Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,001
Likes: 113
From: Saginaw Michigan
Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster
There is an excellent article in the March 1 edition of Autoweek on a 1955 Buick Roadmaster that Jay Leno had his "boys" convert to a stock appearing street cruiser. He has five full time staff and several hired specialists to oversee and work on restoring his collection of 160 cars and motorcycles.
The Roadmaster appears completely stock from the exterior. You can't even tell that the road wheels are 17 inch in place of the stock 15 inch. They made their own hubcaps that are duplicates of the originals except upscaled to 17 inches.
There is a ZZ572 crate engine underhood with a 4L85E trans. Jay has many high level contacts and was able to have the GM Proving Grounds work up the transmission calibration points. The front suspension is from a C5 Corvette, the rear is from a C4. A gorgeous awsome powered ride.
The Roadmaster appears completely stock from the exterior. You can't even tell that the road wheels are 17 inch in place of the stock 15 inch. They made their own hubcaps that are duplicates of the originals except upscaled to 17 inches.
There is a ZZ572 crate engine underhood with a 4L85E trans. Jay has many high level contacts and was able to have the GM Proving Grounds work up the transmission calibration points. The front suspension is from a C5 Corvette, the rear is from a C4. A gorgeous awsome powered ride.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,001
Likes: 113
From: Saginaw Michigan
Re: Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster (MNJack)
Jay said in the article that the Proving Grounds people had it up to 145 mph. However, when I was working for General Motors, you couldn't take a car up to those kinds of speeds on Proving Grounds property without a roll cage, special high speed tires, helmets, and probably a racing harness.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 784
Likes: 0
From: Santa Barbara California
Re: Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster (MNJack)
" I read an article about that car in Hot Rod.. All I really wanted to know was, "How fast is it????" but they didn't say.... MJ"
:iagree: Pasted whitewalls on high performance truck tires to get the look.. a
* sleeper * :smash:
[Modified by Rottenrob, 9:42 PM 2/27/2004]
:iagree: Pasted whitewalls on high performance truck tires to get the look.. a
* sleeper * :smash:
[Modified by Rottenrob, 9:42 PM 2/27/2004]
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,322
Likes: 1
From: Living in the Hartland
Re: Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster (Darrell's 68)
I wish I had a staff of 6 people and the resources of GM to work on my cars! :D
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Drifting
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,634
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From: Northern NJ
St. Jude Donor '04 & '05
Re: Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster
" I read an article about that car in Hot Rod.. All I really wanted to know was, "How fast is it????" but they didn't say.... MJ"
A quote from Jay in the AutoWeek article:
"The other day I was up in Coldwater Canyon and I came up behind a guy in a 911. He'd gun it and I'd stay right with him. You could see his expression in the rearview mirror, kind of like, 'What the f***?'".
--------------------------------------------
Guess it's pretty fast! :yesnod:
:seeya
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 7,562
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From: B'Ville NY
Cruise-In III Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05
Re: Jay Leno's 1955 Buick Roadmaster (ACECO)
I read Hotrods article on Jay's Roadmaster. He's got a great car collection & he's not afraid to drive & enjoy them, that's my kind of car enthuisast :smash:
