One might say the world already pays attention to Jay Leno - a charming, funny, bright guy who, as host of the Tonight Show, visits living rooms nightly around the globe. Although well known as a "car guy," the environmentally-responsible angle he has placed on his automotive endeavors is bringing the comedian even more attention. This is the Leno who is passionately restoring vintage cars, who is concerned about America's young people, and the future of America's automobile and the technicians who repair them.

 

A self-proclaimed Gear Head, Leno observed: "I'll tell you what's really wrong with this country. Every good machinist seems to be over the age of 65. If you happened to come into my shop, you'd see that I'm the youngest guy in there, and I'm in my 50s. There was a time in this country that if you were a skilled craftsman - if you were good with your hands - it was a sign of talent or even genius, and people gave you a lot of respect. Along the way, America has lost something important."

This is the Jay Leno who wanted to put together the best American team possible to build an environmentally safe car. "I want to inspire young people to get into car design," Leno continued in a rare serious moment, "and build a vehicle which will not be so harmful to the environment."

To fulfill Leno's goal of developing a more environmentally responsible vehicle, the "silver bullet" is powered by bio-diesel fuel and finished with BASF's waterborne Glasurit 90 Line products, which meet California's stricter clean air standards.

Working from Big Dog Garage, Leno's shop in southern California, he and chief mechanic Swiss-born Bernard Juechl began laying the groundwork for the Eco-Jet. After sketching his design on paper napkins, Leno presented his ideas to Ed Weldon, vice president of General Motors Advanced Design Studio, North Hollywood, California The General Motors/Leno collaboration turned that paper-napkin vision into a reality.

Collision repairers should take note of this General Motors/Leno collaboration. The materials and technology are already and will continue to be a part of the collision repair process.