Jay Leno gets rare Chrysler, author gets plug for book

If not for the Finnish American Reporter, Steve Lehto would never have eaten barbecued chicken in Jay Leno's garage after taking a ride in a car that sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

Also, Lehto wouldn't have finally found an agent for his book about the Chrysler Turbine. And we wouldn't know what Leno did between those free shows for out-of-work Detroiters in April at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Finnish American Reporter is a little journal crafted each month in Hancock and distributed throughout the country. Lehto is a big Finnish-American lawyer whose roots burrow deep into the copper country of the Upper Peninsula.

He's also an author, and one of his books is about the 1913 tragedy in Calumet in which someone yelled "Fire" in a crowded social hall on Christmas Eve, and 73 people, most of them the children of striking miners, were suffocated or trampled to death. "Death's Door," he called it: "The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder."

Leno does not collect gloomy books about Upper Peninsula catastrophes. He does, however, have an affinity for odd clippings, which he used to display on "The Tonight Show" every Monday. One of them, two years ago, turned out to be an advertisement for Lehto's book in one of the finest Finnish-American periodicals in all the land. Above the gloomy title and dour cover, the ad declared, "Makes a great Christmas gift!"

Lehto didn't see the broadcast, but as he drove from his home in Grand Blanc to his office in Royal Oak the next morning, his cell phone was doing cartwheels. In gratitude, Lehto wrapped a copy of the book in the gaudiest Christmas paper he could find and sent it to Leno's office in California. He also included the manuscript for a book he wrote in 2004 about the legendary '63 Chrysler Turbine.

That wasn't as easy as it sounds. No publisher wanted the book, and Lehto had to resurrect an old laptop with a burned-out monitor just to make the printout. Leno adores cars, though, so he figured it was worth the effort.

A few days later, Lehto's secretary buzzed his desk. "Steve," she said, "there's a guy on the phone who says he's Jay Leno."

Driving a Turbine

Accelerating the story:

They talked. They bonded. Leno asked if he could hold onto Lehto's card. The economy tanked. Hordes of people were thrown out of work. Leno performed here. Six weeks passed. Then he called.

He asked questions about the Turbine. He asked more questions. Hmm, thought Lehto, 47, a trained inquisitor. "Did you swing by Chrysler when you were in town," he asked, "and buy a car from them?"

Yes.

The Chrysler Turbine was essentially a stylish, bronze-colored, four-seat sedan with a jet engine. It could run on gasoline, kerosene, or just about anything else, including Chanel No. 5 and tequila.

Of the 55 that Chrysler produced, none were sold to the public, and all but nine were destroyed when the experiment ended.

A collector in Indiana owns one. Museums have five. Chrysler had three -- and now one of them is Leno's.

"He offered to let me drive it if I was ever in town," Lehto says, "which I just happened to be, as soon as I could get tickets."

Cruising Burbank

Further accelerating the story:

Two Saturdays ago. Graciousness. Good humor. Yelps and cheers from bystanders as they cruised the streets of Burbank. Cuisine from a grill in one of Leno's garages. Another ride in a steam-powered 1907 White. More yelps and cheers.

Also, an offer from Leno. If it'll help sell the book, he'll write a forward. It does help; a New York agent has agreed to shop it around.

Lehto is still in car-buff heaven. "I was 3 feet across from Jay Leno," he marvels, "having lunch. And by the way, his new show will be on the air Sept. 14."

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