It's Time to Meet a Self-Taught Superstar Man Cave Mechanic: A Driveway Dynamo

I'm always impressed by people who can do things that I, Jay Leno, cannot. As much as I love my cars and motorcycles, I am not an engineer. However, today we're going to meet a self-taught superstar man cave mechanic, a driveway dynamo if you will. His name is Paul Kalinian, and he's here to show us what it takes to build two incredible cars from scratch.

I've always been fascinated by people who can do things that I'm not capable of doing. My father used to say, "If you know too much, you won't try things." And that's exactly what Paul did. He never built a car before, but he had a passion for building and creating something from scratch. That's what this segment is all about: driveways dynamos.

Paul entered these two cars into the Hot Wheels competition, and they were my favorite entries among many others. The first car, Lulu, is a real car registered for the road with a 325 horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder crate engine. It's a dual Excel Sports Car valued at about $150,000. About 50 pounds lighter than Lulu is the lu2, inspired by a disabled BMW motorcycle. This handsome car was powered with a six cylinder BMW motorcycle engine and is also valued at about $150,000.

Paul took up his old drafting table to start drawing and building these incredible cars. He spent seven months working on them, and I broke it seven times. Well, that's pretty amazing if you think about it. Paul must have been working pretty non-stop all that time. If you ask my wife, she'll tell you that I live in the garage most of the time.

I recognize one of the engines used in these cars. It's a GM crate motor two liter, called an LTG. It's a twin cam turbo four engine, and it's been moved to a mid rear drive configuration. Paul wound up with a car that weighs 1,530 pounds. He thought it was a little chubby at first, but he decided to build another car.

The second car is also inspired by a motorcycle. However, unlike the typical car engine, this motorcycle engine turns counterclockwise. This means its transformation would rotate the car's powertrain in the wrong direction. Paul had the clever idea to use the engine from a 2019 BMW K 1600 motorcycle to keep the car light.

To address the issue of the engine's rotation, Paul attached the drive shaft to the engine and created a cog belt pulley system. This powers the differential, which is attached to the inboard brakes and axles. The rear wheel is powered by this unique setup. Let me ask you, when did you know that you had parts lying around that could be used for something like this? Paul must have been thinking of those clean sheets of paper and wondering what kind of engine would work.

Paul bought a motorcycle to get the reverse gear he needed. However, they don't tell you that it'll back up seven feet and then you need to re-engage it. It's not easy building something like this from scratch. Paul says, "If you know too much, you won't try things." And that's exactly what Paul did.

So, how much has Paul invested in these incredible cars? I think he probably has 1,500 hours and maybe $30,000 to $35,000 worth of parts. If someone were to build this for him from scratch, it would cost about $150,000. But Paul used his imagination and what funds he had available.

