John Tyler Wilson
August 16, 2011
The first Monday of school, a lot of people didn’t
believe me when I told them why I was absent when school started the Friday
before. “Oh, I was just chilling with Jay Leno."
Yes, this Youth Reporter trip, which I won’t soon forget,
started with me visiting the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, CA, funded by the
Nethercutt family of the Merle-Norman Cosmetics dynasty. This museum had some
awesome classic cars. One of the things I noticed on a lot of them was the
hand-painted pin striping that resembled a cane basket weave. It was
phenomenally intricate in detail. To think that someone had enough of a steady
hand to paint that detail is unbelievable. I also visited the Nethercutt’s
collection of nickelodeons (music boxes) and other antique musical devices. The
granddaddy of them all was a Grand Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, with
pneumatically controlled organs, drums, horns, bells, violins, and more.
Jay Leno’s Big Dog Garage, a huge selection of fine
vehicles tucked away somewhere in California, was my next stop and it was
certainly amazing. Corvette, Bentley, Duesenberg, Bugatti, and one of my
favorites, a green Hudson Hornet, were all there. Mr. Leno himself was a really
cool guy. We had a great interview! We talked about his first restoration, and
how you used to be able to find so many cars just sitting in an open field. It
makes you wonder how many cars are still out there, waiting to be restored.
Cars were meant to be driven! One day it will be my generation’s job to make
sure that happens!
Well, this has been an amazing experience for me, and I
hope my reporting has been interesting. I’m proud to be representing the next
generation of classic car lovers!
Lookin’ forward to reporting to you from Monterey. Until
then, this is the Hagerty Youth Reporter, signing off.