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Jay Leno just might be the Indiana Jones of classic cars.
Each week, the former late-night host and famously prolific car collector introduces his fans to a new vehicle he loves in his YouTube series, Jay Leno’s Garage. While the comedian maintains a collection of more than 180 personal cars, there are some vehicles that are even brand-new to Leno, which is definitely the case with the super-rare 1968 Oldsmobile 442—a one-of-a-kind ride that the host had only read about.
As Leno explained, he first read about the vehicle back in the late 1960s “and was very intrigued. And then it just sort of disappeared.”
Leno enlisted the help of noted automotive appraiser/car historian Donald Osborne, who founded the Audrain Automobile Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, to help track down this long-lost vehicle.
Not only did Osborne manage to bring the car to Leno, but its owner, too; Fred Frederick appeared on Jay Leno’s Garage with Frederick to share some of the ride’s key details with Leno—including one notable difference between other classic cars of the time: it’s a front-wheel drive vehicle.
As Leno explains, for classic car connoisseurs, “rear-wheel drive is the way to go.” But in the case of this specific car, the engineers wanted to see if they could make front-wheel drive an option. They re-engineered it as a sort of test, and did it in 45 days.
While Frederick concurs that he often prefers a rear-wheel drive vehicle, especially when it comes to his convertibles, he raved about the change in this particular car.
“The front-wheel drive car drives entirely differently,” he explained. “And much better, right?,” asked Leno. “Absolutely,” Frederick confirmed, noting that “It’s much more comfortable and it just lays on the road very nice.”
Frederick also shared a bit of the vehicle’s background. The original owner purchased the car from a dealer in Woodland Hills, California, in 1970 and owned it for more than 40 years. He paid about $2,900 for the vehicle brand-new, which was the going price for a regular Oldsmobile at that time. The former owner put more than 100,000 miles on the car, then parked it in 1986—and it sat there until Frederick purchased it in 2012.
“When I saw this car and learned about the concept, I said: Leno definitely needs to get behind the wheel of this,” said Osborne.
This story was originally reported by Men’s Journal on Oct 8, 2025, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
