Up Front

James Douglas Muir Leno

Of course, we all know him better simply as Jay Leno; a cornerstone of late night TV since he replaced Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992.

It’s widely known in automotive circles that Jay is an avid car collector, who counts a number of classic “Mopars” among his collection, as evidenced by the outstanding cover shot on this issue of Mopar® Magazine. His extensive collection of cars and motorcycles dates back to the early 1900s, and includes an original Stanley Steamer and a very rare 1964 Studebaker Avanti, as well as high-end performance cars such as a 1994 McLaren F1, Porsche Carrera GT, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Bugatti Veyron, Ariel Atom and a custom Corvette C6RS (a modified Z06). That all in addition to Jay’s classic Chrysler muscle that includes a 1934 Chrysler Airflow, a 1956 Imperial, a 1966 Dodge HEMI® Coronet 500 and a couple of Dodge Vipers thrown in for good measure.

I had the opportunity to visit with Jay earlier this year and take a tour of his garage in southern California. I can assure you that his collection is an amazing tribute to automotive history.

Like many grassroots Mopar clubs around the country, Jay frequently uses his love of all things automotive to help other people. In 2001, he auctioned off a Harley-Davidson motorcycle signed by celebrities in an effort to help victims of the September 11 attacks. The bike sold for about $360,000. In 2005, he repeated the gesture twice: early in the year to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (that bike sold for $810,000), and later to help the victims of hurricane Katrina (with a bike that sold for an astonishing $1,550,000).

Simply put, Jay Leno is an all-American success story—just like Mopar. From all of us at Mopar, I hope you enjoy this very special issue of Mopar Magazine.

Rob Richard
Director
Global Parts Sales & Marketing
Mopar Parts