James Douglas Muir Leno is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009.
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Beginning in September 2009, he started a primetime talk show, The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET, also on NBC. Prior to the premiere of Leno’s prime-time show, O’Brien’s ratings as the new Tonight Show host had already suffered a decline, however.
When O’Brien turned down NBC’s offer to have Leno host a half-hour monologue show before The Tonight Show to boost ratings amid reported viewership diminishing, Leno returned to host the show on March 1, 2010.
He hosted his last episode of this second tenure on February 6, 2014. That year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Since 2014, he has hosted Jay Leno’s Garage, and the 2021 revival of You Bet Your Life.
Car Collection: How Many Cars Does Jay Leno Own?
Jay Leno’s legendary car collection now boasts over 180 exotic cars, hypercars and museum-grade artefacts. Put simply, nobody else in the world has a space-age McLaren P1 parked near their antique fire engine.
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Yet, over the years Jay has also added several affordable, attainable and dare I say “normal” cars to his collection. These were cars that cost well under $70k new, and yet still managed to grab Jay’s attention for some special reason.
Among the 181 cars that Jay Leno has, almost all are 6 figures or more. Not a lot of people have that amount of money to dump into one car, let alone more than 150.
Among the handful of people who can afford it is Jay Leno. Among the tons of precious metals in this collection, a few stand out as the most valuable.
What is the most valuable car Jay Leno owns?
At $12 million, Jay Leno’s McLaren F1 is by far the most expensive car in his collection. The former talk show host and comedian paid just $800,000 for the vehicle back in the ‘90s, which seems like a steal today.
Why’s this car so pricey? Only 106 McLaren F1s were made, so these vehicles are extremely rare. The car is also decked out with some powerful features, including V12 which made it the fastest car in the world when it came out.
The 1934 Duesenberg Walker Coupe is said to have sold for a mere $25,000 upon its introduction. Built in Indianapolis, Fred and Augie Duesenberg engineered these cars as “technically advanced race cars” that was impressive on the track. However, that was before the depression hit and wiped out the Duesenberg company in 1937, according to Auto Week.
Today, the Duesenberg Walker Coupe is said to be worth $20 million, earning it the distinction as the most expensive car in Jay Leno’s entire car collection. It’s supposedly the only aerodynamic version of its kind in existence, making it incredibly rare. And Leno’s not shy about showing it off from time to time.
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