Roadster remake revealed

Leno (right) with GM North America president Gary Cowger (left) and vice-chairman Bob Lutz (centre).

American talkshow host Jay Leno is getting ready for the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford coupe by showing off his own hotrod.

Leno took the covers off the roadster at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas.

It's called the Leno '32 Bowtie Deuce and it will take its place in Leno's garage alongside the likes of a McLaren F1 supercar, a 460kW (620bhp) '55 Buick Roadmaster, a Ford GT and a legendary motorcycle powered by a jet helicopter engine.

Leno's collection runs to 200 cars and motorcycles.

The Bowtie Deuce is the result of a collaborative effort by Leno, General Motors Performance Division, and the makers of the Dearborn Deuce, Hot Rods & Horsepower.

The latter relies on the American Specialty Company for its steel '32 roadster body remakes.

The first germ of the idea came from Hot Rods & Horsepower president Craig Knight, who proposed building a series of Deuces for each of the Big Three carmakers.

Al Oppenheiser, GM director of concept and vehicle integration, was putting the finishing touches on Leno's special Oldsmobile Toronado from last year's SEMA show when he mentioned Knight's idea.

"I was explaining to Jay about our version of the hotrod, and he said that was something he didn't have," said Oppenheiser.

"He wanted to know if we would consider building one with him."

From that point on, the project took a divergent path from GM's original scheme for the Bowtie Deuce.

Leno offered up a '32 Chevrolet chassis to provide a donor frame, stamping it as a true Chevy from the ground up.

He also encouraged the engine tuners at GM Performance Division to create a special powerplant, one with unsurpassed Chevy pedigree: a high-output version of the 375kW (505bhp) 630Nm small-block LS7 V8 from the sixth-generation Corvette Z06.

The GM Performance team succeeded, using a high-output cam, headers, revised engine recalibration and a special induction system to create an LS7 that produces 450kW (600bhp) and nearly 700Nm of torque.

Power goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed Tremec manual transmission lifted directly from the Chevy SSR and a rear differential from the Cadillac CTS-V.

"This thing will be a pretty mean machine on the street," says an enthused Oppenheiser.

Rear suspension comes from the C6, while the front end is an off-the-shelf Kugel setup with coil-over shocks. Like the Z06, the Bowtie Deuce sports 18in front and 20in rear custom aluminium wheels. Brembo brakes complete the chassis.

GM and Leno collaborated to complete the Chevy-heavy styling, designing unique hood panels and a grille reminiscent of that on the '34 Chevy.

Blue leather-trimmed seats, waterfall centre console and an instrument gauge cluster surround echo the seminal Corvettes.

Round tail lights and dual-chrome exhaust tips poke through the rolled rear pan borrowed from early 'Vette design.

The silver-and-white diamond paint job is accented by round Corvette racing-flag logos that celebrate the 50th anniversary of the small-block Chevy engine.

Says Leno: "We focused on tradition, but this Deuce is anything but traditional."