Kendall Jenner Has Jay Leno to Thank for Her Pristine '56 Corvette

Jay Leno pays the Jenners a visit in Malibu to talk car history.

December 1, 2016

Not Available Lead — Image via Complex Original
Complex Original

Jay Lenoloves cars. Dude even set aside a series of giant hangars at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, named the space Jay Leno's Big Dog Garage, then filled it with a bunch of automobiles. Leno also, presumably, knows quite a bit about how the hell cars even operate and which ones are actually worth your dime. That's why Caitlyn Jenner, a longtime friend of the Leno crew, gave him a ring when her daughter Kendall needed some new wheels.

"You know, that's actually the first year Corvette got real serious about building a sports car," Leno told the Jenners on Wednesday's episode of Jay Leno's Garage while admiring Kendall's 1956 classic. Kendall was inspired to purchase the car after Caitlyn showed her Leno's 1957 model at Big Dog Garage. "She won't let me drive it, Jay," Caitlyn joked of the Corvette, which is in near-perfect condition and was rebuilt by a National Corvette Restorers Society member.

As Kendall took Leno for a televised cruise, the former Tonight Show host doubled down on the need to refuse literally everyone's request to get behind the wheel. "Never give it to a valet," Leno insisted. "And don't let your idiot friends drive it." Leno would likely feel personally insulted if something ever happened to the Corvette, as he was apparently quite involved with the entire transaction that resulted in Jenner copping it.

"Jay had just bought a C1 and it was sitting smack in the middle of the entrance to his collection and Kendall couldn’t stop staring at it," a Jay Leno's Garage producer told the Drive Thursday. "She fell in love on the spot. Another producer on the show is a buyer and seller and found her a proper one. Jay called them up and Kendall bought it, with her own money."