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It seems Leno is a bit of a rotary fan. He bought a very rare original Cosmo Sport, one of only 4 or 5 in the US. He also picked the RX-8 as his favorite car out of R&T's Readers' Choice Awards 2004 finalists: RX-8, 350Z Roadster, 911 GT3, BMW 5 series and WRX STi (actual winner).
I wonder how Jay likes his BD present or if he'll keep it.
cool read, at least we know if all the other shinka 8s meet unfortunate ends, there will be one that is taken care of and gets an owner who will give the car the care it should get.
Nice marketing strategy, but Mazda didn't need to. I don't think other celebrities of his calliber will run out to buy a Mazda just because one was given to Leno. I didn't buy mine because some celebrity car callector owned the same car.
Yeah...he probably gave it to his butler or something. To Jay, its kinda like getting one of those birthday presents from a relative becasue he/she knows your hobby, but gets you something totally not cool....yeah...I bet thats what Jays thinking..."Eeerrrr...yeah..thaaaanks...hmmmmmm". Kind of like someone buying you a riced out fast and furious rx-8 toy because they know you like rx-8s...or someone buying you light up spray nozzles because they know your a car guy/gal....
I know there used to be a thread for 8's in the movies, but I can't find it. Thought I'd post here because of the tv-tie to this thread.
Was watching Intervention on A&E last night. It's the show where they take junkies and addicts and film them doing drugs and crap, follow them for a while and then try to get them into a program to stop. I know - it sounds rivoting, right? Anyway, last night they did a follow-up on 4 of the people after treatment. A counselor went to visit Gabe, the gambling addict, and there was a black 8 parked outside of his apartment building. Dirty, but it was there.
I’m up Angeles Crest Highway in my RX-8 when suddenly a yellow McLaren P1 is behind me with guess who behind the wheel. We start flying through the canyons, then he pulls up next to me and says about my Mazda “they’re great cars. I have one” and then talks about the article
🤯can see the Rex in the back
Wow what a great story and I'm sure to become a fond memory. I bet it was totally surreal seeing Jay behind you, not to mention getting to chat with him. Thanks for sharing!
I was curious to know if any of my other cars were in Leno's collection. This is recent enough to be accurate. Kinda cool.
I scrolled through his list, and going back in my car history, I was surprised to discover he doesn't own a single VW (thinking buses, bugs, Karmann Ghias, and the like) or Toyota (FJ-40 seems like a must-have). No Jeeps. Mostly American, high end German, and then "obscure". Of the dozens of special interest cars I've owned over the years, the only one reflected in the Leno files is the RX-8. It's the only car I've kept long enough to re-register (more than once even!), and every time I get behind the wheel it makes me smile, so it checks out.
Last edited by spectre6000; Aug 21, 2024 at 08:21 AM.
I was curious to know if any of my other cars were in Leno's collection. This is recent enough to be accurate. Kinda cool.
I scrolled through his list, and going back in my car history, I was surprised to discover he doesn't own a single VW (thinking buses, bugs, Karmann Ghias, and the like) or Toyota (FJ-40 seems like a must-have). No Jeeps. Mostly American, high end German, and then "obscure". Of the dozens of special interest cars I've owned over the years, the only one reflected in the Leno files is the RX-8. It's the only car I've kept long enough to re-register (more than once even!), and every time I get behind the wheel it makes me smile, so it checks out.
So, I was thinking about this the other day. He's a collector, obviously. A serious one at that. There's a rhyme to his reason for what gets the buy and what doesn't. From what I gather, he has a clear preference for American/from his youth and unique. 911s are neither. I think VWs (easily argued to be the most iconic cars ever made) must similarly not be special enough. Just too many that are too similar to pass his sniff test.
He's explained why in an episode before. He dislikes how some brands put you on a waitlist, and you need to purchase a lesser model before you can be allowed to purchase the better model, IE Porsche. He wants to be able to just walk into the dealership and buy whatever car he wants without having to build a long standing and gatekeeping style relationship with the dealership.
