#jay leno garage

[diabolus1exmachina]

 Kode 0 (by Ken Okunaya). 

Before we talk about the car, we first have to talk about the man behind the car: Ken Okuyama. If that name sounds familiar, Okuyma is a career automotive design pro who spent much of his career at Pininfarina. He's credited in helping create vehicles like the original Acura NSX, Ferrari 599 GTB, Ferrari Enzo, Maserati Birdcage 75th Concept, and even the fourth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Yes, that Camaro. But in 2006, Ken Okuyama left Pininfarina. And after a quick stint starting his own eyewear collection (dubbed Ken Okuyama Eyes collection), he created his first self-titled concept car: the K.O 7 Spider. He debuted the slinky, open-top two-seater in Geneva in 2008, kickstarting a lineage of impressive concepts and one-offs, including the one pictured here.

The fixed-roof successor to the equally stunning Kode 57 Enji uses "dream car proportions" from classics like the the Lancia Stratos Zero in its design. Okuyama implemented a "one motion" technique to create the Kode0's svelte profile. But aggressive details like the edgy front splitter, sharp LED headlights, triangular-shaped exhaust, and 21-inch wheels embody a stark contrast to the otherwise streamlined silhouette.

Hiding under that sleek contour is a 6.5-liter V12 good for 690 horsepower (515 kilowatts) and 507 pound-feet (690 Newton-meters) of torque. With it, the Kode0 sprints to 62 miles per hour (0-100 kilometers per hour) in just 2.9 seconds. The Kode 0 also weighs in at just 3,417 pounds (1,550 kilograms), making it much lighter than the vehicle on which it's based (4,085 pounds / 1,852 kilograms).

More information: https://youtu.be/S5N1Q-Ntr-w

[jamesmarsdenfan]

James Marsden participated in the "Jay Leno's Garage" show on October 16, 2022.

[legendarymoonsong]

[jesevans]

Hmm, I haven’t watched this in awhile

[optimabatteries]

It's always great to stop by the Big Dog Garage and see so many OPTIMA Batteries!

[eisbar777]

Jay Leno's 1940 Lagonda V12 - Jay Leno's Garage

[savageonwheels]

Car Spot: Ford Festiva

Tiny and cheap, the Ford Festiva is this week's car spot.

The International House of Ford … Growing up in the 1970s and having a dad who worked in the auto industry, American Motors, I can tell you it was not a fun time. If this sounds familiar, let me know as it was pretty much all about politics. Because the United States supported Israel in 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hit us with an embargo that sent oil prices up…

[automotiveamerican]

The Handbuilt CNG-Powered “Magnolia Special” Roadster Is For Sale - Ben Branch @Silodrome

This is the “Magnolia Special” Roadster, it was built by well-known motorcycle designer J.T. Nesbitt of Curtiss Motorcycles based out of Birmingham, Alabama. Unusually, this car is powered not by gasoline, diesel, or electricity, but by compressed natural gas (CNG). Nesbitt built the car between 2009 – 2011, once it was completed he drove it from New York to Los Angeles over a span of 89 hours…

[value2society]

NASA says it’s time for a midlife crisis.

[frenchcurious]

Jaguar XJ6 Coupé 1975 du Jay Leno’s Garage. - source Cars & Motorbikes Stars of the Golden era.

[southhbound]

Brie Larson • Jay Leno’s Garage 2022

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

The Two Most Iconic Wheel Standers of All Time.

Hurst Hemi Under Glass

Hurst Hemi Under Glass is the name given to a series of exhibition drag racing cars campaigned by Hurst Performance between 1965 and 1970 across North America and ended with the '68 model year.

Each wheelstander was based on the current Plymouth Barracuda for the corresponding model year. The car was so named because the fuel injected Chrysler Hemi engine was placed under the Barracuda's exceptionally large rear window. The result of the rearward weight transfer was a "wheelie" down the length of the drag strip.

The Hemi Under Glass was developed by Hurst Corporation to showcase their products in the A/FX class - precursor to funny cars. In 1965, George Hurst hired Wild Bill Shrewsberry of Mansfield, OH, an accomplished drag racer who had raced for both Mickey Thompson and Jack Chrisman. After helping to pioneer it into the first wheelstanding exhibition car, Shrewsberry left at the end of the season to pursue his own project.

