Jay Leno is without a doubt one of the biggest names in both comedy and cars, alongside Jerry Seinfeld. Over the years, his eclectic car collection has seen a wide variety of interesting modern and antique cars. His show Jay Leno’s Garage features many of them, and if you’re ever in Malibu on a Sunday morning, you may just see him driving one around.
One of the most intriguing cars in his garage is known as his “Tank Car,” but it’s official name is the Blastolene Special. And if the name itself doesn’t hint at it, this is one unique car.
The Blastolene Company
Randy Grubb is a walking definition of an eccentric artist, everything about him is brilliant. His passion and enthusiasm for creativity with automotive art is evident in all of his several guest appearances on Jay Leno’s Garage, including the Piss’d Off Pete, Deco-pods, and Decoliner bus.
Randy is the guy behind Blastolene, what he describes as a group of autonomous artists helping each other along their creative path with the application of expertise. He stays true to his process and his art, refusing to make the same piece twice - so don’t expect to see another Jay Leno’s Tank Car.
His primary canvas is aluminum, but he was also a glassblower in a former life. He claims that he left behind chopping cars to make his projects about 15 years ago. He now starts all of his creations with a simple pencil and paper. His ideas generally begin with a cool, unique motor, and then how to wrap it up in an engaging, interesting sculpture. Time is no factor, Randy is a firm believer in taking his time to finish a project correctly. It’s a lost art, really. Jay teases him in one of his episodes about not following the money, but Grubb is set on living a life of creativity and passion.
Watch this video to see him go over the details of creating the Decoliner with The Smoking Tire’s Matt Farah, back when he worked for DriveTV.
Blastolene Special - The Tank Car
The Tank Car, also known as the Blastolene Special was one of Randy Grubbs' earlier creations. Randy and his buddy Mike Leeds finished the vehicle in 2001, in their shop in Grants Pass, Oregon. It took them less than one year to see the project through from start to finish.
It all began with the M47 Patton Tank engine, weighing about 2,500-lbs - about as much as a Volkswagen Beetle. The massive engine once powered a 51-ton Korean War tank which had cost the American government $110,000 a piece in 1953.
The Continental AV1790-5B, a 1,800 cubic inch engine was powered by a Greyhound bus transmission. It had a 12-cylinder Hemi head with an overhead cam. The original engine made about 990 horsepower and 1,600 lb-ft of torque.
Gas mileage is expectedly poor with the 9,500-lb aluminum beast. Jay Leno jokes that the 35 gallon tank is good for about 80 miles before it’s time for a refill. Surprisingly, the massive engine runs on regular premium pump gas. It initially only averaged about 3 mpg, by the time Leno was finished with his restoration, it had nearly doubled to 5-6 mpg.
The Blastolene special was built as a show car and meant to resemble the Bonneville Land Speed record cars from the 1930s. Speeds reach nowhere close to the former record breakers, but the inspiration is evident.
A master with aluminum, Randy has polished the hand-crafted body to achieve a chrome-like look that glimmers proudly. Exposed rivets are used throughout the entire build,and the openings on the side allow for the big air-cooled engine to suck in fresh circulation through its gills while also showing off the engine’s fine craftsmanship.
The driver sits with ¾ of the car in view ahead, highlighting that old-school dragster feeling. The wheelbase of this monster is 190 inches, compare that to a 107 inch Mustang GT.
Jay Leno's Tank Car
Jay Leno got his hands on the Blastolene Special for $125,000 back in 2003. The value of the car is estimated to be around $350,000 but it’s hard to say how much money Jay has put into the car himself.
When he first bought it, the Tank Car had no rear brakes, no headlights or turn signals. The tank engine made so much torque that a minor step on the gas nearly twisted the chassis, so it also had to be reinforced. Jay added big struts to the side and fitted the front end with a GMC truck axle. Jay also gave it a new six-speed Allison automatic gearbox and an entirely new electrical system.
The engine was later upgraded after the previous one spilt 70 quarts of oil all over a California road. The new engine was given fuel injection and twin turbochargers from Gale Banks Engineering. The power of the Tank Car almost doubled from 900 horses to 1,600 in the stable with a 2,900 rpm redline. The 30L V12 produces an even more impressive 3,000 lb-ft of torque and pulls the Tank from 0-60 in just 6.2 seconds - the equivalent of a modern-day Mini Cooper S. Top speed is over 140 mph and it can do a standing quarter-mile run in 14.7 seconds at 93 mph.
The best part about Jay Leno and his car collection is that he loves to enjoy his cars and share his extensive knowledge with the rest of us. If you’re lucky, he can be spotted driving his big Tank Car around Southern California, that or one of his other cars in his 400 vehicles collection.