Got a tour of the Big Dog Garage by the big dog himself...

[Dave Castine]

A couple years back Jay Leno came to my shop to see a Chrysler 300-G I had on consignment. I spent four hours with him and his highschool buddy Lew. Last month I was in LA and my wife and I had a Saturday to kill so I emailed Jay to see if I could get a glimpse of the Big Dog Garage (he had offered a tour if I was ever around). To my surprize he called me back to say "sure Dave, it'll be good to catch up!" I was pumped, we arrived there at 10:30 on a rainy Saturday morning and Jay gave us a tour personally - what a guy. I really appreciated his time - very down to Earth guy, always so eager to talk cars and man does he know a ton!

http://www.vintagecarsonline.com/our-day-at-jay-lenos-garage/

[Bill Pritchard]

Congrats, you're a lucky guy Dave!

[x33rs]

That's Awesome! Jay is such a cool guy, and what I consider a "true" car guy.

You're lucky. From what I understand from my neighbor that knew Jay fairly well (talked with him on Friday nights Burbank Bob's Big Boy cruise, and wife is friends with Jays secretary), he had to tame down the tours. Many years back he would offer private tours to very small groups of people. One instance that small group from a model A club showed up with 100 people. Being the gracious person Jay is, he let them all in, but Jay's lawyer had a fit. Long story short Jay was advised to tame down the tours.

[mockingbird812]

Outstanding Dave - Congrats! Just confirms with what I hear about this great car guy!:headbang:

[Dave Castine]

WOW - I could see how that would happen. Yeah it was just my wife and I that he walked around. Spent about 2 hours with him, fun morning - no go on taking the F1 for a test drive, LOL.

Here's a link to the entire album - it's quite a place and the restoration shop is amazing. Woos shop, paint booth, sanding booth, full machine shop, Water Jet cutting machines and those 3d printers; there's nothing they need to outsource pretty much.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155778252696749.1073741831.189557361748&type=1&l=30d63bbf33

[jdv69z]

Guess he doesn't allow any oil drippers!! :grin:

[BJCHEV396]

Congrats Dave.I'm jealous!

[mssl72]

Nice, awesome! It's great you got the chance to meet up with him and take a tour! I see him at car shows here now and then. He's always willing to talk to people, chat about cars and bust your chops if you need it. I work not too far from his shop and see him driving different cars around sometimes.

[Xplantdad]

Very neat...thanks for sharing!

[olredalert]

----Dave,,,Thanks so much for putting all that together. Had to be a load of work. I think I pulled up every vid! Great stuff from a great car guy,,,Jay Leno!!!......Bill S

[Dave Castine]

----Dave,,,Thanks so much for putting all that together. Had to be a load of work. I think I pulled up every vid! Great stuff from a great car guy,,,Jay Leno!!!......Bill S

Thanks Bill - it didn't take too much work, about an hour or so. It's good content for the business I run on the side (full time when I retire in a couple years and buy a place). His videos are great - he puts one out every Sunday.

I'm going to send his guys a bunch of pizzas for lunch soon as a thank you to Jay for giving us his time. It was a day we'll never forget. Is your ID indicative of the AMT sponsored Red 70 Chevelle SS? I saw that car run back in the 80's up here at New England Dragway once - great fun!

[olredalert]

----That would have been me, probably doing some testing. Used to go up about once a month from the Cape with other Cape racers.......Bill S

[Dave Castine]

----That would have been me, probably doing some testing. Used to go up about once a month from the Cape with other Cape racers.......Bill S

WOW - it's an honor sir....

[Mr. Chevy]

That's cool Dave..

My Mom loves Jay.. She was fortunate to meet him a couple years back at our local Auto Rama/Piston Power Show.. He was very kind to her and took time to talk with her.. Great, Classy Guy!!

Thanks for sharing...

Rich

[dykstra]

Thanks for sharing!!