2009 Cadillac Escalade ESV
The ESV is an extended wheelbase version of the popular Escalade full size luxury SUV for those hip-hop moguls who simply need more space. Riding on a 14-inch longer wheelbase than the standard Escalade, the ESV is roughly 22 inches longer in length for a total of 221.4 inches; all of the increased space is passed on to the cargo compartment and third row, which is transformed into a livable space for adults. Like the normal Escalade, the ESV shares its platform with GM's other full size 'utes from Chevrolet and GMC, and differentiates itself from its lesser siblings with unique exterior styling, a more sumptuous interior, and a more potent engine.
Like all other Escalades, the ESV is motivated by a 6.2 Liter Vortec V8 that has the distinction of being the first mass produced non-overhead valve engine to feature variable valve timing, a feature which contributes to the engine's substantial power output of 403 horsepower and 417 lb.-feet of torque. Transmitting power is a 6-speed Hyrda-Matic automatic transmission with driver shift control and a towing mode.
Similar to the standard wheelbase Escalade, the ESV can be ordered with either rear wheel or all wheel drive. The ESV's standard features include a full leather interior with wood trim, a road sensing suspension with real time computer controlled damping, and Bose 5.1 surround sound system with ten speakers and an in-dash six-disc CD changer. An Ultra Luxury package can be ordered and includes extras such as a DVD touch screen navigation system, a rearview camera, heated and cooled seats, power folding second row seats, and gargantuan 22" seven spoke aluminum wheels. A rear seat entertainment package is also available, featuring two eight inch fold down screens, headless headsets and the requisite auxiliary jacks.
The ESV is packed with passive safety features intended to minimize chances of a crash, including electronic traction control and a StabiliTrak stability control system with rollover mitigation. A standard ultrasonic rear parking assist system beeps to alert the driver when the vehicle is approaching an object from behind. In the event of a collision, the ESV features dual front air bags as well as side curtain airbags with rollover protection for the first, second and third rows.
Season’s Greetings from MotorWorld!
I would like to personally reach-out and say “Thank You” to you, our clients, during this Holiday Season.
I think it’s important, especially now during these challenging times, to pause for a moment and appreciate the loyalty and strong standing we enjoy with our client base and close-knit community.
At MotorWorld, as it says on the back of each business card, we realize that without satisfied, loyal, repeat customers, we have nothing. So Thank You for being a part of our family, a part of our community; Thank You for making us what we are today.
Our heartfelt best-wishes for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season to you and yours!
Gerry O’Donnell
President
MotorWorld Automotive Group, Inc
My Garage, With Jay Leno
Ken Gross
Jay Leno, popular host of The Tonight Show, may be one of America's funniest comedians, but he is also a serious car enthusiast. His three garages near Burbank are packed with sports and special-interest cars, antiques and classics, old motorcycles, oil company signs and "automobilia." He hasn't counted everything up recently, but he owns more than 50 cars and about as many vintage and modern bikes.
When you walk in, you don't know whether to dive for the bright yellow 1913 Mercer Raceabout, complete with monocle windshield, or ogle his five stunning Duesenberg Js, parked together in a row. Further on, there's a rare 1915 shovel-nosed Franklin with a California-built body by Earl (as in Harley Earl and his father, before the younger Earl headed to Detroit to start GM's Art and Color department).
Is there a theme in his collection? "If there is a theme," Leno says, "it's probably a car that's ahead of its time. Everything here does a hundred with a few exceptions. There are no Model Ts. I like a reasonable level of performance."
Among other vehicles, the Leno garage houses a 1939 Lagonda V-12, a brace of Bentleys, including a handsome Speed Six, a dignified 8-liter sedan and a 1926 roadster with a twin-turbocharged eight-liter Bentley engine. Built especially for Leno by a team of British craftsmen, it'll light up its skinny rear tires in any gear. Ask Leno what the horsepower is and he just grins: "Probably over 500," he says.
