Jay Leno's Garage

I know that Jay Leno is the host of NBC television's long-running talk show "The Tonight Show".

However, I didn't know that he's an avid collector of vehicles. He's actually more than a just a collector. He writes a regular column in the American automotive magazine - Popular Mechanics and he also restores classic cars. He has 84 cars. Yes! that's correct, 84 cars at last count plus 73 motorcycles.

Leno keeps his cars in his "Big Dog Garage" located in a Burbank industrial park, Southern California. It is spread across two low-slung buildings and covers about 17,000 square feet.

Check out footage of some rare cars and motorcycles owned by Jay Leno in the NBC site Jay Leno's Garage. The site also has some how-to videos for tweaking your car. Four new videos go up every week.

The latest includes a video of Jay’s Monteverdi High Speed 375, a how-to about stopping Corvettes from overheating from fan blockage, footage of Jay’s head mechanic working on the engine of his 1924 Ace Motorcycle and a video extra of the garage’s eco-friendly ultrasonic engine part cleaner.

The Hybrid Ecojet

Tags: jay leno nbc tonight show big dog garage

The fastest production cars

Vcars.co.uk has compiled a list of the top 10 fastest cars (production) ever.

You know what they say about boys and their cars - it's true. My mouth was literally salivating looking at the pictures.

On the top of the list is the Bugatti Veyron (2004), with a max speed of 252.2 MPH with 1001 BHP. That's out of the World.

At the bottom of the list is the McLaren Mercedes SLR (2005), with a maximum speed of
207 MPH and 626 BHP. Even though it is at the bottom of the list, you will need at least £190,000 to own this car.

For your information, BHP stands for Brake horsepower. It refers to "the measure of an engine's horsepower without the loss in power caused by the gearbox, generator, differential, water pump, and other auxiliary components." (Source: Wikipedia).

They are all beautiful super cars but my favourite has to the Porsche Carrera GT (2004). It has a maximum speed of 209 MPH. It has to be the most curvaceous among all the other cars. It's 5.7 liter V10 engine generates 605 horsepower and will not be out of place on the town roads as well as on the race tracks.

Unlike other super cars which are quite bare and austere, the Carrera GT comes with smooth leather seats, air conditioning (which I would require if I were driving in a hot and humid country like Malaysia. Other options includes a navigation system and Bose audio.

Check out the list and tell me which one is your favourite.

Fraud mail

See what I received in my e-mail yesterday:

The Bonanza Department
Toyota Car Promotions
55 Mark Lane
London England

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a jackpot Cash prize of £1,000,000.00. (One million Great British Pounds)and a brand new toyota car (Toyota Prius) This International March programs promotion is been released today in the London Uk.You can view our website to view your car (http://www.toyota.com/prius).

Description Of New Toyota Car to be Shipped to you.

New Toyota Car :......................Year 2007 Model
COLOUR OF CAR:.......................Metalic Colour
MODEL:...............................Toyota Prius 2.0i ES Manual
ENGINE TYPE:.........................1973cc 4-cylinder
POWER:...............................145bhp
TRANSMISSIONS:.....................Five-speed manual
FUEL:................................29.1mpg (combined)

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over 250,000email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world. This Toyota car Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).This promotional car lottery is the tenth of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public.

To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact your claims officer through our accredited Prize Transfer agents as stated below:

Engr James Owen.
Email: jamesowens_toyota@yahoo.com
Phone Number: +447031904774,

When contacting him, please provide him with your secret pin code TY7448500 and your reference number 799BV90.You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as possible:

CLAIMS REQURIEMENTS:
1.Full name....................................................
2.Address.........................................................
3.Nationality.....................................................
4.Age..............................................................
5.Sex..............................................................
6.Occupation........................................................
7Phone/Fax...........................................................
8.Present Country......................................................