The best part is that good engineering never goes out of style. And that's the story of how Paul Kalinian built two incredible cars from scratch. If you like these videos, watch Jay Leno's Garage all new episodes on CNBC Wednesday nights at 10. And if you like these videos, hit the Subscribe button; it doesn't cost anything and is a funny way to live in this age we're in.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's time to meet a self-taught superstar man cave mechanic a driveway Dynamo if you will you know I'm always impressed by people who could do things that I can't do as much as I love my cars and motorcycles I am not an engineer these two cars were built by a gentleman named Paul kalinian Paul how are you my friend very well Jay you're a self-taught engineer well yes I just really love the Potter in my garage that's what this segment is all about it's driveway dynamos it's people who do things at their homes I was a judge at the Hot Wheels competition and he entered these two and these two were my favorite the Lulu and Lou two are original cars made entirely from scratch by Paul who had never built a car before Lulu is a real car registered for the road with a 325 horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder crate engine a dual Excel Sports Car valued at about 150 000. about 50 lighter than Lulu is the lu2 inspired by a disabled BMW motorcycle this handsome car was powered with a six cylinder BMW motorcycle engine and like its predecessor it's also valued at about 150 thousand dollars and it's your own design isn't it yes sir looked at a picture of Mickey Thompson's Harvey aluminum special with this Loosely replicates right I took up my old drafting table started doing some drawings and started building it this guy took seven months I I broke it seven times well that's that's pretty amazing I mean I thought you were going to say five years because obviously you must have been working pretty non-stop all that well if you ask my wife I live in the garage right right well you can talk to my wife too and what engine is this I recognize it that's a GM crate motor two liter it's called an LTG it's a twin cam turbo four generally it's a front engine and I move the whole thing to Mid rear engine Drive she wound up being fifteen hundred and thirty pounds which I thought was a little chubby so I decided to build another car this one actually took longer the engine rotates the wrong direction motorcycle engine so I had six speeds going the wrong way right so I just adapted Paul is a brilliant machinist and using is creativity and resourcefulness he had the clever idea to keep the loo too light by using the engine from this 2019 BMW K 1600 motorcycle but unlike a typical car engine that spins clockwise this motorcycle engine turns counterclockwise that means its transformation would rotate the car's powertrain in the wrong direction so Paul attacks the drive shaft to the engine and created a cog belt pulley system which Powers the differential that's upside down and backwards the differential is attached to the inboard brakes and axles which Powers the rear wheel let me ask you when you built this were you thinking these are some parts I have let me make something oh is it clean sheet of paper what's the best motorcycle engine what's it you need something that's got reverse right so you're not doing the Fred Flintstone right pushing backwards with your feet I I bought a motorcycle and this has reverse what they don't tell you is it'll back up seven feet and then you have to re-engage it you know my father used to say if you know too much you won't try things and and this is a matter of really not knowing what I was doing and things broke I fixed things the next day have any idea how much you have invested in this I probably have 1500 hours and maybe 30 35 000 worth of Parts but to have somebody build this for you from scratch would be a hundred and fifty thousand dollars lease with something like this you had to use your imagination and what funds you have this is full of mistakes and it's all one thing at a time yeah well cool can we take these for a ride is that possible I was hoping you'd ask cars named Lulu because my father held 48 patents in a wide variety of fields he'd be working down in the basement those things which didn't work he would call Lulu kind of an old-fashioned name and the sisters my old-fashioned thing good engineering is never old-fashioned the nice thing about mechanical parts right around well thank you hi I'm Jay Leno and if you like these videos watch Jay Leno's Garage all new episodes on CNBC Wednesday nights at 10 and if you like these videos hit the Subscribe button it doesn't cost anything it's funny imagine that free videos the age we live init's time to meet a self-taught superstar man cave mechanic a driveway Dynamo if you will you know I'm always impressed by people who could do things that I can't do as much as I love my cars and motorcycles I am not an engineer these two cars were built by a gentleman named Paul kalinian Paul how are you my friend very well Jay you're a self-taught engineer well yes I just really love the Potter in my garage that's what this segment is all about it's driveway dynamos it's people who do things at their homes I was a judge at the Hot Wheels competition and he entered these two and these two were my favorite the Lulu and Lou two are original cars made entirely from scratch by Paul who had never built a car before Lulu is a real car registered for the road with a 325 horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder crate engine a dual Excel Sports Car valued at about 150 000. about 50 lighter than Lulu is the lu2 inspired by a disabled BMW motorcycle this handsome car was powered with a six cylinder BMW motorcycle engine and like its predecessor it's also valued at about 150 thousand dollars and it's your own design isn't it yes sir looked at a picture of Mickey Thompson's Harvey aluminum special with this Loosely replicates right I took up my old drafting table started doing some drawings and started building it this guy took seven months I I broke it seven times well that's that's pretty amazing I mean I thought you were going to say five years because obviously you must have been working pretty non-stop all that well if you ask my wife I live in the garage right right well you can talk to my wife too and what engine is this I recognize it that's a GM crate motor two liter it's called an LTG it's a twin cam turbo four generally it's a front engine and I move the whole thing to Mid rear engine Drive she wound up being fifteen hundred and thirty pounds which I thought was a little chubby so I decided to build another car this one actually took longer the engine rotates the wrong direction motorcycle engine so I had six speeds going the wrong way right so I just adapted Paul is a brilliant machinist and using is creativity and resourcefulness he had the clever idea to keep the loo too light by using the engine from this 2019 BMW K 1600 motorcycle but unlike a typical car engine that spins clockwise this motorcycle engine turns counterclockwise that means its transformation would rotate the car's powertrain in the wrong direction so Paul attacks the drive shaft to the engine and created a cog belt pulley system which Powers the differential that's upside down and backwards the differential is attached to the inboard brakes and axles which Powers the rear wheel let me ask you when you built this were you thinking these are some parts I have let me make something oh is it clean sheet of paper what's the best motorcycle engine what's it you need something that's got reverse right so you're not doing the Fred Flintstone right pushing backwards with your feet I I bought a motorcycle and this has reverse what they don't tell you is it'll back up seven feet and then you have to re-engage it you know my father used to say if you know too much you won't try things and and this is a matter of really not knowing what I was doing and things broke I fixed things the next day have any idea how much you have invested in this I probably have 1500 hours and maybe 30 35 000 worth of Parts but to have somebody build this for you from scratch would be a hundred and fifty thousand dollars lease with something like this you had to use your imagination and what funds you have this is full of mistakes and it's all one thing at a time yeah well cool can we take these for a ride is that possible I was hoping you'd ask cars named Lulu because my father held 48 patents in a wide variety of fields he'd be working down in the basement those things which didn't work he would call Lulu kind of an old-fashioned name and the sisters my old-fashioned thing good engineering is never old-fashioned the nice thing about mechanical parts right around well thank you hi I'm Jay Leno and if you like these videos watch Jay Leno's Garage all new episodes on CNBC Wednesday nights at 10 and if you like these videos hit the Subscribe button it doesn't cost anything it's funny imagine that free videos the age we live in\n"