Project Updates from Jay Leno’s Garage

Jay Leno’s Garage dropped another video this week—the March 2025 Restoration Blog—which, according to Jay, is a look at “some of the projects we’ve been working on for the last decade, the last two weeks, whatever …” There’s never a dull moment around a living collection like Jay’s, of course, and these updates reinforce that. The sheer variety of the man’s collection, and the knowledge and passion he makes so evident in his delivery as he shares his vehicles with viewers, is one of the reasons he and his cars are so beloved in the hobby.  

First up with an update is his 1925 Doble Steam Car, quite a finnicky beast. Leno is clearly fascinated by this precision machine and says, “the slightest bit of internal grit or dirt can screw up the whole thing.” Unlike a Stanley Steamer with its large boiler, Leno says the Doble works on the same principle of a tankless water heater, with a circular stack of 600 feet of diminishing-radius coil, all of which holds just two quarts of water and is heated to 3000 degrees. That equates to 1200 pounds of pressure within the system.

The issue with Leno’s Doble was a split in part of the tubing in the coil stack, which caused a loss of pressure. Luckily, master fabricator Jimmy Hudson was able to repair the coil in place, which seems a far less daunting prospect than having to remove the entire thing.

The 6000-pound car needs no transmission because the engine produces a thousand foot-pounds of torque from a standstill, with steam acting on the engine’s four pistons in both directions. “There’s no wasted motion,” Leno says. “It’s always working all the time.” The car is running smoothly once again, and all that remains to complete is a repaint of the hood, which has gotten scorched by the heat over time.

Next up is Jay’s 1957 Chrysler Imperial. The car has had a repaint in its original color, but the chrome is original, and right now the 392-cid Hemi V-8 is out for a rebuild. The gang is currently waiting on a new Isky cam but is in the process of taking everything back to stock, “so it’ll run exactly as it did when it was new,” Jay says. 

An accident a couple years ago on his red 1940 Indian made both Jay and bike a bit worse for wear, but it was the impetus for a complete restoration of this gorgeous motorcycle and its sidecar. “It was probably the best thing that ever happened,” Leno says, because when he and the team dug into it, they discovered a bunch of filler and poor past repairs. The engine runs like a top thanks to lead mechanic George Swift, and the whole bike sparkles, now in a two-tone blue-and-cream paintjob, with a built-from-scratch sidecar body to match, courtesy of Jimmy. The “before” photos from Jay’s March 2024 Restoration Blog and the nearly finished piece show a remarkable transformation. Jay is obviously pleased that the bike will soon be ready to ride again, though his joke that he still has “one good crash left in him” doesn’t go over well with George and Jimmy.

The episode also includes an update on the Barns Special Pikes Peak racer and a look at Jay’s 1941 American LaFrance fire truck, which he put into service during the California wildfires as a way to give back to the firefighters on the front lines. The truck had spent some time with Jay’s friend Dave Killackey, who passed away recently, and the impact he had on Jay is evident. 

It’s nice to get these peeks behind the scenes at Jay Leno’s Garage, and to meet the folks he trusts to not just to keep his fleet running, but to customize some of the vehicles with the latest performance products on the market. 

How are your projects going? Update us in the comments.