Jay Leno, the late-night talk show host, also and an avid car enthusiast and collector,
invited the General Motors Advanced Design Studio to help design a mid-engine,
turbine-powered supercar called EcoJet. With a concurrent engineering program
defined the vehicle's proportions and mechanics, and borrowing design cues from
jet aircraft and Formula One racecars, the supercar began to take shape.
Leno and Ed Welburn, GM vice president of Global Design, introduced the car at the
2006 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show.
The 650-horsepower (400 lb.-ft. of torque) Leno original is powered by a
Honeywell LT-101 turbine engine that runs on bio-diesel fuel.
The engine sits in a modified Corvette Z06 hydroformed aluminum frame
with aluminum and magnesium structural and chassis components.
The vehicle's shell is an advanced construction of carbon fiber over Kevlar.
(supercars.net)
(supercars.net)
(Photos from mad4wheels.com, autoconcept-reviews.com & supercars.net)
