Jay Leno's 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre - Jay Leno's Garage

three two one action well another

episode of Jay lon's garage today we're

being visited by Automotive royalty I no

I'm not talking about the rolls Royals

I'm talking about Sir Jackie Stewart is

sitting in today Jackie thanks for

coming by oh my pleasure excuse me I

thought I was to be keeping quiet no no

no that's all right no that's very nice

very happy to be here isn't that Isn't

that cool Jackie Stewart stop by the

garage but anyway let's get on with this

the car will featuring today the 2024

Rolls-Royce Spectre this is the first

all electric Rolls-Royce I have seen

probably 25 or 30 reviews of this car

online all good uh all mostly done by

Automotive journalists or influencer

YouTubers I think I'm the first owner of

one of these to do a review so maybe I

have a little different perspective you

know every time I bought a car it was

based on performance how did it handle

how fast was it when I got the Tesla

plaid I bought it because it was the

fastest accelerating vehicle you could

get at the time the fact that you're

saving the planet it's an electric and

that's all nice but I bought it

primarily for performance this is the

first time I've ever bought an

automobile based on comfort and this is

sort of the F1 of comfortable

automobiles it's fast enough it's not as

fast as a Tesla certainly smoother

certainly quiet I I would Heen to say

this is probably the quietest automobile

any company has ever produced you know I

first drove an electric RS voice back in

201 when they had a few experimental

cars running around and they had one in

California they called me and I drove it

at the time Tesla had yet to really

break through so really were no so they

IDE electric rolls what that what's that

50 50 years away 60 years away well no

hly just just a decade because uh

Rolls-Royce takes their time they're not

the kind of company that jumps into

something they wait to see how it's

accepted you know the fun thing I like

about these automobiles is the build

quality you just don't get this build

quality in most automobiles even most

high-end automobiles I don't ever think

we built to this standard you know I

bought my first Bentley Turbo R which

when I bought it back in 89 it was

basically a rollsroyce with a turbo and

I'm still driving it and about 6 month

mons ago my electric seat broke so I

said let me take it apart and see if I

could fix it and as I took it apart I

was amazed at the wiring loom how nicely

everything you know a lot of times

especially Italian guards you take a

seat out it looks like the Spaghetti

Factory it just wires all over the place

everything was in conduits everything

had a a screw with a cadum plated washer

locking it I mean it was such a pleasure

to take apart and fix and replace

because the Bentley's have a sort of a

lifetime battery in the seat but I've

been driving mine for 40 years so the

battery went out so you I had to replace

the battery not the motor and you have

to kind of open the case up and solder

it in and all that kind of stuff but

just the build quality of that was so

impressive and I'm still driving after

40 years so it it made me buy this one

because people may be surprised why

would I buy a Rolls horse I like single

Focus automobiles like with performance

cars it's performance but with luxury

cars it's luxury and this being electric

makes it just about the quietest

automobile you could you could possibly

imagine this is the definition of Road

hugging weight this thing's almost 6,500

lbs and a lot of that is insulation to

keep out the sound and you'll find out

when we driving just how quiet it is uh

let me bring a gentleman in who helped

me kind of spec this car Jerry SP Jerry

come on and you're our Rolls-Royce

representative hey Jay how you doing to

see pleasure to be here good to see you

you know it's interesting when I got

this I'd seen all different color

because I used to work for Rolls-Royce I

worked for Rolls-Royce when I worked for

the company in

6970 as a student they didn't transport

Cars the cars would come into Port

Elizabeth on a ship they would unload

them and they would be driven to

Philadelphia New York West Palm Beach

whatever and our dealership was in

Boston so IID go down and I would pick

up the cars and drive them up up the

coast and when the customer would say

why is this have 230 miles oh those are

road test miles not at the factory those

are make sure they you know but it's

just a 19-year-old kid in fact I'll tell

you Kind of a Funny

Story we had a lot of customers who like

to buy cars for cash in a bag okay so

one guy here's how long it was the most

expensive rollsroyce you could buy in

6970 was

$29,900 so this guy with taxes he bought

a corish one of the first cornes it was

$35,000 so I us to go down take it off

