Ed McNally skipped 27 days of school at Glenbrook North High School, "borrowed" his father's purple Cadillac, put 113 miles on it, then jacked the car up and ran it in reverse hoping to roll back the odometer.

Sound familiar?

A Chicago Tribune column by Christopher Borrelli, published Thursday, June 11 to mark the 40th anniversary of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," identifies McNally, now an attorney, as a key inspiration for the iconic character.

Hughes never publicly confirmed the connection, but Borrelli calls the evidence "compelling."

McNally and Hughes grew up on the same street and attended Glenbrook North together. McNally's best friend was a kid named A.C. Buehler (note the spelling).

And while the fictional Ferris skipped nine days, McNally skipped 27, prompting Glenbrook's principal to launch a crusade to catch him. McNally revisited the school on May 28 for a Tribune photo shoot with photographer E. Jason Wambsgans.

The film premiered June 11, 1986, and its North Shore DNA runs deep. Glencoe Beach, at the end of Park Avenue, appears in the film as the location where Cameron notices the mileage on the Ferrari, according to movie-locations.com.

The fictional Mrs. Bueller works at a real estate office at 583 Chestnut Street in Winnetka.

Scenes were filmed at New Trier's Northfield campus. Hughes himself lived in Northfield and enrolled his children at New Trier when he made "The Breakfast Club." The school's term for early morning detention is widely cited as that film's title origin.

For fans looking to mark the milestone, On Location Tours offers a two-hour downtown Chicago walking tour retracing the characters' route.

The "Save Ferris" water tower at 1201 Cedar Lane in Northbrook has long since been repainted, but according to a Chicago Star Media guide, a commemorative plaque near the Northbrook Public Library marks the spot.