When it comes to classic cars, nobody collects them quite like Jay Leno. With his garage estimated to be worth over $50 million, loaded with priceless supercars and timeless classics, it's clear that Leno enjoys the finer, pricier things in life.

But despite his top of the line taste, Leno still manages to find pleasure in the little things. Or in this case, the very little things. When it comes to the cheapest car Leno has bought new, it would probably have to be the Indian built Tata Nano which was the cheapest car in the world when it was introduced in 2008. Leno had the $2000 car imported from India, and it featured on his YouTube Channel, Jay Leno's Garage. In the video, Leno wore a designed suit (Sherwani) which actually cost more than the Nano. However, Leno can never drive the car on public roads as the lack of airbags and other US regulations, the Nano is not road legal in the US. He was very impressed with the air-conditioning system in the little four-door car. However, it is not the cheapest car Leno posses.

Brilliant engineering and clever problem-solving hold a special place in Leno's piston-powered heart, and all sorts of creative tinkering can be found under the hood of classic Fiats. They're small, simple, and have managed to stay affordable through the years, and Jay's Fiat Topolino ended up being the cheapest car in his garage.

While Jay Leno loves to splurge on cars unattainable to the working class, there's still plenty of room in his garage for reasonably priced cars. So let's take a look at the cheapest car in Jay Leno's garage.

Update July 2022: This article was updated with additional information about the cheapest car owned by Jay Leno.

Related: This Is The Most Powerful Fiat Ever Made

The Fiat 500 "Topolino"

Via: Hemmings

First introduced in 1936, the Fiat Topolino was the first iteration of the 500, a name that lives on to this day (though in much larger and safer models). The car was only meant to put Italy on wheels, but the Topolino managed to put Fiat on the world stage as well. It ran for 19 years and, over 500,000 units, and paved the way for the Fiat 500 most people recognize today.

Under the hood is a 569cc four-cylinder engine that puffed out 13 horsepower. While that's not a lot of pep, it could get the tiny car up to about 54 miles per hour, and that's all Italians really needed. It's size fit perfectly onto the winding brick roads. The power got it going and kept the car running smooth. But the most important element of the car to the lower-class consumers is that the car got around 50 miles per gallon.

Via: Jay Leno's Garage

Now, let's do some quick math: The Topolino sold in Italy for around 9000 lire, which back in 1936 equated to around $450 USD. Account for inflation and the Topolino sold for about $8,500 in 2020. That's dirt cheap by today's standards, especially when you realize new Fiats cost twice as much. And because it didn't amass a cult following quite like the second-generation 500 Nuevo did, the price hasn't shot up as drastically as other classics from the same era.

Related: These Are The 10 Craziest Cars To Ever Appear On Jay Leno's Garage

Here's a little fun fact: the Topolino is actually smaller than a Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle (126in x 50in compared to 160in x 60in) and was released 2 years before the Beetle was. But because a Type 1 Beetle in 1938 would've only cost $5,440.00 in 2020, it sold much faster than the Topolino.

The difference? Classic Beetles are highly sought after, whereas the Topolino has somewhat faded away. But if you look hard enough, you can find Topolinos for sale online at around $20,000, whereas first model year beetles can cost 30 or 40 grand a pop.

In comparison to the screamers in Leno's garage, a $20,000 Topolino is chump change, but that's not the only reason Jay latched onto this cheap car.

Jay Leno Has A Soft Spot For Fiats

Via: duPont Registry Daily

When Fiat merged with Chrystler and made a comeback to the states, nobody was more excited than Leno. Currently, there are two Fiats in his garage, the Topolino and a 1959 Millecento (a mid-sized Italian sedan that would've equated to a Ford Fairline back in the day), though he also owned a 2012 Fiat 500, and loves them all for their clever packaging.

Inside both of Leno's Fiats, he feels comfortable (despite his size). The Topolino managed to have incredible legroom because of the microscopic engine being as far forward as possible, and Leno claims that, quote, "someone 6 feet tall wearing a top hat could sit inside."

But along with immense practicality wrapped up in tiny cars, Leno has an appreciation for the culture behind Fiats, and other cheap, European "people cars." Classic Fiats sold in America were forced onto grueling highways, revving at their limit for hours on end. Inevitably, they broke down and were considered bad cars because they couldn't keep up with the USA's brutal motorways. But in Italy, with its warm climate and small roads, things are different. The Topolino fit into the environment like a glove, and the lower-class Italian families who owned them took better care of them than middle-class Americans. But one thing is abundantly clear: Leno loves his Fiats.

Related: Someone Calculated What It Costs Jay Leno To Pay Car Insurance

Other Cheap Cars Leno Bought And Sold

Via: Jay Leno's Garage

As the title clearly states, the Topolino is the cheapest car in Jay Leno's garage. Keyword: in. The Topolino is not, however, the cheapest car Jay has ever owned. That title belongs to a Chevy Vega.

While we don't know exactly what year that Vega was, Leno bought it for a whopping $150 and added it to his personal collection of vehicles for a short period of time. The thing was a piece of junk (though for $150, one should expect nothing less), and it got to the point where the front bumper just fell off as Leno's wife was tooling around town. That car has since been sold, to which Jay says "good riddance."

There are other cars that have been or were in Leno's garage that anyone can afford, such as a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 (Priced at $37,995 new) along with the 2012 Fiat 500 mentioned earlier (priced at $16,000 new). But neither of those comes close to the little Fiat Topolino, which is cheaper to fill, fix, and run than any other car in Leno's collection.