True car enthusiasts have an appreciation for Jay Leno. His unique personal collection, along with his show, “Jay’s Garage” where he often samples and reviews great cars, are certainly impressive, to say the least. His passion for automobiles is resonant with some of his most treasured personal investments.

One such truck in his collection may just be one of the oldest models you’ll ever see. He recently took this gem of a truck on a cruise, and we dove in to learn more.

Jay Leno, the car collector’s aficionado

Leno’s collection is well over 250 vehicles, many of which are motorcycles. His custom garage is probably bigger than most residential homes and its contents worth millions. He offers automotive insights with his own columns in Sunday Times and Popular Mechanics. When he’s not showcasing vehicles on his television show or YouTube channel you may find him driving around in some of the coolest and iconic rides of all time.

Some of the coolest cars in Jay Leno’s collection

Jay Leno doesn’t just collect cars to sit in his garage. He drives, maintains, and modifies them as well. For example, he beefed up his 1966 Oldsmobile Tornado for 1,000-hp and rear-wheel drive.

Not all of his cars are old, either. He loves his R8 Spyder, one of the fastest sports cars in the world. And, money is no object for some of his pieces. One of Leno’s most expensive cars is his 2014 McLaren P1. Considering it’s one of only 375 models in existence, among other unique attributes, the McLaren carried a $1.35 million price tag.

You won’t see Leno allowing his beauties to collect dust, either. He often enjoys his collection from behind the wheel. Even the 1909 Stanley Steamer gets time on the road, despite the 30 minutes it takes Leno to get it ready. There’s one vintage collectible, though, that may be the oldest you’ll see on the road.

The oldest truck you’ll ever see

You might spot Jay Leno tooling around Los Angeles in one of the oldest trucks you’ll ever see. The 100-year-old coal truck was built without seatbelts and a hand crank starter.

The name might be misleading; it is not fueled by coal. Instead, it was intended to transport coal as the heavy-duty model truck in its day. The entertaining video with Dennis Gage of MyClassicCarTV and Jay Leno together shows just how much fun it is to learn and enjoy a bit of history behind the wheel.

It certainly wouldn’t pass any crash testing of today’s standards, but this 1916 Autocar Coal Truck is a true gem to Leno, and to any enthusiast who appreciates the Autocar historical value.

Autocar serves a special purpose

Believe it or not, Autocar is still producing trucks today. What began as a purpose-built car in 1899, has since transitioned into one of the most dominant and iconic brands in premier severe-duty work trucks of today.

The original Autocar design was intended to deliver mail in a safer method than by horse. Jay Leno’s 1916 coal truck was part of the generation launched in 1911, when Autocar decided to abandon the cars and focus on building custom-engineered trucks for the most demanding commercial jobs, as part of the industrial revolution. Autocar continues to embody the purpose-built mission, and in 2019, brought back the original 100-year-old logo.

We found one comment on this recent video collaboration with Leno and Gage from a mechanic with 20+ years of experience under cars. He offered respect to Leno as a true pillar of automotive collecting and restoration genius, citing he learns something new every time he tunes into Leno’s videos. Other comments praise and seem eager for more. People love the collector as much as they love the collection.