Rick Michel's Blog

My meeting with Jay Leno a few nights ago reminded me of a common thread we hold with Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, a love of vintage automobiles.  Jay’s infatuation with classic cars is known across the globe, Sinatra had more than a few pretty awesome vehicles he liked to drive, and I’ve been known to attend a few car shows, post classics to my Instagram account, and show off my VW Bug convertible too.  Here are a few marvelous machines Frank and Jay shared a love for.

First of all, they both seem to like Fords.  Leno’s love for Mustangs is obvious when you listen to him talk, but he also said, “the Thunderbird was another dream car of mine.”  And wouldn’t you know it, The Voice was known to have a soft spot for this sporty classic.  I’ve read that he would buy T-birds as a gift for close friends and lady friends too.  Who doesn’t love a Thunderbird?

If you want to talk about a really, special car, it’s tough to beat Lamborghini Miuras.  Jay’s had his on his show, Jay Leno’s Garage - it’s brightly colored and oh so ‘60s groovy, man!  There’s no way you can’t fall in love with this car, it’s widely considered the world’s first supercar.  Frank purchased his 1969 Miura for his 54th birthday.

There’s another car with a possible connection; a 1958 Chrysler Imperial, a gorgeous vehicle, that Jay owns that is rumored to have been driven by both Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable.  Leno’s still looking for photographs to document this claim though.

We Americans are passionate about our automobiles, which is understandable given the role they’ve played in establishing this vast country.  Plus, they’re ever-present, almost another character, in so many of the classic films with our favorite stars.  And who doesn’t remember their first car or the car their father drove?  They’re just fun to reminisce about.