Jay Leno is many things: Comedy legend, longstanding late-night TV fixture, and unofficial Gearhead In Chief. He is not, however, Playboy Playmate of the Year material, unless there's some "Dudes in Denim" issue coming out that we don't know about.
So driving the Playmate of the Year's car is about the best ol' Jay can do in this situation. Luckily for us, 1968's winner got a fantastic car: An AMC AMX. And the story only gets more interesting from there.
See, Playboy began a tradition of giving each year's winner a brand-new vehicle painted a searing hue of pink. For 1968, the magazine gave POTY Angela Dorian (real name Victoria Vetri) an AMC AMX, the two-seat sports coupe AMC hoped would compete with the Corvette.
It was an eye-grabbing prize for the young model, but after that the story took some unexpected zigs and zags for all parties involved. For AMC, the ambitious AMX never made the splash the company hoped for, while the signature pink color of the prize car drew too much unwanted attention from creeps. Vetri got it repainted a more subdued hue, and drove it until 2010, in an increasing state of disrepair. The former Playmate of the Year sold the AMX to a used-car dealer, where current owner Mark Melvin bought it.
Melvin and his AMC-loving pals restored the rough AMX to brand-new condition, and someday he hopes to show the restored car to its original owner. That's gonna have to wait a few years: Vetri, it seems, is currently in prison after attempting to murder her husband.
There's more to that story, too. Check out Leno's tour and drive of the storied AMX on Jay Leno's Garage. Thankfully, Leno doesn't attempt any modeling in this video.
Bob Sorokanich previously served as deputy editor of Road & Track Magazine. He is based in New York City.
