Jay Leno has the first Spyder of the Assembly Line!

[gkamer]

Stumbled across this tidbit on Google today:

"First debuting in 2008, the Can Am Spyder was the first three wheel motorcycle on the market and made an immediate impression. Jay Leno famously purchased the first Spyder off the assembly line and the 100,000 Can Am Spyder was sold in 2015!"

It's said his car/motorcycle collection is worth upwards of $100 million bucks.

 

[Eviltwin]

Here's the video, a bit grainy.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10

 

[ARtraveler]

I believe it was on the news that Jay Leno donated the 2008 GS to a disabled person who was in need for a three-wheeler.

The gift to Jay Leno was a marketing ploy that BRP used to get some interest in the product.

The value of #1 is dubious in my opinion. The value also comes in question when BRP had their "special" 10th anniversary editions. I believe less than 10 were ever ordered. I only actually know of four that were posted here on SL. One person had theirs for sale for almost a year on SL. The original owner tried for about six months to sell it.
Also, remember Danika Patrick as a spokesperson, and the famous Sturgis promotion?

UNHIJACK:

 

[ottawa-rider]

I have a 2018 "special" 10th anniversary edition RT, see my avatar. I currently have 28,000 kilometers on it. In my area, I've only seen one other, an F3.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Jay Leno famously purchased the first Spyder off the assembly line and the 100,000 Can Am Spyder was sold in 2015!"

There's some question about the accuracy of that statement. There is a #1 Spyder in the BRP museum in Valcourt, Quebec. This was discussed here back in 2017 after the 10th Anniversary homecoming. Maybe it was loaned to Leno and then eventually returned to BRP. I don't recall that we ever did figure out the true story. The VIN is #1 but the story board says "part of the first production run". Maybe Leno's is #2, the first one released for public sale.





News reports, like this one, https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1026333_first-can-am-spyder-rolls-off-the-line, discuss Leno getting the first Spyder. There is a photo that shows both Spyders, the one Leno got and the one in the museum. Maybe there are two #1 Spyders?

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I just looked in the timeline as presented in the anniversary book BRP produced after the Homecoming. In there is does state that the first Spyder was delivered to Jay Leno. Leno's is yellow, the museum one is gray. So the question remains, why does the one in the museum have VIN #1?

 

[RayBJ]

Maybe they started the count at 0.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Here's the real answer from the BRP museum.

Hello Mr. Eld,

In reply to your request, occasionally BRP produces two 001s. Jay Leno's 001 was assigned for publicity purposes. We have the first real 001 to come out of the factory for the commercial market.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Guy Pépin
Conservateur / Curator
MUSÉE DE L’INGÉNIOSITÉ J. ARMAND BOMBARDIER /
MUSEUM OF INGENUITY J. ARMAND BOMBARDIER
1001, avenue J.-A.-Bombardier, Valcourt (Québec) J0E 2L0
Téléphone : 1 866 774-7808 poste 58 www.museebombardier.com

Une fondation, 3 destinations

-----Message d'origine-----
De : Mac Eld [mailto:xxxxxxxxx] Envoyé : 14 mars 2022 22:47 À : Musée Bombardier <[email protected]> Objet : Question re: first Spyder

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Please clear up some confusion for owners and lovers of the Can Am Spyder.

When the Spyder was introduced to the market in September 2007 news reports and the history provided by BRP show the first Spyder, serial number 1, was presented to Jay Leno. On the other hand you have in the museum a Spyder that is displayed as one of first Spyders built. The placard shows that Spyder as being VIN #1.

Were there two Spyders built using VIN #1? How can there be two #1 Spyders, one at Jay Leno's Garage and one at your museum? Any information you can provide will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Mac

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Vin

I don't know about the V.I.N. laws in Canada ..... but the ones in the USA are quite strict about V.I.N... producing and selling veh's with the same V.I.N. number. is not legal ..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I don't know about the V.I.N. laws in Canada ..... but the ones in the USA are quite strict about V.I.N... producing and selling veh's with the same V.I.N. number. is not legal ..... Mike :thumbup:

I don't think they sold it to Leno. I'm pretty sure they gave it to him in exchange for him promoting the Can Am Spyder. It's probably marked somewhere as a promotional device and cannot be resold. It may not even be able to be titled. That would keep it out of the normal stream of vehicles and keep it legal. Maybe that's why Pepin said theirs is the real #1 manufactured for the commercial market. Leno's was built specifically as a promotional machine so his probably was the first 100% production line Spyder, but not the first marketable Spyder. In fact I would not be surprised if there is no VIN sticker on Leno's Spyder, or maybe an incomplete one.

 

[EdMat]

Since an actual VIN # is multiple characters long it would only need to have 1 character changed to have many # 001's.

 

[bikerbillone]

I envy old Jay, if I had had half his bank account I'd buy a new RTL every oil change.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Since an actual VIN # is multiple characters long it would only need to have 1 character changed to have many # 001's.

Except for the fact that all the other digits are the same for any two same model vehicles manufactured in the same plant. I think the VIN is sequential regardless of the code for model, engine, etc.

https://driving-tests.org/vin-decoder/

 

[Pirate]

Dick Guttman
Guttman Associates
118 South Beverly Drive
Suite 201
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Phone: 310-246-4600

This is Leno's current publicist. If someone wants to ask, here you go.