Jay Leno Puts On His Mechanic Hat In Studio City

The comedian got his hands full over the weekend when his car broke down on the side of the road in Los Angeles, and he got to work on the engine.

Jay Leno had previously survived a car explosion on his face in 2022 while he was fixing his vintage 1907 engine in his car garage.

The TV personality was spotted pulling over to the side of the road during the weekend and checking the workings of his vintage car. The star was pictured hunched over the hood of an old black car in Studio City on Saturday.

Leno was dressed in a light blue jean shirt, with his phone and eyeglasses carefully placed in the two front pockets. The star paired his shirt with dark jeans and black sneakers to match his black belt.

The media personality was spotted at various angles, his white-gray hair complementing his cleanly shaved chin. As reported by The Daily Mail, Leno’s midnight-blue vintage ride matched his aesthetic for the afternoon.

The sighting comes a few years after a steam car caused a fiery explosion at his private garage, with his garage mechanic confirming that the steam was sprayed as a gas.

The star was eventually hospitalized after the incident, but he did the right thing by calling the fire department. In 2024, he experienced another accident when he fell 60ft down a hill in Pennsylvania, leaving him with a black and blue bruise on his face.

Leno expressed that he broke his wrist and lost a nail on his finger after he hit a rock from the fall. However, the star did not let his fall deter him from doing what he loved as he performed a show in Greensburg just hours after.

Over three years ago, Leno, who owns an expansive collection of automobiles, got candid about the reason he chose to exclude Ferrari from his exquisite lineup.

During his appearance on “Cars & Culture with Jason Stein” podcast, Leno explained that the reason why he does not have a Ferrari among his 180 cars and 160 motorcycles collection is directly related to the dealers.

“I don’t want to give a guy $25,000 in an envelope, you know? I don’t want to be told, ‘Well, you must buy two Mondials before you can buy… Then, the idea that I have it for two years, then I take it back to get a certificate to prove that it’s actually a Ferrari – that’s $25,000.I just get tired of that,” he explained.

Leno then went on to compare his experience purchasing a McLaren and a Porsche to the impossible hurdles of doling out serious cash to the Ferrari dealers. He recalled buying his McLaren and paying the exact price on the sticker. In his words:

“Buying it was a terrific process, I had the car for six or seven months – my MP4-12C – and they called me one day and said, ‘Oh there’s an upgrade from 592 horsepower or something to 61…I said, ‘How much is it?’ And they said, ‘It’s free… just come on in.'”

He then detailed his experience purchasing a Porsche and how it came with extras, such as two mechanics showing him how to work around the car. Leno added that he also got a jacket, a book on the car, and a pen and pencil set, which made him feel like a customer from start to finish.

“Ferraris are excellent cars, it’s not an indictment on the car, it’s just like… you’re spending a tremendous amount of money. You should be made to feel like a customer,” he concluded.

Last year, Insidehook reported that Leno hosted a private event to preview McLaren Automotive’s next flagship, the W1, during which he went into detail about his enduring admiration for McLaren.

“I like the fact that everything is completely functional. There’s nothing on here that’s not for a specific purpose. I like obsessive detail,” the actor explained at the time.

Leno, who also owned the McLaren F1 and P1, gushed about the uniqueness of both cars, especially the F1, noting that its precious nature collides with how much he would have loved to drive it.

In his words: “One time I was on the 210 freeway and nailed it,” he recalled. “I slid right across the highway and went, hey, hey, hey. There’s no traction control, there’s nothing. You’re on your own. Truth be told, as much as I love my F1, I’m not going to kill myself in this one.”

However, for the P1, Leno expressed his immense affection for the car and its functionality, which seemed inexhaustible. According to him, “I take it up to Angeles Crest Highway almost every weekend. I’m not even close to being able to reach its limits, but it always scares me to death — and I enjoy it.”

Since acquiring the car, one of the 375 in existence, Leno has logged about 12,000 miles on it and counting.