Jay Leno's Garage' rolls into prime-time on CNBC

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Jay Leno says it's been easy to lure Francis Ford Coppola, Laurence Fishburne and other famous folks to his new car-centric TV show.

All he has to do is assure them that "Jay Leno's Garage," debuting at 10 tonight on CNBC, won't veer off the road.

"We say, 'We're not gonna talk about show business or your career, we're just going to talk about cars,' " according to Leno. The usual response, he said: "Great!"

The Detroit-born Coppola, for example, is a car enthusiast, with his 1988 movie about an independent automaker, "Tucker: The Man and His Dream," just one indication of that.

And there's this fun fact: Coppola's musician-father, Carmine, worked on "The Ford Sunday Evening Hour," a radio series sponsored by automaker Ford. In an "old Italian custom of the day, you named your son after your employer," Leno said, hence the filmmaker's middle name.

Another guest, Keanu Reeves, is a known gearhead with a start-up motorcycle company, giving Leno a chance to test the bike and hear about the actor's business plans.

Despite the celebrities sprinkled into each episode, Leno said, the show isn't designed as a star vehicle.

"It's mostly about interesting people and their relationship with automobiles, be it a love story or one about the first female drag racer," he said.

The series also will look at the past and future of automobiles and showcase Leno's famed and extensive car collection. Car buffs, prepare to drool: On the electric side alone, he owns a 1909 Baker that can travel 80 miles on a charge and a Tesla with a 300-mile range.

A more tech-centric version of "Jay Leno's Garage" began on YouTube about a decade ago, becoming so popular that Leno decided it was ready for prime time. The rocky moments of his tenure as "Tonight Show" host (he had the job, then he didn't, then he did again) had no effect on his returning to the NBC corporate fold.