Last Monday, the Detroit News discussed an interview with TV celebrity and world-renown car collector Jay Leno. The article offered up a variety of less-than-savory quotes from the TV funny man about the new Volt and many other members of the media took the ball and ran, going on about how Leno dissed the Volt and such. Luckily, I was privy to a small media briefing Saturday night before the Walter P. Chrysler Legacy Gala with a Q&A session with Jay Leno, Richard Petty and Virgil Exner Jr (representing his father posthumously) and during this interview session Mr. Leno took the chance to clear up his views on the Volt.
During the Q&A session, Jay Leno offered up a frenzy of automotive opinions, stating that the Detroit area should be to gearheads what Bethlehem is to religious folks. He spent a few minutes detailing which of the 115 cars in his collection are his favorite Chryslers (and it was a LONG list) and he commented on his time riding the Chrysler Tomahawk, a Viper V10 powered motorcycle. Most importantly, Mr. Leno stated that he was not opposed to the 2011 Chevy Volt and that his comments had been taken out of context.
Leno explained that his collection possesses a performance cars – vehicles that inspire excitement, in most cases doing this with gobs of power and that the Chevy Volt was a people mover. Too many people assumed that his comment of the Volt being a “people mover” as being negative but that is exactly what GM marketed the Volt as, so Leno is essentially giving the car a thumbs up for what Chevrolet wants it to do best.
His comical take on the Volt started with him explaining that the writer for the original article called him and asked “are you interested in buying the first volt?” Jay Leno told the guy no to which the reported asked “why not?” Leno pointed out that models like the Viper and the Corvette are intended to be packed away an considered as collectables but the 2011 Chevy Volt is intended to be a “fix” to the common problems with electric vehicles. The comment “an electric car will get you half way to anywhere you want to go” got a laugh out of the crowd but in his assessment of the 2011 Chevy Volt, Jay Leno cleared up his positive view on America’s cutting edge gas-assisted electric hybrid.
Finally, towards the end of the Q&A session I asked Mr. Leno if he thought that today’s vehicles would become as sought after 20-40 years down the road as the vehicles that line his legendary garage. He explained that the modern era of the automobile is packed full of vehicles that are instant classics like the Dodge Viper, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang…pointing out that the high production numbers of today’s vehicles probably won’t hurt the future value and he used the example of the original Ford Mustang of the 60s. When Ford began mass-producing the Mustang, rolling out millions of the new pony car, it was speculated that over time these vehicles would be less valuable because of the high production volume but if you follow the antique car market, those millions of Mustangs do just fine in the collectors market.
He also stressed that vehicles like the Ford Taurus SHO, which aren’t likely to catch the attention of the average Joe in a parking lot, will eventually become sought after for their technologically advanced performance capabilities. He related his views now to the fact that vehicles from the 40s and 50s which were not considered “special” have become the hardest to find in good shape BECAUSE no one bought them just to put them away. A 2011 Corvette is likely to be purchased and put in a garage, only to be driven on nice days but the Ford Taurus SHO is more likely to be a daily driver. This causes obvious mileage differences in the two vehicles and in 50 years, that low mileage Corvette will be one of many where a clean, low mileage 2010 SHO will be harder to find, thus creating a collector’s market.
Check out the gallery below for a look at Jay Leno (middle) with Richard Petty (right) and Virgil Exner Jr. (left) at the media briefing prior to the first ever Walter P. Chrysler Legacy Gala on Saturday. Stay tuned to your Detroit Autos Examiner for more coverage from the 2010 WPC Museum Gala along with all of your automotive news!
Comments