Business F1 Top 20 Petrolheads: Jay Leno, King of Late Night Laughter

In Jay Leno's enormous garage in Burbank, hostin many different types of automobiles, such as steam cars, turbine cars, hypercars, muscle cars, race cars, utility trucks, vintage motorbikes and anything with an engine that he has come across and fallen in love with during his lifetime. Exactly how many automotive gems does he have? We can safely say at least 300, which is a result of a passion that comes from his youth when he had a childhood attraction for cars and an innate talent for making people laugh.

At the age of 20, he realised that his natural comic talent could become his life: Charming empathy, quick wit and a tireless work ethic opened up the road to show business for him. His big success came in 1977, when he appeared on the Tonight Show, then hosted by Johnny Carson. Leno's frequent appearances made it clear that Carson wanted to make him his successor. The big moment came in 1992 and at the age of 42 Leno began an almost uninterrupted 22-year career, taking the helm of NBC's late night talk show and the hefty salary that came with it.

Jay Leno is the man with one of the biggest private collection of cars and motorbikes in the world.

The transition from being a funny guy to a late-night talk show host has made Jay Leno a very wealthy man. Talk show hosts were the first to get rich on television in America. 30 years ago, Jay Leno and his main rival, David Letterman, also a motoring enthusiast, were paid $7 million a year. When they retired, their salaries were $30 million and they both built a fortune of over $500 million.

In 1992, a 20-year battle for supremacy began, pitting NBC's Leno against CBS's David Letterman, who at the time was the king of late night television. Leno held his own and his sharp monologues and engaging interviews matched Letterman, who was no slouch.

When NBC executives, on his 60th birthday in 2009, thought of replacing him with a younger man called Conan O'Brien NBC's ratings plummeted. In less than a year, Leno returned, revitalised and in full form, delivering a real blow to Letterman. Having become the king of late night, he finally left at the age of 65 to devote himself to his car collection, where he combined business with pleasure by hosting a new car show called Jay Leno's Garage, which soon became a weekly primetime series and lasted seven seasons. Jay Leno is indeed a pure motoring enthusiast. In fact, he even has a philosophy that drives him, feeling like a steward of a heritage for future generations, a heritage of cars to love and admire.

The Jay Leno Tank Car received its name because it is powered by a 29333cc V12 engine from a U.S. Army battle tank. A car so famous that it appeared in the video game Gran Turismo.

All of the cars are stored in enormous former aircraft hangars at the Burbank airport, that he refers to as the Big Dog Garage. At first it was 17,000 square metres and over time it expanded to 122,000 square metres, all packed with cars. It was also the venue for his TV show.

At the top of the list is the first car he owned, a Buick Roadmaster, which he still drives from time to time when he feels nostalgic. Ed Jones, Editorial Director of the famous du Pont Registry, defined the 122,000 square meters of cars and motorcycles as a constantly evolving showcase of automotive magnificence. At the time of counting, Jones found 181 cars and 160 motorcycles that tell a story that goes from the earliest steam cars to modern sports cars. The collection is anything but static and Leno buys and sells relentlessly but does not have profit as a goal in mind. According to Jones, Jay has a passion for mechanic marvels that drives him to continuously buy and sell vehicles, preventing any hint of stagnation within his living museum. In Burbank, a team of mechanics or curators as Leno likes to call them, work full-time on restoration and maintenance. The mission is to preserve and upgrade.

There is not much point in trying to list Leno's cars, because there are so many. Suffice to say that he owns two Cobras, five classic Bentleys of the rarest kind, three Bugattis, five Chevrolet Corvettes, a 1971 De Tomaso Pantera, a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12, five Dodge Vipers and four Challengers, four Duesenbergs from the 1930s, two Ford GTs, two Ford Mustangs, two 1953 Hudson Hornets, four Jaguar E/XKs, a Lamborghini Countach and Miura (which was owned by Dean Martin), a 1994 McLaren F1, a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, a McLaren P1 and seven classic Mercedes-Benz, three Porsches, two Rolls-Royces, three Stanley Steamers. His favourite car is the 1972 Mercedes-Benz 600 Kompressor, which weighs three tonnes.

The rarest car in Jay Leno's garage is the 1931 Shotwell, a three-wheeled vehicle that Leno keeps in perfect condition for road use.

Being a motoring enthusiast is not cheap: The costs of running the collection exceed $3 million a year out of the $100 million in value (which could possibly be much more). To recoup some of the costs, Leno's experienced team of mechanics also carries out restorations for collectors and privileged friends. Being a motor enthusiast entails risks. In November 2022, Leno had a serious accident while working on a car in his garage museum. While he was working on a car, there was a petrol fire. Jay could not escape the blaze, he spent 10 nights at the Grossman Burns Center in Los Angeles. 'I suffered severe burns from a petrol fire. I'm OK. I just need a week or two to get back on my feet,' he informed the many who were worried about him. Dr Peter Grossman, America's leading burns surgeon, added, 'His injuries are serious but his condition is good.

It was a very serious accident that Leno wanted to play down, showing that the life of a motor enthusiast has its dangers and its pleasures. In fact, his life at the Big Dog Garage is now back to normal and his many fans can remember him in the midst of his beloved cars and motorbikes.

The American comedian created his television series Jay Leno's Garage that aired for 7 seasons and now continues on his YouTube channel with over 3.5 million subscribers.