No car or bike in Leno's collection is a museum piece; he drives everything and nearly everything runs at all times. Blessed with an assigned parking space at NBC Studios, Leno takes a different vehicle to work every day.
Two full-time mechanics help keep things in shape, although Leno (who once worked at Foreign Motors of Boston, near his hometown of North Andover, Mass., before his comedy career took off), likes to do things himself. He's capable of starting and running even the ancient machinery, like his two Stanley Steamers, which require a delicate combination of priming, heating and lighting--like starting up an old-fashioned furnace.
While Leno isn't averse to modern cars, he doesn't own many. There's a Turbo R Bentley and a pair of mildly modified Dodge Vipers, plus a stealth car--a souped-up Renault LeCar with a Ford Taurus SHO motor and a nitrous setup.
Leno likes horsepower, lots of it. While he'd never admit to being a hot rodder, there are vehicles here that could only be called hot rods. Take his Cobra replica. It started life with a pushrod 427 side-oiler. Now it has a gleaming 429 SOHC Ford V-8 under its hood.
"Yep, that's the cammer-motor," he says, lifting the hood, with a knowing leer. "It pulls like a train. I got this engine out of a powerboat. It's a much better engine than the 427. And it runs a lot cooler. You ever heard one-a these things go to eight grand? Oh geez... 'Whee, whee, wheeeeeeeeee!'" Leno expertly imitates the noise. "It's a frightening sound," he says.
Although Leno's a stickler for originality on his Pebble Beach Concours-winning Duesenbergs and his two real Bugattis, he also owns two replica Bugattis: a Type 37A that's all Bugatti parts but they didn't all come from the factory at the same time, and a stunning Type 57SC Atlantic that you couldn't tell from Ralph Lauren's Pebble Beach prize winner, except for the paint color. And who really cares? The real thing (they only made three) is arguably too valuable to drive.
If you want to see Leno get really enthusiastic, just ask him for a ride in his 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II with its 1,000-horsepower Merlin V-12. His eyes light up like Mr. Toad's in The Wind in the Willows: "I mean it's so stupid!" With Leno, stupid is sometimes a compliment. "It's got 1,806 pounds of torque. There's nothing like it. That's real power."
Does it have some sort of tank transmission to handle all that torque? We're surprised to learn it's a Moss four-speed, just like on a 1950s Jag XK120. "It's pretty strong," says Leno, "But you're not dumping the clutch. Once you're rolling, you put your foot down and Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!; it just keeps pulling like a train."
Leno would rather hang out in the garage than do almost anything else--except write and tell jokes. So his spare time is spent tinkering with his cars, or riding his bikes. He turns up at local car shows, rides one of his bikes up to the Rock Store on Sundays and often invites friends over to look at new acquisitions.
Leno's passionate about his cars, but ask him which one is his favorite and he gives you that sideways look familiar to so many fans of The Tonight Show. "Which one of your children is your favorite?" he retorts.
However, Leno is partial to Duesenbergs. "This car is not a myth," he insists, pointing to a J. "Any 70-year-old car that can keep up with modern traffic in L.A. and drive like a normal car is pretty amazing. At a time when the speed limit was 45 mph, a Duesenberg could go 120 mph."
How does he decide what to buy next? "I just see something. If it catches my eye, it's like a pretty girl...But I'm quite happy with everything I have. I don't lust for new things. But, if I do see one and think, 'Oh, that's nice...' Well, that's cool, too."
And his wife, Mavis, is tolerant of this passion? "Yes. It's cheaper than hookers and cocaine," he jokes. "Most guys in Hollywood have 20 girlfriends and one car and I have 20 cars and one girlfriend. She always knows where I am. I'm here in the garage.
"'What's that fragrance?'" Leno says in a fake falsetto voice? "'It's gasoline, honey. It's not cheap perfume.'"
"Having these cars is great fun," Leno says. "And there's a sense of history to all this stuff. We don't really own these cars, we just keep them for the next owners."