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Jay Leno Drives the Coolest Old Car … Ever?
After reading that headline, you may have wondered if we have fallen victim to hyperbole — or bad imitations of Jeremy Clarkson, one of the most recognizable automotive journalists … in the world. But no—we wrote that with great conviction, because the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage features the Thomas Flyer that won the 1908 race from New York to Paris and changed the way the world looked at the automobile. Yes, the very car. Of course, Jay Leno gets to drive it.
For 1908, the New York Times and the Le Matin newspapers organized a newspaper man’s dream: They set what popular opinion believed was an impossible task. They didn’t doubt whether humans could do it; the first people to sail around the world did so in 1519. But proponents of the automobile were making such an incredible din about these horseless carriages. How could anything so unreliable and complicated and expensive improve upon the horse, a form of transportation that humans had been using for centuries? Could it even survive winter?
The teams that entered the race represented their countries as much as (if not more than) the companies that built their cars. At first, it seemed as though America would go without a representative—no one wanted their brand to go down in history as the idiots who thought their rich-people toys could replace the horse. Transportation preferences aside, President Theodore Roosevelt would brook no such cowardice, and he found his champion in Edwin Ross Thomas, head of E. R. Thomas Company of Buffalo, New York. He was willing (and rich enough) to take a chance for the sake of publicity.
The company’s chief mechanic, George Schuster, got exactly 24 hours notice. He showed up in New York City on February 12, 1908 to find his five competitors in a crowd of 250,000 people. Schuster’s team’s steed was a freshly built, 1907 model year Thomas Flyer, a 5000-pound beast that cost as much as a house … several times over. Its 571-cubic-inch, T-head inline-four put out 70 hp and could propel the two-row, roofless automobile to nearly 70 mph. Keep in mind that the Wright Brothers had only flown successfully a few years before, in 1903. The Flyer was heady stuff.
Montague Roberts, the official driver, along with Schuster the mechanic, and a journalist in the back seat, drove west, in a blinding blizzard, from New York City to Albany to Chicago. The original route had them crossing into Russia on the frozen Bering Straits, but that didn’t go according to plan—the snow was too deep, and the cars had to be shipped across by boat. From Alaska, they went to Japan, then to Vladivostok, Omsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Berlin, on their way to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. On a good day, Schuster and Roberts would drive from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., work on the car till midnight, then go to sleep—in a bed if they were lucky—and do it all over the next day. In the end, they traveled over 22,000 miles in 169 days, averaging 157 miles a day.
The journalist rode in the back seat, writing a story every day and sending it in, sometimes by carrier pigeon. At one point, a pigeon flew the wrong way and collided with one of the headlights, rendering both light and bird useless. The team had to keep constant watch for bandits, who had heard about the event and knew big money was behind it—if the Americans or any other team were captured, the ransom would surely be rich.
“Most of the world never saw a car until they saw the Thomas Flyer,” says Phil MacDougall, president of the National Automobile Museum, in Reno, Nevada. Wherever they went, the competitors were guaranteed a reaction. Adoring fans scratched their initials into the car’s body. The less adoring ordered the team to stay off their property, lest the car send their animals into a panic.
Schuster and Roberts could see the Eiffel Tower when they were stopped by a policemen, who pointed to the broken headlight and threatened to arrest them, per the current regulations that mandated two functioning headlights for an automobile. A bystander, overhearing Schuster’s desperate pleas with the officer, volunteered the lamp on his bicycle. Schuster strapped the light—still attached to the bicycle—onto the giant hood of the Flyer, and drove across the finish line, victorious.
Fast forward to modern times with Leno behind the wheel, and you can plainly see he loves the Flyer. “You can pull a truck with this thing!” he crows, barreling down the runway of an airport near his home garage, MacDougall riding shotgun. You can tell Leno’s absorbed in the task of driving because he doesn’t talk as much as he usually does in the driving sections of these episodes—but then again, most vehicles are quieter than the Thomas Flyer. Leno even wore a watch from 1921 that was designed for drivers to wear on the insides of their wrists. You can watch the video to see why.
It’s amazing to see this machine on the road, but the story of what it accomplished in the hands of some very determined people is even more impressive. It’s no wonder that the Hagerty Drivers Foundation made this the 14th automobile added to the National Historic Vehicle Register. Next time you’re in Reno, stop by the museum and see it—and if a trip isn’t in your future, do the next best thing and watch the video below!
The car looks like the Leslie Special.
I thought that was the car from the Beverly Hillbillies show
That probably would be the most famous car in the world.
When I was working at Hot August Nights in Reno I had a morning off. I went to the museum and had the place to my self.
I came upon this car and it was amazing to study and look over. The details on this car and for it to make it all that way at that time in history not counting the weather is amazing. We seldom had any roads in America let alone in Russia..
