Leno is impressed by Drew Scott’s bespoke electric sports car

Drew Scott, known as one-half of the Property Brothers on HGTV, admits that if there’s one thing he enjoys as much as a property makeover, it’s a car makeover—and this week he brought proof to Jay Leno’s Garage. Scott, who along with twin brother Jonathan spends much of his time renovating houses, loves European sports cars and the concept of renewable energy, and he merged the two by designing a very attractive electric car, the Lanark DS.

“It’s a tribute to my dad, who’s from Scotland,” Scott says, sharing that the Lanark is named for his father’s hometown. Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Scott twins and their father “would admire the cars” they saw on the street, which jump-started Drew’s interest in European sports cars.

The bespoke Lanark is inspired by those cars but is also completely different. It has Mini Cooper headlights, Miata taillights, an electric charging port hidden inside a gas tank lid, scallops in the fenders (which Drew admits are influenced by the Corvette), bespoke wheels, and a touchscreen on the dash. The car also has a hood emblem, designed by Drew’s wife, which shows a Scottish Thistle and the Cascade Mountains, since his parents lived most of their lives in Colorado.

The Lanark also has British flag emblems on the sides, not Scottish. Scott tried to explain his reasoning for that, saying he chose what he thought was “a nice midpoint” between Scotland and the European cars that he loved as a kid.

“I kinda haven’t mentioned that to my dad yet,” Scott admitted about the British flag. “He’ll probably be like, ‘Get that off of there and put on the Lion Rampant!’”

Scott worked on the one-off automobile with master mechanic Ant Anstead, and their collaboration turned into a Discovery+ television series, Drew’s Dream Car. It wasn’t an easy ride, especially for Anstead, who learned that his “client” was very insistent about what he wanted. Scott also admits that despite his deep affection for automobiles, he was also a little surprised by the complexity of actually building one.

“I’ve designed so many houses over the years—we’ve done everything from new developments to renovations and rehabs, and also taking historic homes and trying to revitalize (them) while keeping the original charm …,” Drew tells Jay. “I do houses that are a lot bigger and have a lot more rooms and (I thought), ‘This is just a car. How hard can it be?’ Then I got into it and I realized it was hard. I got in a little over my head.”

“And you’re tall,” Jay jokes, “so to be in over your head, that’s a lot.”

“It’s 10,000 components coming all together,” says Scott, who is 6-foot-4, “… but it was fun and we got it done in the end.”

Actually, Scott’s height came into play from the start, as the car’s batteries had to be stacked to allow for plenty of legroom. And although the windscreen isn’t very large—because Scott didn’t want it to “look like a clown car”—it still does the job because the ample leg room allows the driver and passenger to sit lower in the car.

Built with “a Tesla motor, two-tube frame, a lot of Miata pieces,” the Lanark DS weighs only 2200 pounds, less than half that of a Tesla. It gets 300 miles on a full charge.

“Everything about this car speaks to me or my family in some way,” says Scott, who owns a Tesla Model S and a Rivian. “(Even) the fabric in the ‘chairs’ and mid-console is Scottish tartan.”

Oddly enough, considering that the car is electric, Scott decided against power steering because classic European sports cars don’t have it. “I was asked if I wanted power steering, (and) I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ Then I was given a look like, ‘You’re making this very unauthentic’ … So I said no to power steering.”

After Jay makes a joke about his wedding night while trying to get the bonnet to latch properly, the two go for a drive. Jay applauds the Lanark’s “excellent throttle response. This really is linear … They did a really good job on that.”

He also mentions that the car may eventually be auctioned for charity.

“This whole experience was amazing,” Scott says. “To make something that’s a family tribute means a lot to me, but what also means a lot is giving back … To be able to have somebody else who’s a huge car lover have something custom like this while still raising money for charity, that would be amazing.”

The discussion turns to EVs, renewable energy, and the high cost of gasoline.

“It is what it is,” Scott says. “It’s not like we can flip the switch and make everything electric tomorrow … (but) we’re getting there.”

Nearing the end of their time together, Jay—who insists he appreciates both combustion-engine and electric vehicles—praises the Lanark. “Well, Drew, it turned out very nice … You have a few scratches to fix on the front, but whoever gets this will be pretty lucky.”

“Wait a minute,” Scott interjects. “Did you scratch my car?”

“Um, no, that was there when it got here.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“Tell me about it.”

Jay quickly signs off, telling his viewers, “We’ll see you next week with more gas cars, I promise!”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Scott says, pretending to be offended, “I’m still here.”

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