Jay Leno takes EcoJet out for a spin (w/VIDEO)
Jay Leno's EcoJet - Click above for a high-res image gallery
Now that Jay Leno's retired from his duties hosting The Tonight Show, he may find himself with a bit more time on his hands to devote to his many automotive passions. Jay often leans towards the green end of the interesting vehicle spectrum, and that tradition looks secure as the comedian has recently been spotted out and about in his home state of California in the EcoJet concept.
It's been a few years since we last heard about the prototype car, which uses a biodiesel-powered Honeywell turbine engine mated up with a rear-mounted transaxle and chassis bits from a Corvette Z06, but it's now apparently fully operational. As you can clearly see in the video pasted after the break, the carbon fiber and kevlar-bodied EcoJet makes lots of noise and draws quite a crowd when Leno drives it to one of his local car shows.
Gallery: Jay Leno's EcoJet
[Source: Straightline]
Video:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
matt 12:12PM (6/02/2009)
Maybe if he had a set of rear view mirrors he could do a better job of parking the car. LOL
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Vince 1:08PM (6/02/2009)
He can't park worth a damn but the car is hot.
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jpm 2:11PM (6/02/2009)
another useless, astronomically priced sports car that nobody can afford. will there ever be an affordable EV on the market?
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Jim 5:14PM (6/02/2009)
JPM, thats Biodiesel powered, not electric, and its a custom car paid for by Leno himself. So yes, not many can afford it, but thats because it was built by hand at his private garage. If the man wants to spend piles of money on a custom car, let him.
I assume you were also referencing Tesla in that comment. The early product of any technology is always expensive. The rich pay for the product development that gives us access to technology. Think of cell phones... My dad had a $500 shoebox that sat between the seats of his work truck. Twenty years later, I paid $47 for a phone half the size of an audio cassette.
DasBoese 4:09PM (6/02/2009)
This car isn't for sale, fool.
jpm 4:12PM (6/02/2009)
ok, change it to:
another useless, astronomically expensive sports car. will there ever be an affordable EV on the market?
happy asshole?
Zach 4:14PM (6/02/2009)
Looks like a Koenigsegg kinda...
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Ron F 4:50PM (6/02/2009)
Historically turbine cars have been fuel hungry (but who cares for pure sports) and had terrible throttle response (lookup the Chrysler turbine). It takes time to spool up a turbine, and any transmission that reduces rotation from tens of thousands of RPM to a usable range don't provide much leeway to fix that. A more flexible approach would have been a turbo-generator into an ultracap bank or battery pack designed for power release, not capacity. In other words, a supercar version of the GM Volt serial hybrid technology. Now if Mr. Leno had co-developed a US originated "next generation" supercar powerplant like that, I expect lots of people would have cheered.
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