I’m not sure what governmental agency is in charge of making sure the global supply of Jay Lenos stays in good shape and doesn’t get damaged, but that agency really has not been doing its job.
Remember about two years ago, when working on a 1907 White steam car, Jay suffered severe burns? And then a couple months later, Jay got clotheslined on his motorcycle and broke his collarbone? Now it seems the world’s most-loved gearhead has taken a 60-foot tumble down a hill, causing injuries that include a broken wrist and a whack in the eye from a rock, leaving him wearing an eyepatch. Yikes. Poor Jay!
I should mention here that I do know Jay personally, having worked on Jay Leno’s Garage as a producer, and I was a guest on his show as well, for the episode about my favorite Worst Car Ever Built, the Hoffmann:
I’m not telling you this to just name-drop; I say it because I do think of Jay as a friend and know that he is one of the most approachable, friendly and kind people I’ve had the pleasure to work with. This is a guy who by no rational logic should have anything to do with me, and, I believe, could legally have goons work me over were I to approach within 10 feet of him, but that’s not how he is at all.
Every time I’ve encountered him, he’s always friendly and delighted to talk car stuff. David and I saw him at the Petersen Museum gala a few weeks ago in LA, and I think we talked about the Metz Plan Car, among other obscure car things, all of which Jay knew everything about. The man is very much One of Us.
Between takes when we were shooting that episode with the Hoffmann you see up there, Jay was telling me about doing standup shows and encouraging me to get back into doing shows (I have a past in doing standup). He didn’t quite seem to remember that not everyone can just book shows of the size and scale that he can – he’s Jay Flapjacking Leno – but that he was encouraging and eager to talk about all of it was fantastic.
The man keeps doing live shows, keeps working hard performing and shooting videos and just keeping at it. He works hard, non-stop, so when I read that his 60 foot-fall down a rocky hill happened while he was in Pittsburgh to do a show, and he still did the damn show after the fall, bruised and battered but unbowed – well, that made sense. That’s Jay Leno.
Besides, I think the pirate look kind of works? The amount of bruising on Jay’s face is alarming, but if Jay has proven anything over the past few years, it’s that he can take a hell of a beating and keep on going. We all hope he gets well soon, of course, and keeps making people laugh and talking about all sorts of cars as long as possible.
Get better, Jay! And maybe avoid rocky hills? And jets of flammable gases?
Jay Leno Involved In Motorcycle Crash While Recovering From Steam Car Fire
Jay Leno Released From Burn Ward, And Why A Steam Car Caused A Gas Fire In The First Place
Watch Jay Leno Teach Me How To Hand-Crank A Ford Model-T (Plus Our FULL Interview)
Just make sure he never gets in a car with Richard Hammond. You’d see the explosion from miles away.
I suppose everyone has heard the rumours that all of these mishaps are actually him getting roughed up by the bookies (or their goons) to whom he owes huge sums of money…
There’s a ton of other celebrities that would sue Pittsburgh for having hills. I can hear Jay now: “I was hungry, I was walking to a restaurant, I fell down.” Then he laughs at himself.
The man is definitely rugged!
Look, I’m just as surprised as you that Snake Plissken has lived long enough to be an old man.
Kept you waiting, huh?
He escaped from NY. He escaped from LA. This time, Snake meets the toughest town he never wanted to be in. Escape from Pittsburgh! Rated R
There is a severe shortage of seriously nice people in the world, so somebody better get on protecting him quick! Get better soon, Jay!
It’s not bruising, It’s patina, He is worth more money now among certain collectors.
This guy. He’s Hertz incarnate. A never ending parade of self-inflicted wounds, but finding new and inventive ways to do it each time.
Someone should have told him that no one walks in Pittsburgh because of the hills. One mile there is about 3.7 miles in other cities due to there being no direct route anywhere.
