The Blastolene Special, also known as the "Tank Car", is a unique, specially built car, designed and built by American master craftsman Randy Grubb. The car is currently owned by American entertainer

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

, who regularly drives it on public streets, and also has the car on display at various car shows and meets (such as Cars and Coffee events for example) in the greater Los Angeles area, and the Californian car culture enthusiast scene. Created from an American military tank engine and a custom-made aluminium body,Blastolene Special official site
URL accessed 17 October 2013 it originally produced 810 bhp (600 kW) at 2,800 rpm and 1,560 ft lb (2,120 N·m) of torque at 2,400 rpm.Car and Driver article
URL accessed 17 October 2013 The car weighs 9,500 pounds (4,300 kg) which is 1/11th the weight of the original tank from which the engine was used.
URL accessed 25 February 2007

History

In 2001, the Blastolene Special was built by craftsman Randy Grubb. It is powered by a

Continental AV1790 The Continental AV1790 is an American V12 engine used in armored vehicles. Produced by Continental Motors, the AV1790 was used in a variety of limited production and pilot heavy tanks, including the M53 and M55 howitzers, and the T30 and M10 ...

-5B, a huge engine that weighs as much as a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

, which was previously used in the 51-ton

M47 Patton Tank The M47 Patton was an American main battle tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, comman ...

in the 1950s. It also features a Greyhound bus transmission and a retro designed sheet metal body. Jay Leno put it into the extensive collection of cars he owns —84 cars and 73 motorcycles .theFabricator article on Jay Leno's cars
/ref> The car was built at Grubb's shop in

Grants Pass, Oregon Grants Pass is the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, along the Rogue River. The population was 39,189 at the 2020 census. History Early Hudson's Bay Company hunt ...

. After purchasing the car, Jay Leno made numerous enhancements to the roadworthiness of the vehicle, including a new six-speed Allison automatic gearbox, new rear brakes, new electrical system, and chassis work. The engine was later upgraded with fuel injection and twin turbochargers from

Gale Banks Gale Banks (born 1942) is an American hot rodder, drag racer, engineer, and entrepreneur who grew up in Lynwood, California. His company, Gale Banks Engineering, sells performance parts for automotive and marine engines. It specializes in diese ...

and his company,

Gale Banks Engineering Gale Banks Engineering and its four divisions, Banks Power, Banks Technology, Banks Marine, and Banks Racing, are companies created by Southern California hot rodder and automobile engineer Gale Banks. These companies design, engineer, and build h ...

. It is now estimated to produce and of torque.

Facts

* Introduced as "The Jay Leno Tank Car" on

Gran Turismo 4 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertai ...

, it ended up in the game "by accident" when the development team visited Jay's garage to record some engine sounds. They noticed the car and put it in the game on behalf of their intrigue.Channel4 Interview with Jay Leno on "The Tank Car"
URL accessed 25 February 2007 * During one of the first freeway test drives an unsuitable oil line ruptured and dumped the entire 17 gallons of oil onto the road * The car gets 5 miles per gallon (up from the original performance of 2–3 miles per gallon, after the transmission was replaced.) * The engine red-lines at 2,900 rpm. * Jay Leno brought the car on his show when interviewing

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

and introduced it as "The Terminator car". * Jay Leno had a tuning company,

, add twin turbochargers to the engine, not for higher power but to get better fuel economy. Blastolene has since made a similar car styled after a 1950s-era Indy Car, called the Blastolene Indy Special.

Specifications

* Weight — 4,300 kg (9500 lb) * Length — 6.40 metres (252 in) * Transmission — 6-speed Allison automatic * Quarter Mile — 14.7 seconds @ * Top Speed — 140 mph+ * and of torque Car and Driver Blastolene Special Specifications

References

{{Reflist

External links

Blastolene Special at Randy Grubb's official site

Car and Driver articleGale Banks official websiteClubhotrod gallery pictures of the vehicle
One-off cars Individual cars

History

Facts

Specifications

See also

References

External links