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FEATURE ARTICLE IN THE LINECHASER - SEPTEMBER 2006
By: Jennie Melgard #L-15485
Meet a new Ignitor, Terry Conrad. Terry is 21 years old and lives in Rogers. He grew up going to car shows with his dad who was one of the earlier MSRA members, his member number was under 100. They would cruise around to show after show in his father's '34 Ford 3-window.
In Terry's early teens he and his father's project was a '50 Ford. This car was a fighter. After years of working on it and being frustrated Terry threw his hands up in the air and told his father to sell it. Shortly after they sold the car Terry got struck with a hard blow - his father passed away. He didn't even want to look at a car.
Over the last few years his interest has peaked. He is now working on a '70 Chevy pickup. He is currently doing the body work and once that's complete he should have no problem getting it running.
After his truck is done he has a '71 Chevelle convert that is screaming to be worked on that he got when he was 14. He's glad he held onto it.
Terry is currently towing cars for Burda's Towing. He's been there for three years. Four months ago he received his class A-license. Towing cars is a lot more complicated than one would think. This kid can not only unflip a tipped over semi but also has been trained on how to separate bad accidents with people still stuck in them.
One of his hobbies is motorcycling; he owns a Honda Shadow. Until he was 19, Terry enjoyed dirt biking but had to pay $10,000 for an ankle and didn't have much of an interest after that.
He dabbles in a little bit of everything from body work and paint to fabrication and mechanical. His philosophy is, "build it, get it running and work on it as you go."
His only goal in the next 5 years is to purchase a house with a huge pole barn.
"Cars can be frustrating," he says, "but the great thing about cars is they don't talk back."
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