Page 5 - Apr2022

But before there was a Triumph,
there was this Cougar XR7

Early Days The Cougar was the car that everyone worked on is
shop class. There, a favorite teacher, Ron Johnson,
When your father is a bodyman/mechanic from the taught the shop rats how to rebuild its engine and brake
50s, one of two things is likely to happen: a son will
system. In the damp. gray, misery of an Illinois
decide to become a beat poet or develop a winter, the boys worked away, until the second
fascination with cars. Todd chose the latter path. He
Cougar was refitted and became the car.
remembers being so focused on getting his driver's
license on his 16th birthday that he persuaded his "That car was my life. Cruising, racing, dating, drive
parents to let him take Driver's Ed in summer school -in movies. I was a teenage car guy all the way," he
said.
because his birthday wasn't until October while
school started in August. While growing up in the '70s, Todd also watched Tom
Selleck in Magnum PI ( you get that feeling from
" I simply couldn't wait to drive," Todd remembers. noting the resemblance in his casual photo above) and
"I couldn't wait for my freedom. Getting my license Miami Vice. This meant he also yearned for a Ferrari
was the best day ever." 308, GTO, or a Testa Rosa. Other teens might have had

The 15-year-old Todd started his journey down pictures of Farrah on their walls; it was the lush body
life's highway before he even had a license, restoring lines of Ferrari that filled the posters that papered the
with his father's help. his first car, a maroon, 1968 space above his bed.
Mercury Cougar XR7. Even now he describes the 'Automotive Reality' does set in with all young
car as "cool". enthusiasts at some point in their lives, some later than
sooner. Todd was an early learner, "Maintenance
He learned his first life lesson shortly after the car costs. Yikes! ! ! "
was restored when it was rear-ended in a rain storm
and taken out of action. The loss lead to the Todd next worked at Firestone for five years after
school in both high school and college, where he
purchase of a black '68 Cougar XR7 ( shown above) studied engineering. Continued on page 6
that became his high school hot rod. 5