Jay Leno's Garage

I read somewhere that this was your dream car.

Any idea what it is?

There are some subtle visual clues

That I can make out under the tarp.

all right, subtle visual clues.

-One of them is this. -Yes.

this little circle right here that I seem to remember.

Now if this is the car that I'm thinking of,

This is a very old one and a very rare one.

-Want to take a look? -Yes. How do we pull?

just grab it and pull it back.

Oh, my.

tonight...

-Go! -...On jay leno's garage...

...We're pursuing perfection.

I knew what I wanted,

And I went right there and I got it.

so what is perfection?

This is just the epitome of fun.

For some people, it's standing out in style.

No red ferrari.

-Everybody got a red ferrari. -Everybody's got it.

Others just want that perfect sound.

I lucked into really iconic movies:

Caddyshack, top gun.

You just want in on the soundtrack.

others, they want to perfect

The fastest production car in the world.

you're doing a mile every 11 seconds.

Nothing prepares you for 304.

but, sadly, some of us get a little lost along the way.

definitely something british.

-And there's no... -That's something italian.

We're all chasing something.

Sometimes it's a dream house

Or even just a really good slice of pizza.

I usually get this by myself, but I'll split it with you.

but here in hollywood, many people have

That same dream:

Landing the perfect role,

Something iconic and memorable enough

To launch them into the limelight.

And our next guest was lucky enough to do just that.

All right, we're talking with jon hamm.

Sixteen or something emmy nominations.

Mad men, tons of movies, tons of tv.

Jon hamm became an instant star

When he played don draper on the hit show mad men,

Raking in multiple awards

And making the red carpet his second home.

He's a real triple threat:

Great actor, funny,

And more importantly, loves cars!

We all know about your career.

We don't know your automotive background

And that's what we're here to find out today.

Jon hamm, this is your automotive life.

What did you come to l.A. In?

What was the vehicle you arrived here in?

I drove from st. Louis, missouri,

To los angeles, california, in a 1986 toyota corolla.

Four-door, five-speed transmission, manual.

wow. What happened when you came here with the car?

I was here for a couple years.

I never got a california driver's license

Or california license plates

Because you had to get it smog checked,

Which it would never pass.

So, I kept my red-and-white missouri plates on it.

And then, when I went to new york to go do a play,

My roommate moved it out of the driveway

And parked it on the street,

And the city of los angeles impounded it.

-And you never saw it again? -Never saw it again.

well, we have a surprise for you today.

Let's open the door.

It's a toyota corolla!

In its prime, the toyota corolla was a fine car.

It's reliable, gets good gas mileage,

And repairs are relatively inexpensive.

When you put one in the hands of an out-of-work actor...

Doh! This is what happens.

Yours had the boot on it, right?

that is the one. There were way more parking tickets.

way more parking tickets.

Did you ever have to pay these tickets?

no, I gave them the car.

The car was worth way less than the parking tickets,

-So I gave 'em that. -So this is indicative

Of what you drove in that period.

oh, yeah, that's about right, yeah.

Different color. Mine was mine was silver.

-This is silver. -Silver-er.

yeah, well, this is silver-er.

but, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's the one.

Was this car ever used for romantic interlude?

-Oh, for sure, I was... -Really?

Yeah, yeah, I mean, come on, I was 20-something.

I'm not made of metal.

Neither is this, by the way.

No, I'm just kidding.

Mostly bondo.

And what did you pay for it?

uh, I think my dad paid $600 for it.

-1990 maybe. -And did they think

That was crazy, you're gonna go to hollywood

To be a movie star, 'cause that's what I got.

Yeah, they did.

First of all, they were like, "you're never gonna make it.

This car is never gonna make it."

I was like, "well, we'll see."

I knew how to kind of handle it.

Inevitably, I would have to stop at truck stops

Like the flying j or whatever and buy a thing of fuses

Because the fuse would short out in the ac unit

That was basically my radiator so the car wouldn't overheat.

I'd have to blast the heat to move air through the engine.

got ya, okay. So it's safe to say

This was the automotive low point of your career.

Yeah. Well, losing it was the automotive low point

Of my career, yeah, 'cause then I had no car.

-Oh. -That was rough.

I had to then share a car, which was, yeah,

No fun in l.A.,

And then use the public transportation,

-Which was equally... -Public transportation!

Pre pre-train.

-We're talking the city bus. -Wow, okay.

so this was better than a city bus,

And that's pretty much all I can say about it.

Well, this was the low point of your automotive career.

Let's move on to car number two.

We'll see more of jon's automotive life a little later.

-Oh, I can't wait. -But, now,

Let's take a look at Italy.

For italians, perfection is all about style.

From their architecture to the sprezzatura fashion,

And of course, to their cars,

Form is always more important than function.

Even their budget cars have style,

Like the fiat jolly.

Ah, signorina.

Fiat took their 500 or cinquecento

And turned it into a beach cruiser

By removing the doors, putting in wicker seats,

And replacing the roof with a stylish fringe top.

It was totally impractical for anything more

Than a short drive in good weather,

But you cannot deny it is stylish and charming, ah?

Ah, this is just the epitome of fun.

The reason I'm driving this thing

Is I'm on my way to see

Probably the most italian guy I know.

And I want to spend the day with him

And learn about italian style, italian culture,

And, hopefully, italian food.

-Ciao, fabio! -Hey, jay! Come stai?

from his name to his hair

To his athletic ability,

Fabio is the ultimate italian guy.

He's a model, an actor, a spokesman, an entrepreneur.

There's nothing the guy can't do.

-Fabio, hey! -How are you doing, buddy?

Oh, I love your cinquecento.

you know, I thought it couldn't get

-More italian than this. -Oh, you bet.

Beautiful, beautiful car, and I like the color.

hey, you got a beautiful house here.

thank you, man, thank you.

-Come and see my collection. -You got some cars?

-I've got a few cars. -Let's take a look.

Ah, there's the italian.

I look and I see german, I see bentley,

I see english, I see aston martin.

There's a ferrari, you've got a ferrari over there.

got the 488 twin-turbo.

-And no red ferrari? -No! Everybody got that.

-Everybody! -Everybody got a red ferrari.

Come on.

Everywhere in california is red ferrari,

-Red ferrari, red ferrari. -I like the gray.

yeah, it's beautiful, it's a beautiful color.

And, you know, this is a db11.

I love aston martin, the new aston martin

Because they're totally different from the older one.

They're just a piece of art.

And this car, it's both fast and comfortable.

that's what I mean, it's the perfect gt car

Because most guys think they want a sports car,

And they get the rs and it rides hard.

right, and then the wife is complaining

And the girlfriend is complaining, you know?

-What are we gonna drive today? -The lamborghini.

we got to take the lamborghini.

sv, it stands for "super veloce,"

-It means "super fast." -right, right.

Fabio's is more like a super, super veloce

'cause this is the factory demo.

It has 800 horsepower,

Fifty more than the standard model.