Jay Leno The King!

Those of you who know anything about the late night show host Jay Leno; you know that he may be the biggest car fanatic ever. He owns around the sum of 84 cars and 73 motorcycles. These aren’t your normal every day cars either, most of them are vintage cars worth well over 100,000 dollars. Just a taste of his collections is full of classic Bentleys, Mercedes, and Corvettes. The one I personally like the most could be his rare 1932 Duesenberg SJ.
This was a one of the types of cars that is best described as before its time! It was a supercharged strait eight that generated 325 horse powers and top out at a speed of 130 miles per hour. People, most cars today can’t top that. Jay has only 1 of 36 of the supercharged models meaning his car is basically worth a pretty penny. The funny thing is, most collectors leave the cars tucked away in their garage out of harms way. Jay seems to think otherwise, he believes cars improve the more you drive them.
Jay also has newer cars such as the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren exactly like I showed you Paris Hilton had. Personally I like the Challenger but I would take either one! His challenger is pushing around 425HP bringing back American muscle. And let’s just say it makes the new mustangs look like children’s toys. He has Corvettes, Harleys, basically if it’s a classic Jay probably has it!
His garage is roughly 17,000 square feet. His oldest car is oldest cars are a 1906 Baker electric car and a 1906 Stanley Steamer, which makes the span in years of his garage at 100 year because he owns an 06 Vette. He has a whole crew of mechanics and engineers working on his cars. Unfortunately, I count find anything on the overall net worth of his cars and motorcycles combined but I can say that he finds them all Priceless. As a car guy, I am very jealous of this man. Who knows maybe one day I’ll be able to go see them and maybe drive one. Probably not =]

A Flash of Lightning

Most car enthusiasts love the thrill of neck whipping speed and amazing styling. These cars primarily have come with large, powerful gas engines that are usually very inefficient. While this love for cars can’t be taken away from car lovers, a new company is trying to change the way people look at performance.

The Lightning Car Company in the UK has developed a car that combines amazing styling, speed, and efficiency. Their car, the Lightning, is completely electric and can run 0-60 times in just 4 seconds. This is faster than almost all cars on the road today, and especially the hybrids that contain some of the same technology the Lightning does. The Lightning’s complete electric system allows the car to have full power at all times while driving, unlike a gasoline engine where the full power is only obtained when the engine is at high rpm ranges. The car plugs in directly to anyone’s home plug-in and will be fully charged in just a few hours.

What sets this car from the rest is the innovative styling and the use of technology never used before. The car has no engine, axles, or gear boxes, making it virtually maintenance free. The electric motors are built into the wheel hub which allows the car to harness and apply all its power directly to the wheels.

With this car’s amazing technology and no fuel needed, it is sure to sell. The styling of the car is that of a supercar and will catch the eye of any passerby. The car has not made it to the United States yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long before people in the U.S. are itching to get their hands on this piece of sports car history.

Car Audio; iPods

The way people listen to music in their cars is always changing. There was first just the simple radio, then the 8-track, the cassette, and eventually the CD player, but lately there has been a huge outbreak of connecting iPods or MP3 players into the car’s audio system. This allows the driver to personalize playlists and have all of their favorite songs at their fingertips. Just a few years ago the automotive industry did not even consider putting this option into production because of the scarcity of the use of MP3 players and iPods. Today 58% of cars that are manufactured will have iPod direct connection capabilities in them. IPods seem to take over the handheld music player scene with the other MP3 players just having 33% of cars that are able to connect directly with them. The percentages of cars that have these news adaptations in them are staggering between the different model years. USB interfaces, iPod connections, and hands-free Bluetooth have almost doubled in one year for the amount of cars they will be available in.

Many people think that this ability to hook up music directly from a hand-held music player is one of the best things since sliced bread, but others think that this may be just another distraction for those on the road. Many people using this new technology would be of the younger, more novice driving crowd and could ultimately lead to less attention spent on the actual road and more accidents. This concept is not much different than the use of a cell phone while driving, and some states have outlawed cell phone use while operating a vehicle. Could the states start to ban music players?

RiDeS!!!

This week I have decided on a special theme! This week is my version of cribs, except without the cribs and just the rides. I’ll take you in depth on what some of the hottest celebrities are driving and what most of us wish to have half of one day!
Up first is Paris Hilton. I really don’t like Paris a whole lot but I can tell you she sure knows how to pick them. She rides in her very own Mercedes-Benz Mclaren. Let me break this down for you in case you don’t know much about cars. It’s a half a million dollar car! That in its self explains the wealth and elegance needed just to be able to buy this car. The funniest thing that I’ve found out so far was that Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears drive the same car.
The entire body of this car is made up of carbon fiber. It comes equipped with a 5.4 litter supercharged, all aluminum V8. This car was built for the sole purpose of performance! Its 0-60 time comes in around 3.6 seconds making it THE fastest automatic transmission car in the world. It has a top speed of just over 200 MPH. the only thing I can think of for why a girl like her would need a car this fast is to out run the cops.
This car was defiantly designed more for the road than the red carpet! Too bad the people that would actually have fun in this car can’t afford its half a million dollar price tag. I can’t even imagine driving half a million dollars, that nearly two of my houses. It must be nice to have that much money. Maybe someday you or I will get the pleasure of driving something close to a standard set this high!