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How Did Jay Leno’s Old-Timey Car Wind Up in Mary Poppins Returns?

Jay Leno. Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

If you, like comedian Julie Klausner, fought the winter blues by transporting yourself into the fantastical world of Mary Poppins Returns at your local theater, only to be perplexed at why Jay Leno gets a “special thanks” mention at the end of the credits — this very esoteric mystery has been solved, and with a fun ending! Thanks to our friendly chimney sweep, Lin-Manuel Miranda. who got wind of Klausner’s inquiry on social media, the former Tonight Show host ended up getting a prominent shout-out not because of a joke or, we don’t know, silver fox hair maintenance, but because of his willingness to lend the film one of his many cars for a special project. “Apparently there is a car sound effect from the 1930s that they could not replicate, and someone realized Jay Leno had the car they needed,” Miranda tweeted. “To record the sound effect.”

Leno is a rich man, and a rich man who owns just about every car you can imagine. (He also currently hosts Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC, because he’s a gearhead with that many cars to share with the world. Don’t feel bad, Grand Tour hosts!) Vulture reached out to Disney to see which car he was nice enough to lend the Poppins crew for the day, so in the meantime we’re going to guess … his 1931 8-liter Bentley Mulliner. You know, a car for normal folk!

How Did Jay Leno’s Old Car End Up in Mary Poppins Returns?