Have you been following the progress on Jay Leno's EcoJet?
Here is the latest video from Jay Leno's Garage about the ongoing work on the EcoJet. As the video begins, we see that the biodiesel-running jet turbine is hooked up to a custom-made aluminum gearbox and step-down gear reduction unit which was formed in Jay's shop on a CNC machine. We go on to see some of the Corvette underpinnings that make up the chassis. We can clearly see the Corvette transaxle at the rear of the car, which allows for better weight distribution in a front-engine car. This being a mid-engined car, most of the weight will already be behind the driver. It turns out that the plan to use carbon fiber for the interior was too expensive, even for Jay and General Motors, so instead they formed it out of an aluminum honeycomb. Next you can see the seat which was molded out of fiberglass. The next segment of the video shows some hand-pounded aluminum inner fenders. These shots show the Corvette-sourced suspension pieces as well, which we also saw a bit earlier in the video. Jay then shows off some of the detail work which is going into the car and figures that in a year it will be unfinished but driveable.
So, what makes this car show up on our green-themed auto site? Admittedly, the car will use plenty of fuel, but that fuel will be biodiesel. Being that this car is not likely to be driven all that often, hopefully the eco-fuel will be used in scant quantities and then mostly to show people just what biofuels can do. A car like this is bound to get plenty of attention, and hopefully some of that attention will be transferred to the alternative fuel source.
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[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1985 Gripen 2:17AM (9/08/2007)
This is very strange. I just saw the Ecojet a few weeks ago (25 August) at the company in Sterling Heights, MI which prepares vehicles for GM's nearby Heritage Museum during an open house as part of the North American SAAB Owners' Convention in nearby Troy.
Is there more than one example of the Ecojet? I think Leno's garage is in the San Fernando Valley (CA) near where I live, right?
Here is photographic proof (I took a picture of it):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1985_gripen/1299347789/in/set-72157601809293812/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1985_gripen/1299348373/in/set-72157601809293812/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1985_gripen/1299349369/in/set-72157601809293812/
Maybe they shipped it back to California sometime in the past few weeks?
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