The star of the Cadillac event at the GM Design Center tonight is the as-of-yet unrevealed Cadillac Urban Concept, but for us the big star's been Jay Leno, who was nice enough to talk with me about Corvairs over burgers.
When I saw Jay Leno he was talking to reporters about how Cadillac has transitioned from an old man's brand to a young man's car. Perhaps. But at the moment I'm more interested in his other opinions so I muscled my way into the interview session and introduced myself.
After a bit of talk about the site we asked him the hard questions. Particularly, Jalopnik Floor Reporter Scott Nehls asked him, oddly, if he loved old Pontiac Trans Am Turbos.
Sadly, Jay insisted he wasn't a huge fan of any cars from the Malaise Era. In his words, "It didn't happen."
We then talked about how turbines and how quiet they are relative to other vehicles and the bad rap it gets for exhaust temperatures when the heat regeneration tech actually limits it. And then the actual, non Trans Am-related, tough questions. What are the most overrated/underrated classics?
"The Delahayes are really just Chevys with a nice body and a truck engine," Jay said. Underrated? "The Corvair, great cars. I got mine for $600 on the side of the road with four flats."
All this happened while waiting for burgers and we eventually let him eat. More to come soon.