Variety is key in Jay Leno’s collection

Even though my wife, Lisa, and I are in a sleek Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon, it feels a bit like a police stakeout parked on a side street in Southern California's urban sprawl.

There is nervousness in the pit of my stomach as I fiddle through the XM satellite radio stations, oblivious to the music filling the comfortable leather-appointed interior.

"Another 14 minutes and we can go in," I tell Lisa, who has been checking the chin size on every driver of every car that goes by.

My apprehension is understandable since we are holed up around the corner from Jay Leno's Big Dog Garage, a sprawling, gated compound where the iconic comedian/late-night talk show host parks, rebuilds and finesses his collection of 130 cars and more than 100 motorcycles. I consider my fleet of 10 cars and trucks back home and wonder what Jay would think of my 1991 Pontiac Firefly.

Let's be honest. When you get a chance to meet the likes of Jay Leno, you want to be on time. Early even. So Lisa and I had maneuvered the CTS from our Sunset Strip hotel through the Hollywood Hills with plenty of time to spare.

Our appointment at the compound is with Bob. Although we've been playing phone tag with Jay's public relations manager for a couple of days, I still don't have a clear-cut answer if we were actually going to meet Jay.

But at least Bob is at the gate, and he informs us we can take only one picture during the visit and one of us has to be in it. So much for the big photo spread I had been counting on to accompany these words.

Bob, the friendly, elderly Californian has been working with Leno's car collection for 21 years and knows all six buildings inside out. Car facts, horsepower numbers and automotive lore roll off his tongue.

It's somewhat overwhelming walking through the buildings that house one of the most eclectic and extensive collections of automotive history in the world. And this is no museum since all the cars here are licensed, insured and ready to drive. From Bugattis to Stanley Steamers and Detroit Muscle, they patiently wait for their master to come in and pick them for a little spin.

"Is Jay around this morning, Bob?" I ask.

"He comes in every day. But wait. There's an empty stall over there in the Bentley lineup. I guess he came and got a Bentley so he has probably gone to the studio."

As we stroll down the lines of cars, I try to decide which one I would pick to take home. What about the first production ZR1 Corvette, the sixth Dodge Viper ever built or one of the 1960s muscle cars? I eye a green Dodge Coronet with the fabled 426-cubic-inch Hemi V-8 engine. It's one of the few automatics though, so forget that one, Garry.

"Jay likes manual-transmission cars but his automotive thirst really is all encompassing." Bob is on a roll now. "Over there is a mid '60s Chrysler Turbine car. It idles at 26,000 rpm." Nice. A jet engine in car. Too bad it never got off the ground, so to speak, because the car is stunning.

We check out "the tank car," a giant hot rod powered by the engine from, you guessed, an army tank. One thousand horsepower was not enough so Jay had it souped up to 1,500.

Some of the cars look absolutely normal, such as the 1966 tan Oldsmobile Toronado. But under the hood lurks a 1,100-horsepower twin-turbocharged Chevrolet engine. And of course the front-drive car has been retrofitted with rear wheel drive. It's a reflection of his love for making things go faster, turn harder and stop better.

Bob takes us to another building, a 17,000-square-foot facility where crack technicians are working on a slew of projects. A 1966 Ford Fairline with too many carburetors to count catches my eye. A lineup of Stanley Steamers, a Duesenberg that has been there for a couple of years, a Bugatti stripped to the skeleton and a 1983 Porsche 911 Jay purchased the night before, set my head spinning again.

I think about the fuss I went through getting a set of oversized 13-inch tires for my Firefly last year and wondered how Jay could keep it all straight. But I guess the "fortune" side of "fame and fortune" can buy talent and, judging by the beehive of activity in Jay's garage, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of that.

As we tour the Bugatti/Duesenberg hanger, I keep an eye out for the boss, but across the driveway, the Bentley spot is still empty. So much for quizzing Jay about his favorites, where his collection is headed or if he still gets bouts of car fever despite everything he has seen and done.

I was hoping that my drive-around-the-world experience would get me some face time with an inquisitive Leno, but not today. Unfortunately, we had to give up on waiting for Jay as Bob had to get back to work. While it would have been fun to meet Jay, I realized that I already had through his vast car collection. But I had to wonder: Jay's a cool car guy who doesn't have a 1991 Firefly. It makes me wonder about my car-guy status because I actually do have a 1991 Firefly.

Oh well, he has his reasons for collecting what he likes and I have mine. As a car guy, I'm sure he would understand.

Garry Sowerby, author of "Sowerby's Road: Adventures of a Driven Mind," is a four-time Guinness World Record holder for long-distance driving. His exploits, good, bad and just plain harrowing, are the subject of World Odyssey, produced in conjunction with Wheelbase Communications. Wheelbase is a worldwide provider of automotive news and features stories.