Terry Cook
Terry started drawing cars when he was six years old and graduated to building models a few years later. As soon as he got his driver’s license, he joined the local hot rod club. His first car that ran was a Chevy powered C dragster but rather than become just another racer, his love of cars and speed got him a job as the flag starter at Island Drag Strip in Great Meadows, NJ. When the Christmas Tree took over his job as flagman, Terry became the track reporter and fell in love with the world of automotive journalism.
In 1964 Terry turned started producing a column New Jersey News (for $5/week) for Drag News under the byline “Broomfoot”. This gave him nationwide presence and established his name. In 1965 Terry hitched a ride to the West Coast with Chris Karmesines and wound up moving there to become the Associate Editor at the weekly newspaper, Drag World. Terry’s editorial talent was soon recognized by the folks at Car Craft Magazine and in 1966 he became a feature editor there. By the time Terry completed his reign at Car Craft Magazine, he had assumed the position of Editor. While Cook was there Car Craft doubled its circulation from 180,000 to 360,000. Petersen management tapped Terry for the Editor in Chief position at Hot Rod Magazine where again his talents contributed to a growth in readership. While part of Terry’s success came from finding outstanding journalists and hiring them, he also had a knack for “stirring the pot” with controversial subjects such as how the racers were treated by the Racing Associations, what was “hot” from Detroit.
Today, Terry is as well-known for the custom cars he has designed and had built, among them his 1939 Lincoln Zephyr Scrape. In 2019, Terry was named the featured designer at the prestigious Eyes on Design car event in Grosse Point Shores, MI. Terry is active in all arenas of the automotive world and is still willing and able to work to help every form of racer and racing activity receive a fair shake.