COHON TAKES TO CARS WITH A RELISH; MCDONALDS' CHAIRMAN LOVES TO TINKER ON HIS 1967 IMPALA by Maryanna Lewyckyj (The Toronto Sun, 9/20/96)

   Burger honcho George Cohon knows how to liven up a

drive-through window lineup.



   The senior chairman of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada has a

menu of cars to make most auto buffs salivate with envy.



   His sentimental favorite is a 1967 Chevrolet Impala Super

Sport convertible, a gift bestowed upon him by the officers of

McDonald's in 1981.



   "It reminds me of my youth," says Cohon, whose first car was

also an Impala.



   Cohon keeps his vintage beauty in mint condition with lots of

elbow grease and some loving tinkering.



   "I know every inch of that car," says Cohon.



   Cohon has also been known to liven up the countryside, with

aquatic forays into Wasaga Beach, Lake Muskoka and the Trent

Canal with his amphibious amphicar.



   "People go crazy when they see it," says Cohon of his offbeat

vehicle, which transforms Cohon into a type of Pied Piper of

waterfronts.



   "They run to get their cameras."



   Though most autophiles would be in McHeaven with a Ferrari in

their garage, the taste of Italy in the Cohon garage is seldom

sampled.



   To surprise his wife on their 25th anniversary, Cohon bought

her a silver 1985 Ferrari Mondial cabriolet, forgetting his wife

doesn't drive standard.



   "It doesn't get driven much," says Cohon.



   FIRST CAR: 1958 Chev Impala Convertible.



   WORST CAR: The old Dodge I jointly purchased (along with a

friend) for $50 while I was at university. The car was so bad we

ended up turning it into a convertible by cutting the top off

with an acetylene torch.



   WORST DRIVING EXPERIENCE: When I was a university student, I

was travelling to a basketball game with a male friend and two

women when our car broke down a highway between Des Moines, Iowa

and Peoria, Illinois. We were in the middle of nowhere, in the

middle of winter, and had to walk through a bitterly cold wind to

get help. Everyone got frostbite.



   CARS YOU CURRENTLY OWN: 1967 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport

convertible (favorite); 1961 Amphicar (amphibious vehicle); 1995

Lexus ES400 (company car).



   DREAM CAR: A modern Amphicar.



   FAVORITE FEATURES: Ragtop, good sound system.



   WORDS THAT FIT YOU AND YOUR IMPALA: Fun, reliable,

hard-working, not getting but getting better.



   DREAM CHAUFFEUR: "I like driving myself. I don't like being

chauffeured."