It's no secret that celebrities typically have impressive car collections, but there's one that shines above them all – even above Paul McCartney's car collection. Of course, we're talking about none other than the man, the myth, the legend, Jay Leno.

With more than 180 cars and 160 motorcycles in his collection, Leno is bound to have some ostentatious classic cars, and modern ones too. Name it, and chances are that Jay has one example of it nesting in his garage. From iconic American muscle cars from the '60s to modern hypercars, there are all sorts of crazy cars in Jay Leno's garage.

Throughout his massive collection, there are quite a few cars that stretch beyond $1 million. Although impressive, there is one more feat these cars carry... they're excruciatingly rare. So, today we're going to take a look at some of Jay Leno's rarest cars.

UPDATE: 2024/03/26 17:48 EST BY MARTIN PETER

How we made our model selections: We arranged ten of the rarest cars in Jay Leno's garage best on rarity (total units produced globally) from least to most rare.

10 1939 Lagonda V12: 100 Units

From homologated Le Mans car we move over to a near-carbon copy Le Mans race car, the 1939 Lagonda V12. Only two original Le Mans Lagonda V12 were made, and none are in Leno's garage. He does own a wonderfully recreated replica of the 1939 race car, and it's extremely rare too. According to H and H auctions, only about 100 of these 1939 Le Mans Lagonda V12 replicas survive today.

Powering this stellar-looking race car was of course a gorgeous naturally-aspirated 4.5-liter V12 engine that churned out around 200 hp. Despite the Lagonda V12 being rare and difficult to drive, Leno still stretches its legs occasionally.

Specifications

9 1953 Cunningham C3: 25 Units

With only 25 examples of the Cunningham C3 coupe in existence, the C3 remains the least rare on our list somehow. The Cunningham C3 had only one goal in mind... to be a homologation special.

By building 25 units of the Cunningham C3, Briggs Cunningham, the mastermind behind the C3, hoped he could enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans races alongside Jaguar, Aston Martin, and so forth. It's surreal to think Jay Leno got the chance to pick one of these up.

Specifications

8 1963 Chrysler Turbine: 9 Units

The Space Age produced some pretty iconic cars. One of them was the Chrysler Turbine Car which was built in the early '60s when Jay Leno was just 14 years old. The Chrysler Turbine Car had a stunning body built by renowned Italian design house Carrozzeria Ghia and, as its name suggests, it was powered by a turbine.

Chrysler built 55 Turbine Cars, including five prototypes and 50 cars for a public user program that Chrysler hoped would help it know whether to put it into production or not. Sadly, the user program exposed several problems that ultimately made Chrysler abandon the project, including the car's complex starting procedure, sub-par fuel economy, and relatively unimpressive acceleration. As a result, Chrysler reclaimed and destroyed all but nine Turbine cars. Chrysler has two of the remaining cars, six are on display in various museums across the US, and the only one in a private collection belongs to none other than Jay Leno.

Specifications

7 1989 Ford Shogun: 7 Units

In the late '80s, Ford partnered with Yamaha to build one of the coolest American sleeper cars of all time – the Taurus SHO. The Taurus SHO shared its body shell with the standard Taurus but had a different drivetrain (a Yamaha 3.0-liter DOHC V6 with 220 hp on tap), suspension, brakes, and wheels. It also had a five-speed manual transmission.

Impressed with the Taurus SHO, American engineer Chuck Beck had the crazy idea of taking its drivetrain and stuffing it into the Ford Festiva to create one of the coolest hot hatches of the day. The result was the Festiva Shogun. Beck even started a company with a plan to build 250 examples of the hot hatch. Ford initially loved the idea and was even planning to provide Beck with the SHO engines directly, but the deal fell through after executives test-drove the car. In the end, Beck only built seven cars (including the prototype) and Jay owns one of them.

Specifications

6 2010 Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita: 2 Units

None of Koenigsegg's cars are how do we say... mass-produced. But the 2010 Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita takes the cake for being the rarest Koenigsegg ever. To be exact, only two CCXR Trevita examples exist, of which one was Floyd Mayweather's. He has since sold it for $2.6 million.

