VIDEO: Jay Leno drives the 1970 Hotchkis E-Max Challenger
Jay Leno and the 1970 Hotchkis E-Max Challenger - Click above to watch video after the jump
Well, well, well -- look who's jumping on our Hotchkis bandwagon. It's none other than Jay Leno behind the wheel of the 1970 Hotchkis E-Max Challenger! What a wonderful beast of an automobile.
To refresh your memory a bit, the suspension gurus at Hotchkis wanted to build a classic muscle car that not only looked and sounded the part, but that handled like a modern performance car. In fact, they wanted to take things a step further, so they went and built an auto-crosser. To quote ourselves, "Tooling around the 'hood a bit I'm slightly amazed at how much the bright yellow Dodge feels like a go kart. A gigantic go kart, but a go kart nonetheless."
And guess what? Jay feels the same way. Well, not quite the same, as he compares the handling to a Lamborghini. We're not prepared to go quite so far, but there is no question that as far as 1970 Mopars go, this is the best handling one out there, period. One thing Jay does that we didn't get to do is place the E-Max on a lift and get a guided tour of all the fancy-pants suspension components from none other than John Hotchkis himself. They examine the poly-bushings, the shiny tie-rods and the elegant A-arms that make up the E-Max's sophisticated front end, as well as the less-than-modern (but still nifty) solid-axle leaf-sprung rear. Then they venture out into the streets of Burbank for a little hoonage, including a smoky burnout. Watch the video, after the jump.
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Vetmstr 12:40PM (11/10/2009)
I know everyone loves Jay L but is it me or does he wear the same clothes ALL THE TIME!
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Vetmstr 12:40PM (11/10/2009)
lol lol I was first
Andre 12:41PM (11/10/2009)
That's his work/garage clothes.
abbas350 12:42PM (11/10/2009)
poor guy spends so much on cars he doesn't have any money for clothes. :(
Venom 12:57PM (11/10/2009)
Took the words right out of my mouth.
I clicked on here to say the same thing.
What is with people like him, Simon Cowell and Johnny Cash.
You have money, buy some other clothes. lol
ehisforadam 1:14PM (11/10/2009)
I'm guessing he's going by the idea of wearing the same sort of clothes all the time so he doesn't have to bother with picking them out. Einstein did this, Dean Kamen does it. I think it's sort of refreshing for someone in his position in the entertainment industry to not give a damn about what he wears, especially when he's doing what he loves.
That, and he can use the money he saves for more cars.
whoisjake 1:59PM (11/10/2009)
Canadian Tuxedo!
tanooki2003 12:50PM (11/10/2009)
Doood
What's up with the hair? Put on some presentable close for crying out loud. Oh wait, maybe this his way of secretly promoting his "real men" clothing line and designs.
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Yaroukh 1:07PM (11/10/2009)
from the photo it seems like some kind of bended laser bean is messing with his hair style O_o
katshot 1:01PM (11/10/2009)
Love the guy but it's always funny to hear guys that are only fairly well versed on a subject, talk like they're experts. It must drive his guests (many of whom ARE experts) crazy at times. Damn shame the burnout sounded so bad. Either the tune is off, or it's banging up against the rev-limiter.
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Tom Swift 1:37PM (11/10/2009)
Only one comment that isn't about his appearance. Wow!
I'm over my American muscle phase but if someone wanted to give me this Challenger I'd be all over it. Poor handling and braking were always these boats weak points but this is bad ass.
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Lawrence Phoenix 1:39PM (11/10/2009)
EVERY COLLEGE RADICAL ,CIRCA 1967-1971, WORE THIS EXACT OUTFIT...JAY'S BEING TRUE TO HIS ROOTS AND ERA...NOW GO BE SNARKY ABOUT SOMETHING YOU HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE OF...
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Sean 1:40PM (11/10/2009)
I love how he said "These cars are never done." So true. There is always a new idea, a new part, etc.
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abaxter84 1:43PM (11/10/2009)
video? there's no video for me
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katshot 1:58PM (11/10/2009)
Follow the link to Jay's Garage.
Brett MacPherson 1:43PM (11/10/2009)
I really love Jay Leno, but he barely spent any time talking about the car. WHY?!!?
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katshot 1:59PM (11/10/2009)
Because there's nothing terribly special about it.
Brett MacPherson 2:23PM (11/10/2009)
Oooohhhhh. How silly of me to expect to learn about the car.
I must admit that it was truly eye-opening to learn that rubber deteriorates and that a 70s muscle car DOESN'T handle like a modern car. Whodathunkit?
katshot 3:06PM (11/10/2009)
Did you see this?
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/23/review-1970-hotchkis-e-max-dodge-challenger-causes-smiles-lasti/
I wasn't kidding, the car is nothing special, especially by today's standards where every Tom, Dick and Harry are doing much the same mods to their cars. Personally, I can't believe Jay wasted his time (and ours) with a story on this car.
katshot 3:07PM (11/10/2009)
Did you ever read this?
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/23/review-1970-hotchkis-e-max-dodge-challenger-causes-smiles-lasti/
I wasn't being a wise guy. The car really isn't anything "special". Personally, I can't believe Jay wasted his (and our) time on it.
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