the boat clean it up a little bit

deliver to this guy get the $35,000 in

cash take a cab back to portal lith get

another rolls Ro and drive it up so

that's what I did so when I picked up

the second rolls Ro I was a young

comedian starting my career you know I

said boy I I want to go to one of the

clubs in New York see if I could do a

set you know so I drove to New York and

I pulled up in front of the club in a

Rolls-Royce and you who's this guy with

a Rolls-Royce I said can I go on he go

yeah you're sure sure I did I put the

the 35,000 in a bag on the piano I did

my set I had little my little tape

recorder told my jokes got big laughs

I'm so excited you know I got in the car

I'm driving listen to the tape all where

the laughs were and I hit the first toll

booth and K I go where's the bag I left

the bag on the piano with the 35 Grand

in it I turn the car around it back it's

now 1:00 in the morning I walk in the

clubs maybe half a dozen people drunk

sitting there a female singer and I see

the bag on the piano I go oh I forgot my

lunch forgot my lunch thank you put then

I start counting the money I go okay

sitting on 9th Avenue in a rollsroyce

counting $35,000 in a bag at 1:30 in the

morning that's not too bright either

said let me let me just I'll assume it's

all here but I would just be getting out

of jail now if that that bag had not

been there but it's just but that's

another whole story anyway Jay thanks

for coming here we go so where do we

start oh I I told you picking a color

don't do what I did I said let me call

the designers and see what they think is

the best so I go oh J it's the Morganite

it's like a pink with a lavender Trin

okay I don't want pink with so I got

black on black same as I did with my

Turbo R and I love it this is the

diamond black which fantastic color and

Jay it hasn't turned out too badly for

you has it from from the Rolls-Royce to

a Rolls-Royce good you know it was fun

with you working on colors because we

did kind of come in thinking about what

colors you would want do you want blue

do you want you know what it might be

but I at one point in our conversation

you said look I want something classic

black and what's beautiful is that the

design of Spectre with all these broad

planes on the Bonnet on the roof and the

the long lines it looks so it's just a

hot black car it looks really beautiful

well it looks like something Bruce Wayne

would drive as you're going through

Gotham you know it's look it looks like

a Concept Coupe that they would never

built and that's why I thought it was so

fascinating the fact that it has an

arrow of

0.25 right which is pretty amazing it's

truly a modern Rolls-Royce is what I

like about it it it's absolutely I mean

it's it's definitely a new look um you

know look I want I want to start out

with one thing when you talk about the

aerodynamics you know let's not forget

that we've spent time making it look

like a Rolls-Royce but it also has to be

a modern Rolls-Royce this is the first

Rolls-Royce to sport the new the newest

iteration of the spirit of ecstasy which

is only our second and believe it or not

she was redesigned to help provide that

0.25 aerodynamic the coefficient drag

this is the most aerodynamic Rolls-Royce

that's ever been built yeah it's not a

hard you know it's not a high bar but

0.25 this is among the most aerodynamic

cars in the road for a car that is 18 ft

long you know over about 5et tall seven

more than seven feet wide that's uh

that's Quite a feat well the thing being

half Scotsman like like uh Jackie

Stewart I think what's the maintenance

going to be you know and on this I get

it in

2026 they want me to bring it in the

change the brake fluid that's it yeah

there's there's virtually no maintenance

even on an internal combustion on the

existing Rose R the maintenance is

included um but it's it's not that

complicated with it being electric you

have less you know you know you're right

you're the mechanic you know there's

less parts and less things to go wrong

uh yes you are going to have to take

care of uh you know your brakes uh you

want to make sure that everything's

lubricated and and working properly but

uh really what's great about Spectre is

just to come back to what you said is it

is absolutely a Rolls-Royce it's luxury

it's quiet it's a great car to drive I

love the fact that there are no choices

there's no track mode Comfort mode you

know I just want to drive you sometimes

just want to get in and drive a big

comfortable car you know I have a lot of

what my wife calls ow my hair cars you

know you're driving ow my hair just slow

down no close the window ow my hair you

know this is this is the perfect hair c

car take you take your day fine no

problem no problem yeah have you um have

you had chance to take it out with uh

four people actually use I haven't had

