If you’re familiar with Jay Leno, you’ll know that he’s not only a great talk show host but that he’s also the ultimate car enthusiast. He’s got a whole garage full of epic cars — from modern creations to vintage artifacts — and it seems as though he just can’t get enough of them. In fact, when he has some spare time on his hands, he loves nothing more than buying an old, decrepit car and restoring it to its former beauty. That’s exactly what he did with his 1921 Benz Mercedes.
A Tough Project
As someone who loves nothing more than sinking their teeth into a car project, there’s no doubt about the fact that Jay Leno has worked on some serious sticklers over the years. However, it seems as though his latest renovation is one of his proudest to date – and that’s largely due to the fact that it has taken him a whole decade to get it perfect. So, what’s the car? Well, this is an awesome 1921 aero-engined Benz Mercedes.
Running Into Problems
What’s so amazing about this car is the fact that the engine once powered a fighter plane, and the whole car itself was originally made out of old household parts. While this is what attracted Leno to the project, these elements are also what have caused the most problems. Over the past decade he has had to completely rework some of the main components, and he ran into a serious problem when he learned that the steel water jackets had almost completely corroded away. He had to remake all of the jackets from scratch using brass and silver brazing to fix this problem.
Now, Jay’s car looks pretty impressive, and it seems as though he is happy with the end result. After all, this project has been a real labor of love over the past decade.