As you all know, Jay Leno is the host of "The Tonight Show". He is also a car guy but not one of those fancy-pansy wannabe aficionados. Leno loves cars, in fact he loves them so much that he has a dream garage with more than 80 vehicles ranging from a 1928 Bugatti Type 37A and a 1958 Lancia Aurelia to the modern day Dodge Challenger SRT8 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. So, you could say that Leno knows a thing or two when it comes to collecting cars. In the latest issue of Popular Mechanics, Leno attempts to predict which of today's automobiles have the potential to become future classics - with one twist; they must be cars that you can actually use for your everyday transportation.
First up is one we think that you'll all agree upon, the first-generation Toyota Prius chiefly because history has already marked it down as the first mass produced hybrid model. Next in the list is the Mazda Miata MkI which Leno believes will be the "ultimate affordable collectible by 2025'. To finish up with the Japanese collectibles, Leno also picked out the first iteration of the Honda Insight hybrid model.
Moving on to cars from American automakers, Leno predicted that the first generation Ford Taurus will be seen as "a real styling triumph in the mid-1980s" while today's young men will find large SUVs like Hummers and Cadillac Escalades extremely appealing in their 50s and 60s in 2025. "The Hummer will be the '59 Cadillac of 2025," Leno said.
The TV host also predicts that due to its manual gearbox and of course its sporty nature, the sporty Cadillac CTS-V will become a future classic as will the Pontiac Aztek but for a completely different reason - because its odd-looking and weird. Finally, Leno finds that small and cute city cars like the new Smart and MINI will become collectibles. "If a woman was cute 20 years ago, she's cute today. The same is true for cars," he said and we couldn't agree more.
However, if we want to nitpick, we'd say that it's a pity that Leno did not include any other European and Japanese cars in his list as we reckon that vehicles like the Mitsubishi Lancer EVOs, Subaru Impreza WRX STIs and Audi TTs (among others sold in the U.S.) have the potential to become future classics.
Via: Popular Mechanics
