Jay Leno has owned hundreds of rare machines, but even he admits his latest acquisition isn’t the kind of car most people go looking for. That changes the moment they see it. In a new episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the comedian pulls back the curtain on a spectacular 1953 Ghia Cadillac — one of only two ever made — and takes viewers through the car’s unlikely history, painstaking restoration, and surprisingly pleasant road manners.
“This is automotive royalty,” Leno says, opening the episode beside the low-slung two-seater. Built in Italy by legendary coachbuilder Ghia on a Cadillac chassis, the car was born during a chaotic moment in post-World War II Europe. Styling houses were desperate for work, and American automakers were pumping out some of the most advanced engines and drivetrains of the era. Ghia purchased two bare Cadillac chassis from General Motors, shipped them to Italy, and created a pair of show cars in hopes of sparking a formal partnership.
That pitch didn’t quite land (GM was too busy selling every car it could build), but the Ghia Cadillac survived as a remarkable one-off experiment blending American muscle and Italian design finesse.
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The car featured in Leno’s episode belongs to Lee, a longtime enthusiast whose wife fell in love with the car decades ago. Originally displayed at the famous Imperial Palace Collection in Las Vegas, the Cadillac had suffered from 25 years of sitting untouched under casino lights. When the museum closed, the car went to auction, and Lee finally managed to buy the machine he’d been chasing for years.
Restoring it, though, was another story.
“It was a show car, not a road car,” Lee explains. “The lights had no wiring. The heater wasn’t connected. There were no mirrors. Even the electrical system wasn’t really hooked up.” In total, the process took nearly seven years, two for body and paint, and five more to make everything functional. The windshield, for example, is a custom, deeply curved piece of glass bent using a 1950s heat-forming process that left tiny dimples from the metal fixture posts. Even recreating the correct front grille required fabricating new pieces from period photos.
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Under the hood, the car remains pure 1953 Cadillac: a 331-cubic-inch overhead-valve V8, putting out about 158 horsepower through a four-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission. This was a cutting-edge setup at the time. “This was one of the most advanced engines in the world back then,” Leno says. “Ford was still doing flatheads in ’53.”
While the car looks like a jet-age concept with its split rear window, sculpted fenders, and aircraft-inspired dashboard, its performance is more relaxed than racy. “The handling is nothing to brag about,” Lee admits with a laugh. “It’s a little boring. But it rides like a Cadillac.” At highway speeds, the big two-seater settles into a smooth, quiet cruise. And despite its size, it’s a head-turner everywhere it goes. “You’re the movie at the drive-in,” Lee jokes. “People just stop and stare.”
Only two Ghia Cadillacs were ever built. The second car now resides at the Petersen Automotive Museum, although it differs in colors and finishes from Lee’s meticulously restored example.
My Wife Made Me Buy It
Inside Leno’s garage, the pair take the Ghia Cadillac for a drive, admire the details — from the art-deco gauges to the blackwall tires and hand-formed metalwork — and reflect on why such a striking machine never made it to production. Leno suspects it’s simple: “In ’53, they could sell every car they built. Why go out of your way to have something shipped from Italy?”
Still, for fans of forgotten prototypes and post-war design, this rare Cadillac might be one of the coolest pieces Leno has showcased in years. Not bad for a car even its owner admits he wasn’t seeking out, until his wife insisted he buy it.