Hi, I’m Scott
My name is Scott Leazenby, and I’m a car guy. I’ve been a car guy for as long as I can remember. My earliest memory is of a brown 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo model car when I was about three years old. I played with that thing constantly, and looking back, it was probably the spark that ignited everything.
By age ten, I had Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, racetracks, and those amazing battery-powered Stompers. In early 1985, at the age of 10, I started drawing cars (like, seriously drawing cars).
My parents gifted me a Motor Trend subscription in 1986, and that changed everything. Growing up in southeastern Michigan near Detroit, with family working for the Big Three, I was surrounded by automotive culture. By 13, I already knew my future. It was car designer or bust.
From Designer to Driver
Getting my driver’s license at 16 felt like getting a license to drive anything. Lamborghinis, Ferraris…even my sister’s beat-up 1983 Pontiac 6000. I inherited it after she left for college, and drove it hard through high school.
I worked summers as a lot boy at Martin Buick-Oldsmobile-GMC in Fenton, MI. Driving around new cars every day (even though it was early 90s GM stuff) was a dream.
I went to college for car design but quickly switched to general industrial design to keep my options open. Wait, wut? So much for the dream of being a car designer I guess.
I planned to buy a Camaro Z28 after graduating and nailing down my first ‘real’ job in 1996. My fellow coworkers teased me about the mullet I would inevitably grow after making such a purchase, so I ended up with a brand new 1996 Eagle Talon TSi instead. I was easily impressionable at that age, OK?
Over the years came a 1998 Dodge Neon R/T, a 2002 Toyota Celica GT, a disappointing 1996 Ford Mustang GT, and my beloved 2004 Nissan 350Z. My favorite car ever, until I crashed it into a guard rail trying to drift (Tokyo Drift style) in 2007. Seven freakin’ thousand dollars in damage taught me real quick that maybe I wasn’t as good of a driver as I thought I was.
When I got married in 2009, the 350Z had to be traded in on a 2010 Honda Fit. Eventually I found my way back to a 2012 Mustang GT in 2016. A fast, loud, comfortable second car that actually paired with the Fit quite nicer than you’d probably expect.
My Philosophy Towards Car Ownership
I’m not a wrench guy, and I tend not to modify my cars. I keep them stock. Maybe different wheels or tinted windows, but that’s it. I love cars the way the designers intended, preserving automotive history as it left the factory.
Why DriveAndReview Exists
I launched this website in 2011 to share my experiences with every car I drive, own, or rent. Even something as basic as a 2013 Ford Focus can be fascinating enough for me to write about. In 2015, I added a YouTube channel. At 52, I’m still building model cars, still drawing cars, and still feeling giddy every time I slide behind the wheel of something new.
Cars have been the constant thread through my life. From that brown Monte Carlo to today’s Mustang GT, the passion has never faded.
Or something like that.