The car is Huge! It’s the highlight of the Reno museum, which is an awesome collection. Thanks to Bill Harrah for preserving this amazing piece of history.
“Mightn’t I the Gristle”
Gary! Gary! Gary!
The videos were fun to watch. Such a difficult journey.
I saw this run when I was 12 (at the concourse at the Ambassador Hotel in LA). I knew he story, and to see the car presented “as it finished” the race, was thrilling to me then. I saw it later with Skip Marchetti, at the Harrah in the early 70s, and was treated to all sorts of other information about the restoration (“We dragged the seats through the dirt to get the right wear patterns and amount of dust and dirt”). The sound of the thing is really industrial, more tractor/bulldozer than automobile. I have not checked out the Leno episode. I have to see that… I can’t imagine the stamina of the men who drove these cars over such an arduous route, especially considering the tires of that time, and the additional time and effort it took to change them. This is a huge machine, with really large parts. Everything is big and heavy, including the tools used to fix it. Quite a fete to have finished that race, let alone win it.
At least it is great that Leno actually drives his cars. Most people are afraid to add numbers to the odometer.
Liked the article but please remind these two to wear their eye protection .!,, Otherwise I will be extracting debris from their cornea!
That’s surely a honor for Mr Leno to drive a piece of great history 👏
Hopefully he tuned up that Thomas
In other videos it had bad miss when running probly did the Thomas good to drive it really enjoyed seeing Mr Leno and that awesome Thomas Flyer
Clyde B
“They set what popular opinion believed was an impossible task. But proponents of the automobile were making such an incredible din about these horseless carriages. How could anything so unreliable and complicated and expensive improve upon the horse…”
Reminds me of the current debate about EV vs ICE.
To me, Leno is the perfect example of what a car enthusiast — and rich person — should be. I stand in awe of his accomplishments and knowledge. So this is probably the only time I’ll be able to confidently contradict him on a point of fact.
\To whit: his claim the fastest trains in the early 1900’s went 25 or 30 mph. At that time, the New York Central’s Engine #999 (built in 1893) was hauling the Empire State Express passenger train at over 100 mph for short stretches; it was once timed at 112 mph, or so it was claimed. And there were several other express trains — such as the 20th Century Limited — that regularly ran at over 80 mph.
I saw this car at Jim Sandoro’s Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum in July of 2023. George Schuster’s grandson was there to provide a lecture on the car and his grandfather’s exploits. This was an incredible accomplishment. It was a standard, off the line car that was used, and George Schuster had 24 hours notice to go on an unheard-of trip around the world.
Continuing thanks and appreciation for Jay Leno and all he does for our hobby.
Our visits to his garages a few years back during cross-country drives in our 1954 Cadillac convertible and 1988 Corvette are among our most memorable vintage car adventures.
Actually, George Schuster drove 99 % of the entire trip. He also performed multiple repairs along the way. Jeff Mahl, Schuster’s great grandson has presented the car, retelling the story of the New York to Paris Race as his great grandfather’s personage – a fantastic episode. While the German team essentially cheated and entered Paris first, they had been penalized for having their car shipped by steamer from the west coast across the ocean while Schuster and the Thomas Flyer were attempting to follow the designated route, and to brave the impassable Alaska snow drifts with no road to follow. They were forced to backtrack by the absolutely impossible, and impassible conditions initially required.
There are several articles detailing the amazing feat, and I was privileged to be allowed by Jeff to sit in the driver seat of the Thomas Flyer several years ago following his presentation, and later to have Jeff join us for a short ride during an ACA tour in my 1930 Packard Touring.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_New_York_to_Paris_Race
https://www.buffalocarmuseum.org/products/the-great-race-dvd-by-jeff-mahl
Experience the thrilling tale of the New York to Paris race of 1908, as told by Jeff Mahl, the great-grandson of Thomas Flyer driver, and Buffalo native, George Schuster.
“Jeff Mahl is the great-grandson of the winning driver of the Thomas Flyer, George Schuster. As a youngster, Jeff would be immersed in accounts of that incredible automobile race from New York City to Paris, France from his great-grandfather. Jeff has researched the 1908 New York to Paris race passionately over the years, and now combines historical accounts with those of his great-grandfather’s to present this wonderful first-person account of the epic 1908 automobile race. Jeff presents the story of the Great Automobile Race of 1908 to car clubs and historical societies throughout the year and is passionate about preserving the history of this remarkable event.”
142 Minutes. Copyright 2012.
Correction to my bad typing, above :
Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA Tour – not ACA)
I have 3 cars over ,100 years old. All Dodge Brothers. 2 1924’s one 1923. I need a mechanic