Jay Leno has made no secret of the fact that he’s in love with everything and anything that moves on wheels. In addition to hosting The Tonight Show on NBC he also hosts his own show at JayLenoGarage.com that features his personal massive collection of cars as well as reviews of other car’s that peak his interest.
He recently had a chance to take a peak at the new Richard Petty Signature Series Challenger that is being produced by Petty’s new company, Petty’s Garage, and in addition to the Challenger he got a visit with King Richard himself! The new Challenger is one of the banners of Petty’s new business that now operates out of the original Petty Enterprises facility in Level Cross, NC.
The Challenger that was featured on Leno’s show was car #001 in the RP Signature fleet, and was actually Richard’s personal car. It was wrapped in Petty blue and taken to the SEMA show before coming onto Jay’s show, so over the course of the show they removed the wrap and installed the functional Shaker hood that Petty’s Garage developed and also a few other odds and ends.
Features of the Signature Series car include an Arrington 5.7L Hemi, Magnuson supercharger, forged pistons and connections rods, and a Borla cat-back exhaust system. The package generates 610 horsepower and 500 ft/lbs of torque. The chassis and suspension receive upgrades as well with a Pedders coilover kit and adjustable front and rear anti roll bars. Forgeline 20-inch wheels and huge Brembo brakes make up the rolling stock.
The entire car is then adorned with Richard Petty signatures and logos, and a NASCAR style rear spoiler is added to the tail.
Petty said with the design of the car that they wanted something that could go to Sunday School or the race track, and fly under the radar if needed. To quote the King himself, “You wanna show off a little bit without showing everything!”