Jay Leno Drives Gorgeous 1957 Chevy Bel Air Restomod, It Belongs to Self-Made Billionaire

The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air was the most desirable model of the era. General Motors used to call it "the hot one" in the advertising campaign. It was a poster car. A dream car. The coolest that could be and it wasn't too expensive. However, the Bel Air wasn't selling great at the time. But that was until Chevy decided to put fins on it. And it worked.

The bright red restomodded Chevrolet Bel Air belongs to Austin, Texas-based John Paul DeJoria, entrepreneur and philanthropist. And as you can see, huge car enthusiast.

JP grew up in Los Angeles. Now, the wealthy he is involved in any kind of charity. He could have bought any Rolls-Royce out there. But he went for the Chevy Bel Air.

He was looking for a 1957 Chevy and found one that was in really good shape, with all parts in place. He immediately bought it, took it home and fixed it up. But one day, the car simply ran out luck. Someone crashed into it during a car rally.

His friend, Angus Mitchell, promised to fix it. So he took it to him, all the way from Texas to California. A year later, when JP told him he wanted to see his car, Angus informed him he had a surprise for him but kept delaying the meeting.

However, two years later, when he finally got to see it, he was amazed. His friend had spent his own money to get the car looking like it does today. At least JP knew the color that Angus was going to paint it in. The nicest and brightest Candy Apple Red out there.

He didn't see the car from the moment it entered the shop until the moment it was ready. The team that worked on it put on custom wheels with disc brakes and came up with a custom interior in black leather with a contrasting red floral pattern.

His Bel Air restomod is now powered by an LT4 engine, which pumps out 750 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque and is mated to a six-speed manual.

The engine bay is a work of art. However, Angus Mitchell and his team made no significant modifications to the body because, as Jay Leno and JP agree, the Chevy Bel Air has always looked beautiful just as it rolled off the production line back in 1957.

A skull showed up in red stitching on the front backrests to remind him of his biker days. The original dashboard kept its ground, but the steering wheel is new, and an AC system was installed on board.

Car enthusiasm runs in the family. JP's daughter, Alexis DeJoria, is a drag racer. Her father almost lost track of how many national championship titles she won in the National Hot Rod Association Funny Car category, and he can't put into words the pride he feels.

JP and Jay Leno decide to take the restomodded Bel Air for a drive. The car roars its way out of Leno's garage and onto the street. There is so much power on tap that it almost feels like a brand-new car.

Jay Leno likes the way it pulls, the way it behaves on the road, the way it sounds and likes it because it is really fast. JP remembers that back in his high school years, when he was asked what he wanted to do once he graduated, he said that he wanted to drive. It was January 1962 and he thought that if he got a job that paid $150 per week, he would have been able to afford a car like that.

Jay Leno labels the Bel Air as "one of the nicest restomods" that he has ever had to deal with.

JP DeJoria, from homeless to billionaire

According to Island Connections, long before becoming a billionaire, DeJoria was homeless not once, but twice, in his early 20s, raising a son and living in a car before building a multi-million empire. He used to collect Coke bottles at night and cash them in at a drugstore for two to five cents.

Later on, he earned a living going from door to door selling shampoo and encyclopedias. While he was at work, a Hell's Angels bikers' community helped him raise his two-year-old.

His ascension started with an entry-level marketing position with Time magazine. Now, the 80-year-old entrepreneur is one of the world's richest. His current net worth is $3 billion.