four people in it yet no no but because

it is a it's a real true four-seater

right you while it you know it has that

look of a Sleek Coupe um a lot of people

are comparing it at first look like if

we're not standing next to it you might

compare it and think uh wraith but when

you see the size and the you know it's

just the the mass of Spectre you realize

this is a big c it's actually the

spiritual successor to to the Phantom

Coupe you know what interesting I bought

it because it's this twodo Coupe which

is my favorite kind of car I love the

original Cornish TW door coupe and to my

generation two door coups were the

coolest when I talk to car dealers now

young people 40 and under they love

four-doors you know the four-door

charger with the big uh with the big

Hellcat motor in it right why get a

foror well it's easier get people well

that is true you get people you know or

even an SUV I like single persevere if

I'm gonna station wagon for that Coupe

for going out to dinner Sports cigor I

don't want one that does all of those

things I don't get cars like the

Lamborghini Urus or those kind of I just

I'd rather have proper Lamborghini or

and then get a station you know yeah and

there's something very romantic about

the line you have the coupe you've got

the Fastback here on Spectre you can see

there's a lot of romantic history in the

design of Spectre it's it's a very large

car it's a spiritual successor to the

Phantom Coupe but it has that beautiful

long line fast back and it really does I

remember when we were configuring your

car you you mentioned it it brought you

back particularly when you put it in

Black it brought you back to memories of

some beautiful cars whether they're in

the 30s and 50s well you know another

reason I bought this was I used to work

for Rolls-Royce and I was the lot boy

put on license plates doing all that

kind of stuff and I remember talking

David plastow was the president in those

days and I remember thinking I was

working with a bunch of guys they were

older than me and they did car detailing

and we would go to a rich guy's house

and detail his four or five cars rolls

Mercedes whatever I was like 19 I said

would it be great to be the guy that

owns the cars and they go what that's

never going to happen I go well I

couldn't wait what do you think you're

gon to I mean they couldn't even dream

about being successful and I thought

really I I mean it it just really I mean

they just ragged on me for weeks about

that yeah you think somay he's going to

I go why is that so impossible it's

America you know anything could happen

you know and that's why well you know

that owning a Rolls-Royce is for you is

something personal it's something you

wanted and what we find from a lot of

our other owners is that it's it's part

of something they wanted in their life

and there's no one reason you do it but

it is to celebrate success we have a lot

of people just starting off that are

very successful they they've they've hit

that achievement in their life they want

to celebrate it and you know

commissioning their Rolls-Royce is one

way of celebrating that see I wanted

black because I didn't want to look like

look at me I I me like when I tell I

have the hood I have the emblem down and

just kind of sneak in you know I don't

want I I I like it really for what it is

and the way it drives and what it

represents which is fun and I bought

this from Paul rusnik rusnik uh he's

probably well he's one of the oldest

dealers one of the earliest Porsche

dealers I bought my career at GT from

him right uh you know and when I you

know it's a real dealership cuz when I

got that car two mechanics come over

with the car in a flatbed showed me how

to service it how to do all these kind

of things would you're not going to get

at a Ferrari dealership or a lot of

these other ones you know and I thought

I was so impressed and I bought my Turbo

are there and I had his Service as for

the last 40 years and that's why I

bought this one and then Paul is still

around Paul is I don't think he Minds me

saying how old he is Paul you going to

be what 91 well I'm I am on my way to be

91 yeah I just celebrated my 90th we

went to his 90th birthday party yeah

thank you for coming to my 90th see him

going under that limbo bar it's just

unbelievable no it's it's a wonderful

all car car dealerships to be like you

because it it's just such a pleasure to

do it and you know the nice thing about

when you buy one of these you really

don't have the quality control problems

you don't get there's a little rattle in

the door we'll bring it in next week I

mean it it really goes through

inspection I mean yeah there're I know

there's stupid expensive I know that but

it it's to me when you love cars as much

as I do this is sort of the Pinnacle I

don't know where you go from here if you

want to rationalize you go well it's

