IN THIS FEATURE Car gangs Yank tanks Favourite 'Vettes

My favourite 'Vettes would be the '57 Fuelly, and the '62 car - the last solid-axle car with dual headlights, with the speedometer riding above the dash and all that, that's a great-looking car. Also the '66, either the 327 or the 427, with the knock-off wheels and the independent suspension and the four-wheel disc brakes, which were a huge deal on American cars at the time. Most of them lacked even two disc brakes.

Brakes were seemingly unimportant then. Like seatbelts. I remember when I took my Dad down to buy a car. We were buying a 7-litre Ford and my Dad asked the salesman. "Now does this car have seatbelts?" And the salesman says, "Seatbelts? What are ya - a racecar driver? Hey Louie! This guy wants to do the Indianapolis 500!" He just shamed my father. It was so humiliating.

I think the Corvette is the best-value sports car in the world. My Z06 is just 60lbs heavier than my Porsche Carrera GT, which is made almost entirely of carbonfibre. There's a $390,000 price gap and just 60lbs difference in weight. Exclusivity is cool, but when you can mass market something this amazing, you've got a real people's supercar.

Jay Leno was speaking to Jeremy Hart
Check out all of Jay's columns here.