For the 1966 season, Bob Riggle, who was also from Mansfield, OH and was involved with Hurst as a mechanic and fabricator became the second driver of the Hurst Hemi Under Glass car and campaigned the cars with Hurst as the sponsor until later years when the Hurst Company was sold to Sunbeam. At that point, the car ran without the Hurst logo and was simply known as the "Hemi Under Glass." Riggle's career ended in 1975 with a devastating accident at US 30 Dragway in Gary, Indiana.

Popular model kits of the car were produced in 1/32 scale by Aurora Plastics Corporation and in 1/25 scale by Model Products Corporation. A limited edition 1/18 scale diecast model of the 1966 car is currently available from Highway 61.[1]

Riggle returned to exhibition racing in 1992 with a 1966 injected version of the car and a 1968 supercharged version of the car.[2] The original 1965 car was stripped for its power train and parts in 1967 for the new Barracuda chassis/body style and no longer exists.[3][4]

While taping the June 26, 2016 episode of Jay Leno's Garage, Riggle, with Leno riding in the passenger seat, rolled a newly constructed '69 version of the Hemi Under Glass after turning sharply at the end of a wheelie run. Neither of the men were hurt, but the car sustained significant damage.[5] Leno was riding along to fulfill another item on his 'Bucket List.'

July, 2016, Mike Mantel of New Braunfels, TX was named as the new driver of the Hemi Under Glass. Mantel took over the '68 car which has the longest performing history of any Hemi Under Glass ever constructed and becomes the third official driver in the brand's 50+ year history.[6] Mantel was only 6 years old when the Hemi Under Glass first took to the track. He has a wide range of driving experience from drag cars, road race, and movie cars. Mantel's original hometown is the city of Hawthorne, CA.

Billy Lawrence Golden (December 31, 1933 – September 14, 2015),[1] nicknamed "Maverick", was an American drag racer. He is probably best known for driving the Little Red Wagon A/FX wheelstander pickup exhibition racer.

Little Red Wagon

Born in Shawnee Township, Illinois, Golden joined the US Marines and first became interested in drag racing while at Camp Pendleton.

Golden was given his "Maverick" nickname in the late 1950s by an announcer at a Southern California dragstrip, because he chose to drive an unconventional 361 cu in (5,920 cc)-powered Dodge Custom Royal. He started racing in AHRA Super Stock, driving Dodges for several years. He was one of the first drivers in AHRA S/S to successfully run an automatic transmission. In 1960, Chrysler offered to provide him parts, when he was driving a Dodge Phoenix, powered by a 330 hp (250 kW) 330 cu in (5.4 L) with twin Carter carburetors and cross-ram intake manifold; the car was capable of quarter-mile times of 13.7 seconds.

By 1962, he was a factory driver, driving an S/SA Dodge. At the 1962 AHRA Winternationals, driving his bright yellow hemi "Taxi Cab" Dodge 330, he scored a "stunning" victory over "Dyno Don" Nicholson's 409 cu in (6,700 cc) factory Chevrolet at Fontana Drag City, to take the Stock Eliminator title, Chrysler's only Nationals win for 1962.

In 1963, Golden worked with Jim Nelson of Dragmasters to improve the car, and won seven Super Stock races out of eight events, taking the Midwest Championship.

At the end of the 1964 season, Chrysler proposed Golden drive the Little Red Wagon A/FX pickup. which became drag racing's first wheelstanding truck.

Little Red Wagon's first outing, at the AHRA Grand American event at Lions Drag Strip, was an 11 second pass at 120 mph (190 km/h). The crowd's very enthusiastic reaction prompted Golden to turn the A/FX truck into a wheelstanding exhibition racer, which he developed a steering mechanism for himself, relying on experience from his day job at Douglas Aircraft Corporation. The wheelstander was wrecked in 1969, 1971, and 1975; the third crash was nearly fatal to Golden.

Golden retired in 2003. He died on September 14, 2015.[3]