25.06 US Comedian Jay Leno Takes Iconic Soviet Car for Spin
WASHINGTON, June 25 (RIA Novosti) Popular US comedian and talk show host Jay Leno says his fellow Los Angeles residents dont pay him much mind when he cruises around the city in his Soviet-built Volga Gaz-21 sedan, though he presumably draws some glances when yelling Perestroika out of his window.
The novelty of being a vintage Russian car is about all the Volga has going for it. Still, I like it for what it is, and cruising in the Volga puts me into an entirely different frame of mind, Leno, a vintage car collector who has hosted the popular late-night program The Tonight Show for more than 20 years, wrote in a recent essay for the US magazine Popular Mechanics.
Driving down the road, I find myself yelling, Perestrooiikkaa! But I have to remember that if I wander into a Russian community, a few older people might still get a chill down their spines, Leno added, though he did not specify why a mention of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevs 1980s reform program would rattle elderly ?migr?s.
Leno said that he acquired his 1966 model of the Soviet-built car around 18 months ago and that it met his expectations for a vehicle built by a Communist country of the 1960s.
Its overbuilt, its slow, and its as utilitarian as a screwdriver, Leno wrote.