No one here is discussing the fact that Jay Leno was staying at Hampton Inn 30 miles from the venue? How does that even happen? Wouldn’t the org/event/venue hosting him have a Presidential Suite at a close by hotel? Why does he not have a driver taking him to the restaurant? None of this makes sense.
Neil Peart loved staying in shitty cheap motels when he R1200GSd between shows.
Damn that’s a nice bike
The entire band was renowned for skipping the decadent rock band stereotype by retiring to their hotel rooms and catching up in their reading and whatnot.
Probably why they could keep playing at their level for as long as they did.
Good Lord this man has the worst luck. He should maybe consider settling down just a little bit, Mavis is counting on him.
Freaking well done on the top shot. Get Bettar. Clever, simple, and it made me laugh far harder than it should have.
He’s got that Bryan Ferry look now. T’ain’t no big thing, cars are the drug for Jay.
So it’s not just his shirts that are blue now.
I was surprised to see him staying at a Hampton Inn, but he seems like the kinda guy to be pretty modest in his spending. Other than cars, of course.
He’s all about that free breakfast bar
And the private jet he took to get there
Maybe not. My sister was on a domestic commercial flight with him. Jet Blue, IIRC.
Unlike Zuckerberg who shuttles daily between SF and his place in Hawaii burning tons of fuel a week.
“But I don’t want to be a pirate.” Jerry the S
“I wouldn’t give his problems to a monkey on a rock.” Letterman
Get well soon Jay!
Jay Leno, at 74, takes a 60 ft tumble down a hill then immediately goes back to work even though he doesn’t have to work.
I, at significantly less than 74, wouldn’t be at work for weeks after taking a 6 ft tumble down a hill.
He went back to work 2 weeks after the gasoline fire
i called in sick when i just hit my toe on my staircase
I mean the only reason he’s working at all is because he enjoys doing it.
Off topic, but how does one delete their account on the Autopian?
This here’s The Hotel California. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave
Or, after taking it out of the freezer, you could smash it with a hammer.
No, that’s not it.
First you have to turn it into a flea. A harmless, little flea. Then you put that flea in a box, and put that box inside another box, and then mail it to yourself.
And when it arrives, then you smash it with a hammer.
Of all the things, a freaking Emperor’s New Groove reference was not something I was expecting. Well played!
If you say something bad enough, it will get deleted for you. But don’t do that.
Last time I did it, I just got out of line and walked over to the Monorailian…
You don’t. The content here is warm and soothing: The Autopian is a flower and you are a bee. Never ending supply of succulent, sweet sweet automotive brain nectar. I enjoy this site so much that I have developed a chemical dependence on it, and I recommend you do the same.
I would be perfectly happy to share with you the account deletion protocol. It’s super easy!
But I am going to need some help first – if you could just wire me $50,000 I’ll get started on the process.
The initial filing process should only take about two weeks, and then another $150,000 wired to me should handle any extra problems, should they arise.
This guy sounds like the Nigerian prince I’ve been emailing with. Helping me get access to a large sum of money trapped in a Western Union account.
Make sure you use Western Union if you decide to use him, it’s the only secure way of handling that amount of money.
I think they run this whole party on an old Tandy. So just use FORMAT from the command line.
On second thought, it’s probably Xenix, so use diskutil from the boot prompt.
Should I switch to lynx for a better viewing experience?
I wonder whatever happened to the Commodore fueled random number generator, worst car book feature that ran for a few days?
That looks really sore, and I believe that is the same side of his face that got the skin grafts from the fire, if he’s going to injure himself again, he should really try to get the other side to even it all out
He fell on the left side on purpose. The right side still has original paint.
Don’t worry, it’ll buff out!
That one might need a dent puller, light filler coat, and a paint match.
That is true, he does like original and unrestored
Like that denim shirt he purchased new in 1978.
We joke in the rally world that most wrecks occur on the co-driver’s side. Not sure if it’s true but it is a way to irritate co-drivers when walking through the service area and get knowing nods from other drivers.