If you do not contact your claims agent within 7 working days of this notification, your winnings would be revoked. Winners are advised to keep their winning details/information from the public to avoid fraudulent claim (IMPORTANT) pending the claim by Winner.

Accept my hearty congratulations once again!

Regards,
Mrs Doris Cole
Lottery Manager.

Porsche bidding for Volkswagen

According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, Porsche, the German sports-car maker is going to make a takeover bid for Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker.

In order to do this Porsche will increase it's existing stake in Volkswagen to 31% from 27.3%, because German law requires a company to own more than 30% of shares before it can make a takeover bid.

Previously, the two companies had collaborated in the making of the VW Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne.

Read the full report here.

Tags: Porsche Volkswagen Porsche Cayenne VW Touareg

Small off-roaders improve safety

Last Friday, Euro NCAP released the test results for two new small off-roaders, the Land Rover Freelander 2 and the Suzuki Grand Vitara.

The Land Rover Freelander 2 achieved the maximum award of five stars for adult occupant protection. It is the first small off-roader to achieve such a result.

On the other hand, the Suzuki Grand Vitara achieved a reasonable four star score in adult occupant protection.

However, it did better than the Freelander 2 in pedestrian protection than, becoming only the third small off-roader to be awarded three stars. This is the highest pedestrian rating so far awarded in this category.

Summary of Results

Land Rover Freelander 2
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

Suzuki Grand Vitara
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 3 stars

Tags: Euro NCAP Land Rover Freelander 2 Suzuki Grand Vitara

Malaysian drivers

Another forwarded mail. Really funny.

Malaysian Drivers based on location.

1. One hand on wheel, one hand on horn: IPOH driver

2. One hand on wheel, one hand out the window with cigarette: KEPONG driver.

3. One hand on wheel, one finger out window, cutting across all lanes of traffic: DOWNTOWN KUALA LUMPUR driver.

4. One hand on wheel, one hand on parang (a type of knife), foot solidly on accelerator: JOHOR driver.

5. One hand on wheel, one hand on non-fat double decaf cappuccino, cradling cell phone, brick on accelerator, hands-free on the lap: BANGSAR driver.

6. Both hands on wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror: FOREIGNER, driving in MALAYSIA.

7. One hand on 12 oz. double shot latte, one knee on wheel, talking on cell phone, foot on brake, mind on radio game, banging head on steering wheel while stuck in traffic: SUBANG JAYA DRIVER.....on the Federal Highway!!!

8. One hand on wheel, one hand on passengers head rest, alternating between both feet being on the accelerator and both feet on brake, throwing rambutans or durian shells out the window: KARAK HIGHWAY ; KUANTAN driver.

9. Four-wheel drive pick-up truck, READY-TO-KILL attitude, rear window stickers read "Make my day", beer cans on floor, wedding ribbon still attached to antenna: CONSTRUCTION SITE....PUCHONG driver!

10.One hand on the handphone, another hand picking nose, One leg on the dash board, another leg crossed on the seat with a beer can in the middle ~ turning anywhere he likes, parking anywhere he likes, in fact, driving anywhere he likes. aaahhh..... this is a heaven for drivers......welcome to PENANG!

11. Two hands gripping tightly to the wheel, eyes glued to the windscreen, alternately stepping on the accelerator and brakes every 5 seconds. WOMAN DRIVERS ANYWHERE!

Honda's hydrogen powered car

Honda put their FCX Concept on display at the North American International Auto Show at Detroit. What made this concept different from others in the show was that the FCX was fully functional.Meaning that it was not something made out of clay or wood but something that could actually be driven.

This futuristic looking car has quite a low-floor and a short-nose body but still offers a comfortably large cabin. A car based on this concept and powered by a fuel cell will begin production in 2008 in Japan and the U.S.

Read their press release here.


Joe Brown of Popular Science, who test drove the prototype puts the acceleration at around "0-60 time at about seven seconds". Read the CNN report here.

Tags: concept fcx honda prototype