard that right. Jay gets a call from a **94-year-old woman** who drove out to California with Marilyn back when they were both nobodies. Marilyn got famous. She kept the car. Now, it’s sitting in Jay’s garage with all its original character and a story that most museum pieces would kill for.
Then we get to **the engines that shouldn't exist in cars**—but of course, in Jay’s world, they do. A **27-liter Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine** squeezed into a car? Check. A **M47 Patton tank engine** that Chrysler built for the Korean War? Also check. If it burns fuel and makes noise, Jay probably owns it.
Finally, we wrap up with **Gordon Murray’s Rocket**—the man who built the McLaren F1’s first-ever production car. **51 were made, Jay’s got one, and it’s about as raw as a street-legal go-kart gets.**
But here’s the best part—Jay doesn’t call himself a collector. **These cars aren’t trophies, they’re machines.** They get driven, maintained, and if they break, well, that’s part of the fun.
This is **Jay Leno’s Garage, unfiltered, unscripted, and full of the best stories in the automotive world.**
🚗 **Hit that LIKE if you’d drive a car with an airplane engine**
📢 **COMMENT: What’s the craziest car story you’ve ever heard?**
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