A couple weeks ago, Jesse and I decided we needed to make the 12 hour journey back to Wyoming to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with our folks. We figured since the weather has been good and knowing what the roads between Idaho and Wyoming can be like in late November, we decided this was our best chance to make it if we wanted some of our mother’s home cooking! It turned out to be quite the amazing trip full of good food, family and lots of cars! We also discovered our father has turned into quite the Barn Hunter!

As you might recall, this last summer he found a lovely Cadillac DeVille that we helped him get running. While we were showing it at the local car show a few days later, a customer of his told him about two Lincolns that had been parked in a garage for 10+ years plus a Chevy Blazer that was parked outside. Shortly after that he found out that our former school bus driver, Stan, was wanting to sell his 1967 Mercury Cougar XR7! Stan had his Cougar at the car show and we got a chance to see it then. It was absolutely spectacular, with breath taking paint, bright chrome and a perfect interior. While the Lincolns sounded like an interesting find, hunting them down was put on the back burner. Our dad has wanted a Cougar since he was a teenager. He had a friend who owned the exact same car during their high school days and they use to cruise around El Paso, Texas in it!

We’ve known Stan (The Bus Driven Man!) since our elementary years, he was our school bus driver every year that we rode the bus. There were two things we knew about him as kids, he was the coolest bus driver ever and he owned the only DeLorean in town. To say he meticulously cares for his cars would be an understatement! Given the condition and the price, our dad just had to have the Cougar. A few weeks lately they worked a deal and our dad became the proud new owner. The only problem was, he didn’t have a place to store it. Well he did, but my Fiat was in the way! Thankfully, I was able to get it moved to Boise recently so he could have that space back. Stan let him keep it in his garage for the mean time and since our dad knew we were coming, he waited for us to arrive before picking it up.

When we finally had time to go get it, our dad was like a kid anxiously awaiting Christmas morning. We grabbed my camera and all headed over to Stan’s house. As Stan opened the garage we were greeted by his DeLorean, which was just peeking out from under it’s car cover, and the Cougar of course.

We rolled back the Cougar’s cover and that’s when we realized just how special this car is. This thing is almost like-new inside and out! As we started to talk, Stan revealed that he has owned it since May of 1967. Sometime in the ’80s he had it repainted by a shop in California that specialized in woodies and the work was done to an exceptional level. The paint is probably better than new and he has taken great care of it ever since.

After taking a closer look at the DeLorean, we could tell our dad was anxious to drive his new car! As we said goodbye and thanked Stan, we could tell it was an emotional farewell for him (I think he might have even teared up a bit). Forty eight years is a long time to care for the same car, but we could tell by the smile on his face as our dad excitedly climbed into the driver’s seat that he knew it was going to a good home. We jumped in and off we went.

It was a ride I will never forget and not because it was a wild and crazy one, but because in that moment, as we carefully drove down a little dirt road I realized this was the car our father had been dreaming of since he was a teen and I was getting to share in the fulfillment of that dream. It is a moment I look forward to one day sharing with my own children, who knows it might even be at the wheel of this very Cougar!

As we pulled up to the garage where my Fiat had once been parked, we carefully tucked it into it’s new home. With the coming Wyoming winter, it probably won’t see much use for the next few months, but our parents are excited to get it out and use it as much as possible! They even asked if we wanted to meet up with them for a rally in the spring. Hopefully we have something as cool as this to take by then! Oh and if you are curious to find out what happened with the Lincolns, well just stay tuned for that story! Here’s a little teaser…