Top gear - August 2nd - V12 Vantage

[Peoplesoft bloke]

If you knew anything about cars then you would know what the buzz about Jay Leno was.

To save you the effort of googling.
Jay Leno not only has a huge collection of cars, he also finds and restores cars, some so old as to be almost forgotten. He has a team of mechanics working full time restoring (full and sympathetic), researching, running and maintaining the cars. Not only does he have the cars but in the cases where the original manufacturer is no more then he'll hunt down and collect all the paper work he can find relating to those cars. Orginal design drawings, dealer records etc...
He is without a doubt the biggest motor head they have ever had on the show.

Thanks for that - I'd have been more impressed if anyone on TG had bothered to mention it (in full) but that would have meant talking about cars and how they work, which they resolutely avoid.

[Mich the Tester]

There was nothing in that Vantage review that they couldn't have done in 15 seconds - the VW ads thing was crap filler too. If they are running out of ideas maybe they could test a few cars - oh I forgot, it's not a car programme. As for prev week's co driver, her indoors opined "she's really stunning" to which I offered my standard "really? I hadn't noticed"

They weren´t running out of anything but money. Due to cost cutting they had only enough money to make one programme less than last year; Clarkson said before the beginning of the series they'd just use the budget to make a load of good shows and run out before the last one, which they'd have to make for a tenner or so.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

They weren´t running out of anything but money. Due to cost cutting they had only enough money to make one programme less than last year; Clarkson said before the beginning of the series they'd just use the budget to make a load of good shows and run out before the last one, which they'd have to make for a tenner or so.

Interesting - as I said, they could try testing a few cars - it has to be cheaper than all the explosions in Clarkson's ads. Of course it is their right to stick to their editorial integrity and make a load of old bollox instead.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

If you knew anything about cars then you would know what the buzz about Jay Leno was.

Celebs - esp Septic ones - and I freely admit I don't.

[Spacecadet]

Thanks for that - I'd have been more impressed if anyone on TG had bothered to mention it (in full) but that would have meant talking about cars and how they work, which they resolutely avoid.

Its probably accepted knowledge that Jay Leno is a car nut first and a TV presenter second (cars have to be paid for somehow)
If you want an idea of how good he is with cars, have a look at this clip

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...tml?vid=213453

Its about 20 minutes on a 1925 Doble Series E Steam Car, one of only 4 or 5 still running. He actually is in contact with the owners of the other cars, none of whom seem to be in America.

The clip really demonstrates how thorough he is with these old cars. Not just in getting them restored (this particular car was partially restored before he got it) but also in making sure that the cars can still be driven without falling apart or suffering further damage.
Once you've watched the whole thing You should have a very good understanding of how the car works and it just goes to show how much of a car geek Leno is.

He made an episode of Rides a couple of years ago which showed what went into restoring a Duesenberg which he had tracked down to a garage in california. By tracked down I mean - him and his team went through the original paper work from the car dealers and managed to find out who had originally bought it, who it had been subsequently sold to and who current owner was.
The car was wreck when they found it and buried under a lot of junk after being left in a garage for a few decades.
Rather than completely restoring it, they replaced any parts which were beyond repair, fixed up what they could and got it running. It was a very respectful restoration.

[chef]

great video