1991 GMC Syclone Pickup Truck
Video Coming October 31
Like all great feats of the imagination, the EcoJet began life on a napkin. As an auto enthusiast, Jay Leno had always wanted to design his own car, and when he conceived the notion for a high-performance, yet environmentally friendly, vehicle the pen and napkin came out, and eight months later the results were premiered at the 2006 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.
The primary goal was to design and build a car that ran on environmentally friendly, renewable bio-diesel fuel and that didn't drive like a Prius. Of course, as Jay has quipped, that makes harvest time the only time of year when there'll be plenty of fuel available, but that's beside the point.
The heart of the EcoJet is a 650-horsepower Honeywell LT-101 turbine engine, which sits inside a modified Corvette Z06 hydroformed aluminum frame with aluminum and magnesium structural and chassis components. The vehicle's shell is an advanced construction of carbon fiber over Kevlar, and the body is painted with environmentally friendly paint from Glasurit's 9 Line Waterborne Technology lines, which is designed to dramatically reduce emissions during application.
Though the car was built almost entirely at Jay's Big Dog Garage, the design and engineering was actually overseen by GM under the leadership of Ed Welburn, GM Vice President of Global Design and Frank Saucedo, head of GM's Design Studio in North Hollywood, California.
With aeronautical and jet-age influences, the EcoJet's design conveys power, capability, and even a hint of danger, but ultimately, the project is intended to inspire would-be automotive designers by showing that with a little creativity (and more money than brains), an environmentally friendly performance car is not only possible but also breathtaking.
Related:
EcoJet: Definitive Edition
Ecojet Part 4
Ecojet Part 3
EcoJet Car - SEMA 2K6
Ecojet Part 2
Ecojet Part 1
