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Jay Leno’s nitrous Ford Fiesta

  • By Karla Pincott
  • Carsguide
  • 24 August 2010
  • image

Meet Jay Leno's nitrous oxide-injected Fiesta Shogun.

Yes, this is a 'Fiesta'. but it's a mid-engined, nitrous oxide-injected 'Shogun' with steroid-pumped rear wheel arches the only real hint of what is lurking under the cargo blind. The Shogun name comes because it carries the six-cylinder engine from a Ford Taurus SHO... with a canister of nitrous-oxide to boost it along even faster.

So Jay Leno's 1989 custom-built Ford Shogun is quite the head-turner.  "My Fiesta gets funny comments from kids at the lights," Leno laughs.  "They'll call out 'hey, mister you've got big wheels at the back'. And I just say 'well, what do I know about cars' - and then blow their doors off."

With over 200 cars and bikes, Jay's collection fills 4 warehouses in LA. Find out more: Jay Leno's Garage.

Follow the FORD FIESTA WORLD TOUR here!

Comments on this story

Displaying 3 of 10 comments

  • Kia did build the festiva, mazda outsourced the build to Kia

    Andrew Smith of Adelaide Posted on 03 September 2010 8:30pm

  • Sorry Buddha, Kia did not build the Festiva, it was a joint venture with Ford and Mazda...

    Wazza of South Aust Posted on 01 September 2010 11:49am

  • Sorry Dave, the model Jay has is the Festiva Shogun, the Fiesta has only just recently been released in the USA in the current model. The confusion arises because of the similarity in the name, but they are definitely different cars - the Fiesta was built by Ford itself, while the Festiva was built for Ford by Kia. I owned a Festiva in the day and was keen to see what other variations of the model existed around the world, if you can get a hold of one of the motoring magazines around the time, there were some great stories on the little Shogun, although sans nitrous as in Leno's car!

    Buddha of Brisbane Posted on 01 September 2010 9:35am

  • I would love to be able to buy a six cylinder small car like a Ford Focus or Fiesta even if it was only a dinky 3 litre one. Why don't car makers make an affordable 6 cylinder small car with lots of torque and heaps of go.

    dave1 of China Posted on 31 August 2010 1:38pm

  • I love any car that will burn rubber and love them more when they do.

    Speedy of USA Posted on 29 August 2010 11:13am

  • Festivas are fiestas in the rest of the known world Buddha, LRN2CAR

    Dave of Melbourne Posted on 29 August 2010 4:39am

  • Buddha ya missed the bit where it has "nitrous-oxide canister to boost it along even faster."

    Notrous Posted on 25 August 2010 2:13pm

  • You'd have to be brave working that thing with nitrous... it looks like all the bodywork does is deflect the wind!

    Rob of sydney Posted on 25 August 2010 1:37pm

  • Gee, for a website claiming some motoring expertise, this is a big mistake to make! The car is a Festiva, not a Fiesta.

    Buddha of Brisbane Posted on 25 August 2010 8:58am

  • "Wow" what a garage Jay Leno has... very nice!

    Wazza of South Aust Posted on 24 August 2010 8:50pm
Read all 10 comments

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