Jay Leno has a special place in his heart for steam power. The comedian has a collection of vintage vehicles that have more in common with a classic train than a modern car, and of those, his 1906 Stanley Steamer seems to be one of his favorites.

In 2007, the Stanley suffered a bit of a catastrophic failure, and Leno and his team of steam mechanics have been working to get the vehicle back into ship shape ever since. Of course, in Leno’s vocabulary, “ship shape” means better than ever. The Stanley now wears hydraulic drum brakes from a Jaguar XK120 instead of the manual drums found on the original Steamer.

The crew also worked in a set of electric fuel pumps and replaced the acetylene headlights and oil tail lamps with electric versions. The team also managed to bump up the horsepower. The Steamer originally cruised along with a 23-inch boiler, but Leno had a new 30-inch boiler made and installed. It took his shop 26 tries to design boiler baffles that could accurately and evenly spread heat across the full surface, but now Leno has the equivalent of a hot rod Steamer. Pure awesomeness. Hit the jump to check out the lengthy video for yourself.

Continue reading Jay Leno upgrades his 1906 Stanley Steamer Vanderbilt Cup Racer

Jay Leno upgrades his 1906 Stanley Steamer Vanderbilt Cup Racer originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jay Leno always gets to take his turn behind the wheels of lots of big, fast, beautiful things that make the enthusiast get all choked up with high-horsepower emotion and exhaust gasses. But he can also check out things that are just weird and beautiful without actually driving – and in these two cases, those things are American.

There are two videos after the jump from last week’s Pebble Beach festivities in Monterey, California – one of the 1960 Plymouth XNR Concept designed by Karim Eddie but named for powerhouse designer Virgil Exner. Long, red and asymmetrical and powered by a Valiant engine, there’s only one, which is only right.

The other vid is of Edsel Ford’s 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster. Certainly one of the most compelling cars of the entire weekend, Jay takes his time with Edsel Ford’s grandson and Pebble concours judge Ken Gross to dive into the speedster’s creation and restoration. Hit the jump to check them out.

Continue reading Jay Leno checks out some strange and beautiful American things at Pebble

Jay Leno checks out some strange and beautiful American things at Pebble originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Cadillac Ciel concept is a convertible showstopper that wowed crowds at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Not surprisingly, Jay Leno managed to secure some talking time with General Motors VP of Global Design Ed Wellburn, and the two chatted about the ultimate Art and Science-mobile while Leno got a look at some of its features.

The Ciel concept is powered by a 425-horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine that’s paired with a lithium-ion battery pack powering an electric motor. Basically, it’s one of the best-looking hybrid vehicles on the planet at the moment, and it’s even more intriguing when Wellburn shows off the rear power suicide doors.

It may be wearing a different badge, but Cadillac has seemingly built a modern-day homage to the fourth-generation Lincoln Continental. Click past the jump to see what we’re talking about.

Continue reading Jay Leno and GM design boss Ed Welburn peruse the Cadillac Ciel concept

Jay Leno and GM design boss Ed Welburn peruse the Cadillac Ciel concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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