Why so much you ask? Apart from the staggering twin-supercharged 4.8-liter V8 that punches north of 1,000 hp and 796 lb-ft of torque, many of its components are diamond-infused. Talk about flexing your jewelry.

Specifications

5 1950 Mercedes-Benz Racecar Transporter: 2 Units

Even way back when, car brands who competed in big races needed to transport their cars to the racetrack safely. Mercedes-Benz's answer to this conundrum was to build its own transporting truck in 1950. The 1950 Mercedes-Benz Racecar Transporter was special in many ways. For starters, it shared some design cues with the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300SL that set it apart from other racecar transporters. It also had the 300SL's powerful 3.0-liter straight-six engine, making it the fastest racecar transporter with top speeds of over 100 mph.

Unfortunately, Mercedes-Benz destroyed the original 1950 Racecar Transporter in the '60s since it was outdated, leading to a public outcry from people who loved it. After the backlash, Mercedes-Benz built an exact replica of the 1950 Racecar Transporter, and it currently sits in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Germany. Another replica was built by a Swedish gentleman shortly after, and years later Jay Leno acquired it and restored it. Leno now uses it to transport his racecars.

Specifications

4 1934 Duesenberg Walker Coupe: 1 Unit

Many Duesenberg cars came to fruition throughout history, but the most expensive Doozy ever made – at least when referring to MSRP at the time – the 1934 Duesenberg Walker Coupe takes the cake. Back in 1934, it had a sticker price of $25,000, which is over $500,000 in 2024.

Apart from it being drop-dead gorgeous, only one Duesenberg Walker Coupe was ever made. Duesenbergs typically are some of the most expensive American cars sold at auction, so you can imagine how much the Walker Coupe would go for if Jay Leno were to sell it today.

Specifications

3 1963 Jaguar XK-E: 1 Unit (Technically)

The Jaguar E-Type is undoubtedly one of the best British sports cars of all time, and with many produced, one would wonder why it's on a 'rare cars' list. however, Jay Leno's E-Type is different from the others. For the average onlooker, Jay Leno's 1963 Jaguar XK-E looks nearly identical to any other E-Type, but it's rather special. Contrary to other Series 1 E-Types that retained a 3.8-liter inline-six, Leno's 1963 Jaguar XK-E used a custom 5.7-liter V12.

But it doesn't stop there. This particular XK-E is the only short-wheelbase XK-E that features a V12 in the world, which is why it deserves a spot on this list.

Specifications

2 2006 GM EcoJet Concept: 1 Unit

One of the rarest cars Jay Leno owns is one that no one else had the chance to buy, the 2006 GM EcoJet, which is one of the coolest American concept cars. Despite the EcoJet being not much more than a concept car, it opened everyone's eyes to alternative methods to traditional internal combustion engines.

In the middle of the EcoJet laid a turbine engine that used bio-diesel fuel. In fact, it put out a staggering 650 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. Since then, another collaboration between GM and Jay Leno is yet to take place.

Specifications

1 1931 Shotwell: 1 Unit

Never heard of the 1931 Shotwell before? Well don't worry, we barely knew of it beforehand too. That said, the story behind the 1931 Shotwell is incredible, and it's all thanks to Bob Shotwell.

When Shotwell was 17 years old, he decided to put his hands to work and crafted the Shotwell car by hand. The Shotwell used an Indian Motorcycles engine and had three wheels – two in the front and one in the rear. Thereafter, Shotwell drove the car a total of 150,000 miles. Over the years, the Shotwell accumulated a lot of damage but thankfully, Jay Leno acquired it and gave it a full restoration. As you might know, being hand-built, only one Shotwell exists, and it's nesting in Jay Leno's garage.

Specifications

Sources: YouTube/ Jay Leno's Garage, Hagerty, Bonhams, H and H, Koenigsegg,