Jay Leno Drives A Stolen Cadillac That Nearly Became A 90-MPH Getaway Car
Most Hollywood actors celebrate success by buying a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or whatever enormous electric SUV happens to be clogging up Beverly Hills that week. Jerry O’Connell went on Craigslist and bought a 1979 Cadillac Seville for $12,000.
The Stand by Me actor brought his daily driver to Jay Leno, where the pair discussed its Oldsmobile V8, hilariously soft brakes, filthy engine bay, and the thief who apparently discovered that a classic Cadillac can still move when properly motivated.
Jerry O’Connell Only Buys Classic Cars From Craigslist
O’Connell has a strict system for buying cars. He searches Craigslist for vehicles built between 1960 and 1991, stays within 50 or 60 miles of his home, and brings his wife or another witness in case the transaction gets sketchy.
His wife believes he only buys cars that wealthy people owned when he was a child. That theory makes uncomfortable amounts of sense. In 1979, the Seville was Cadillac’s most expensive regular production car, sitting below only the factory limousines. The seller wanted $16,000, but O’Connell negotiated the price down to $12,000.
This was not even his strangest Craigslist purchase. His previous Oldsmobile Delta 88 came from a man preparing to go to prison. Jay immediately described that as an excellent bargaining opportunity, while Jerry admitted he had once wondered whether the car contained anything the authorities might find interesting.
The Cadillac is now his daily driver. It has functioning air conditioning, cruise control, leather seats, fuel injection, a rear defogger, and fender-mounted turn signal indicators that make Jerry feel like an astronaut. Jay describes it more accurately as a 1970s spaceship.
Someone Stole The Cadillac And Hit Nearly 90 MPH
O’Connell made the extremely sensible decision to leave the keys inside the center console while the Cadillac sat outside his house. An intruder searching through the car found them and drove away.
Jerry did not even know the Seville had been stolen until the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station called. Deputies had stopped it in Malibu after the driver reportedly pushed the Cadillac close to 90 mph along the Pacific Coast Highway.
The deputies became suspicious because the man behind the wheel did not look like someone who would own a 1979 Seville. Jay offered a simpler explanation. He was under 70.
Police recovered the Cadillac without major damage, although O’Connell had to pay for three days at the impound lot. Yellow chalk markings from the lot remain on the rear window because, apparently, nobody had introduced Jerry to glass cleaner.
The experience changed how he treated the car. O’Connell had previously been afraid to push the aging Cadillac, but learning that a thief had driven it at nearly 90 mph gave him fresh confidence. He says he has been driving aggressively ever since.
Jay Leno Finds Plenty Wrong With Jerry’s Cadillac
Opening the hood revealed what Jay called the dustiest engine compartment he had ever seen. The Seville uses a fuel-injected Oldsmobile 350-cubic-inch V8, an engine selected during an era when General Motors began sharing powertrains across its divisions.
Jerry also warned Jay that the brakes felt mushy. Leno explained that brake fluid absorbs moisture and should generally be replaced every two years, especially in humid climates. He later discovered that Jerry had also been closing the hood incorrectly by lifting it approximately nine feet into the atmosphere and dropping it like a drawbridge.
None of this stopped the Cadillac from delivering exactly what it promised. It cruised quietly, soaked up rough pavement, and reached 60 mph without drama. Jay became so relaxed behind the wheel that he nearly fell asleep.
The 1979 Cadillac Seville may not be the fastest or most valuable car to visit Jay Leno’s Garage, but it might be one of the most entertaining. It is a Craigslist luxury barge with a police recovery story, an astronaut turn signal, and enough room for six adults.
That sounds far more interesting than another celebrity Ferrari.
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