In this installment of Jay Leno’s Garage, the TV personality takes the time to discuss one of the few enthusiast celebrities out there, who not only loved all things combustion-powered, but managed to exude cool wherever and whenever he did it. He’s talking, of course, about Steve McQueen.

Born in Beech Grove, Indiana, in 1930, McQueen’s background was one of intense and deep conflict from abusive stepfathers, all of whom he clashed with during his upbringing. He first got exposed to motorsports at age 22 when he raced in weekend motorcycle races in Long Island, long before he got his big break in Hollywood playing Vin Tanner in The Magnificent Seven.

All through the sixties and seventies, McQueen’s image as the King of Cool, combined with his ever-increasing car collection, made him the definitive man’s man of Tinseltown. And one of the most incredible vehicles McQueen ever owned was this vehicle, the ’56 Jaguar XK Super Sport, which McQueen lovingly called “The Green Rat.”

Introduced in the late 50s, the XKSS was touted as a consumer option to the highly successful D-Types used in racing. Jaguar altered the D-Type’s design slightly, adding a passenger seat and door, full-length windshield, and folding top. The XK6 I6 motor, however, remained its powerful self, capable of pulling off over 200 horsepower to push a 2,000-pound roadster around. In essence, it was a race car that was disguised as a street car, or vice versa.

The power, the style, the elegance–it’s easy to see why McQueen would have owned one of these. Now on display in the halls of the mighty Petersen Automotive Museum, folks from around the world can stop by downtown Los Angeles and see not just an iconic car, but the car of an icon.