half the price of McClaren honey we're

saving money it's half the price of the

other car another Reon that story I just

told about the guys picking on me for uh

thinking I could be successful one day

Paul's story is pretty interesting too

now you guys are refugees from what

country well I was born in

Czechoslovakia well I came uh as a

14-year-old yes right right so I mean

you absolutely nothing you you built

your business absolutely yeah yes and I

said you knew Max Hoffman yes I did now

Max Hoffman is the man who gave us the

Gullwing Mercedes uh the Porsche

Speedster the BMW 507 he was an American

car dealer who just loved European cars

and at the time nobody had heard of any

of those any of those Automobiles and

mercedesbenz did not want to build build

the Gullwing because they didn't think

anybody would buy it and Max said I'll

buy 1,200 of them if you build it so he

he laid down the money to do that they

built it and of course it's the icon now

same thing with Porsche same thing with

BMW and you were in on the ground floor

of all of that well uh I started out in

1959 with my first dealership in Culver

City right then I moved to Los Angeles

on creno Boulevard which was the car

street in those days and uh in 1966 I

moved to Pasadena bought a Chrysler

dealership and from then on uh you know

we just grew to group but you started

with European cars because that's what

you do yes absolutely yeah I mean you

think it would be a hard sell in America

selling you know little 1500 CC cars and

things like that well in those days you

know if you drove a foreign car mg or

jaguar or anything you know and

everybody would just wave as you pass by

right to each other because there was a

small fraternity right right my dad

would always you can't get parts for

those foreign jobs it was always aeign

job that's what my dad would call it

yeah yeah would you buy one of those F

you know when I was a kid my dad had a

brother that was 20 years younger my

Uncle Tony and he was an artist type and

he bought a Ral doofen which is a little

French car it had a country horn beep

and a city horn beep beep and he brought

over my father father came got of car is

this for a man to drive it's not a man's

car what the hell is this thing with the

little beep be my father just couldn't

understand and and you know Tony was

very artistic and it just very funny

just very funny my dad always bought a

big you know Cadillac my dad used to

call Cadillac the Rolls-Royce

automobiles I go pop it can't be the

Rolls-Royce automobiles Cadillac is

Cadillac is it yeah but it's like the

Rolls-Royce no the Rolls-Royce is the

Rolls-Royce yeah have these ridiculous

arguments all the time it's very funny

but he he's got a very good book out

what's the name of your book keeping

both hands on a wheel keeping both hands

on very opo if you like reading American

immigrant success stories I love it

because my parents are immigrants and I

love immigrants that succeed in America

it's a really good book to to you should

pick it up very very good and

Rolls-Royce has having Banner years now

aren't they well we've had great years

um absolutely fabulous years but we

don't measure our success in volume now

granted we've been delivering somewhere

between 56,000 commissions for the past

three or four years uh last year was a

record year what's more important to us

is each one of those cars is becoming

more and more valuable so it's it's not

just about moving metal that's we're not

a car company from that perspective for

us it's about making sure that every

single Rolls-Royce is bespoke it's

personalized to the the client and that

it has more and more value to that

client so you know your Spectre is this

is the J Leno edition of Jay Leno's

Rolls-Royce okay so for us that that's

what a banner of year means is the more

bespoke work we do is makes us happier

it uh we have the capacity to do that

we're actually expanding uh we're at the

in the process of expanding our Factory

uh I hate calling it a factory our

facility our at in Goodwood not so much

to build more units deliver more cars

we're doing it so that every commission

we can do more bespoke content we can do

more um things like the Starlight

Headliners leather work we can do more

bodyw work we can do more interesting

bespoke uh exterior finishes we've got a

lot of things in the work from that

perspective yeah cuz when you think

about it when you buy an automobile now

there's not much you can do with it

anymore in the old days you get the

engine dress up kit and you put the abar

exhaust system on and you don't you

can't do any of that anymore so now you

you do color and trim and all all those

kind of things there's a lot you can do

I mean we actually do have a coach build

division at Rolls-Royce where you can uh

but it's it's very very small part of

