Anyone who works in Hollywood can own cars that are desirable. They have money, they can buy up whatever they want so that they can be seen in the vehicle of their dreams. But finding true car guys among the stars, now that’s a bit different. Can you think of any? I can: comedian Gabriel Iglesais, who has a fixation on Volkswagen buses. It’s only one brand and one model, but he’s hardcore about their restorations and care. That’s a car guy. I don’t know if Ryan Gosling is a legitimate hands-on car guy or not off of the top of my head, but he did own and build the 1973 Chevelle used in the 2011 movie “Drive”, rescuing it out of a junkyard and rebuilding everything but the transmission on his own accord. That lends a bit of credit to the actor. But if you want legacy car guys in the land of fruits and nuts, two names stick out bigger than life: Tim Allen and Jay Leno.
As best as I can tell, Tim Allen is the only TV guy I can think of who actually restored a car that he owned while shooting a family sitcom in the 1990s. Home Improvement and his Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor get-up were the perfect way to intertwine the restoration of a 1946 Ford droptop while taping the show, and his 1955 Chevrolet Nomad was a star on the show as well as the “Binford 6100” Chevrolet Impala SS, which sports an LT-5 engine that was punched out to 6.3L. Leno needs no introduction…his restoration shop and collection are legendary not only for Hollywood, but for anyone who can punch his name into YouTube’s search engine, where his “Jay Leno’s Garage” show continually features the interesting vehicles that cross his path.
Judging from the age of that Saleen Mustang that Allen wields in this clip from The Tonight Show, we’d have to assume that this is about 1993-1995 timeframe at the latest. Both cars are claimed to be “the wife’s car” and the idea was to see who could lay the longer patch. While some late-night viewers sat watching two men have a mid-life crisis argument, every gearhead that had tuned in for a laugh was left picking sides. Who won, Leno or The Tool Man?
The story I heard was Tim Allen was doing stand up comedy in LA (at the Comedy Store?) and came out of the venue and Saleen Mustangs were parked in Valet. He got interested in them and eventually started working with Steve Saleen directly. I remember watching this Tonight Show live! I was at Cal Poly Pomona and would cruise Colley Ford Glendora and Frontier Ford San Dimas at night looking for Saleen’s on the lot. My neighbor had a black 5.0 convertible Saleen and I would drool every time he cruised by. I eventually bought a black 5.0 hatchback but it wasn’t a Saleen. I even thought of giving my 5.0 hatchback the Saleen aftermarket treatment but I couldn’t afford it on my recent graduate salary. Cool memories.
It should be mentioned that Tim Allen is a true car guy to the extent that in 1995 he co-founded the Saleen/Allen \”RRR\” Speedlab racing team with Steve Saleen (named after his famous catchphrase in Home Improvement). The team was quite successful, winning the 1996 SCCA World Challenge Manufacturer\’s Championship, and numerous other race wins during that era.