Jay Leno Has a Harley-Davidson Ford F-150 to Sell You
It’s for charity, comes with a free CD and a tour of Leno’s garage.
This week’s installment of Jay Leno’s Garage is an ad for the 2000 Harley-Davidson F-150 by Ford. While it may seem peculiar to spend nearly 20 minutes hyping a 16-year-old truck, the Chambrayed One isn’t walking us down memory lane because he’s gone senile. No, he’s auctioning off the truck, with 100 percent of proceeds going to fight multiple sclerosis, during a Barrett-Jackson auction on Jan. 29 in Scottsdale, Ariz., and he wants you to see what you’ll be getting. And what, precisely, is that?
The first ever produced “luxury truck.” Back in the early Nineties, the powers that be instituted a five-percent luxury tax on any car that cost more than $30,000. The operative word there is “car,” because no such tax was levied against trucks. So, according to Leno, manufacturers started to trim their steel steeds with all the finest leather and power everything. The Harley-Davidson F-150 was the first to reach production. And we do mean that particular F-150 under Leno’s hands. Because of course Leno got the first one to roll off the line. Of course there was a ceremony for him and this truck in Detroit. Which, of course, means it’s special, modified just for Leno.
For starters, it’s got a special 5.4-liter Lightning power plant under the hood, which gives it 360 horsepower and 440 pound-feet of torque, giving it 100 more ponies than the base engine mustered. While later models did come with a supercharger, Leno’s was the first by a few years. It’s also still got all the original extra bits, including a Harley branded mug and flashlight, and it came with a country-music compilation CD that Leno feels obliged to bestow on the new owner.
Leno only put 2,000 miles on the car, something he repeats ad nauseum in the video, so there’s that, too. If it’s not a good enough deal, Leno will also throw in a cassette he used to listen to (remember cassettes?). The title? “Vintage Car Sounds.” Couple that with the fact that the auction winner can choose to accept delivery at Leno’s garage and get a tour of the facility, and this is all sounding rather grand. Where’s our checkbook?