the business and these are um very

exclusive cars uh we'll do two or three

every couple years it's quite a modern

Factory because it is an assembly line

it just moves a lot slower right than

our assembly line but the first time

when I bought my Bentley I went to crew

in

88 and they take me into the factory and

they show you here's the hole where the

bomb came through in 46 you know and

they still have a tarp over it so we go

I go down to the uh can I see the

leather oh s down the leather shop

there's an old lady there and there's a

pot of tea whistling go hello Deary how

are you hello sweet you voice have you

got oh yes I have oh good nice to meet

you L and she saw she saw this

hilarious and that's beautiful that's

that's part of of that's part of a

Heritage we're lucky that in uh when BMW

took over Rolls-Royce and became the

benefactor in '99 we're able to open up

Goodwood which is our the home of

Rolls-Royce in it's in see I was one of

those people very suspicious what's this

going to be but I think BMW has been a a

a good parent I me they've done a

wonderful job they've kept it in England

so you get that sense of English leather

and quality and all this kind of stuff

and it really is an extremely well put

together of what I said about my Bentley

Turbo whatever I do I'm amazed at just

how well put together is to traditional

body on chassis very oldfashioned but

the last days of old technology are

always superior to the first days of new

technology so that Bentley Turbo R is

just fantastic I mean I it's such a

pleasure to put the seats back in you

know I I didn't have to I didn't have to

get a a you know a power thing to break

the nuts and Bol everything just tight

right put it back boom and that's that's

what's beautiful about Goodwood is we

have we have a Heritage there history

people that are working in our bespoke

wood shop some of them are

multi-generational wood workers whose

grandfathers worked on ships and Yachts

um we have people that are working in

the leather shop now granted the the our

facilities are all brand new all post

2000 but we also have that Heritage of

craftsmanship the the there is um there

there are more than one now but we have

a master painter who paints the Coach

Lines yeah the guys I believe did this

this one yeah he did this one too this

is Mark Court I know yeah the you know I

I had a I had a pin striper guy come in

do my fire engine and that's a whole

different world guy shows up got his

little paint box big bottle of

Scotch does free hand all the way down

okay the other side other way down okay

does a little

filigree just passes out on the floor

Mark doesn't do that no no this guy does

and then okay he sleeps for a couple

hours gets up goes home comes in the

next day fresh bottle of scotch and

finishes the whole but never I mean all

freehand everything just amazing I don't

know how you could be drunk and do it

but well painting you know my my father

was a was a firefighter and I I watched

the number of fir trucks get painted

that's an art I know yeah that's a total

art yeah it really is yeah no the

factory is really something to see it is

and it's um yeah look Rolls-Royce

Motorcar comes from England and always

will come from England and you know you

you say we're having record years um our

objective is not to is not to build more

it's not to build we would love to have

more clients but you know I I know

that's always a debate in the luxury

world right oh can we can we go from

6,000 to more no that's that's not even

a discussion we're having at R TRS but

see this is better than a summer house

in Malibu this is my summer house in

Malibu it's just so much fun to drive it

is so quiet it's literally a concert

hall it's the best sound system I've

ever heard in a car because as I said

I've never bought a car because it was

comfortable before most people do how

comfortable is I just bought it because

it's fast or went around corners or

stopped better this just does and it

there's only one setting it's Comfort

sorry so you don't get in thinking well

should I try to no just don't get any

tickets just so to go along there's the

there's the onsetting and the offsetting

Paul thanks for coming by and being a

part of this really apprciate thank you

Jay thank thank you for your business

thank you for choosing rneg Rolls-Royce

as your dealer well I chose it because

you guys do a great job and it was it

was it was really fun everybody's very

knowledgeable they go in the parts

department they know exactly what I'm

talking about you know so it it it's

always been good so i' God I've been a

customer for 40 years I know and you'll

still be there after I'm

gone well let's give it a shot shall we

let's take it for a ride well let's take

a look at the

inside well that's actually my favorite

part well that's really what a

Rolls-Royce is all about I mean I have