McHenry County Driving Tour

By Ken Bounds

On May 6 Ron Dopke hosted our first driving tour of the year.  A big NIRG “Thank You” to Ron for organizing this event on a pleasant, sunny spring day.

The day began with Tom O’Donnell leading most of the group from Arlington Heights to Bull Valley.  There we met up with Ron Dopke and Stan Stack and toured the collection of Dan Adams.  Dan has so many terrific cars and so much memorabilia that there was hardly time to see it all.  Dan has a large number of fully-restored Mercurys from various years, most notably an ultra-rare1948 Mercury Marmon Woody.  Dan also has a meticulously restored ’50 Ford Crestliner.  Our thanks go out to Dan for his hospitality and for allowing us to view his collection.

From there Ron led a long line of beautiful V-8’s across miles of McHenry County scenic highways, a couple of laps of the historic Woodstock town square, and on to Spring Grove for a tour of the Auto Gallery Museum.  This museum has a large number of cars, including several Flathead V-8’s for sale by consignment.  One notable example was an attractive restored ’38 Ford Tudor Sedan with a 60 hp V-8.

After a short trip to Richmond we had lunch at Doyle’s Pub and Eatery; then everyone said their goodbyes and made their way back home.

Those attending were: Dick & Dot Alfini, Caddy Convertible; Ron & Arlene Blum, ’40 Ford Sedan; Ken Bounds, ’50 Ford Convertible; Don & Elaine Braun, ’56 Ford Pickup; Cliff Dixon, ’46 Ford Sedan; Ron Dopke with Norm Lang, ’40 Ford Tudor; Ron’s guests Wayne & Donna Johnson, ’67 Mustang; John Judge, ’50 Ford Convertible; Frank & Phyllis Madrigali, ’51 Ford Pickup; Joey Novak, ’40 Ford Pickup; Jack & Jean Nikolich, ’39 Ford Convertible; Tom O’Donnell & son Tom, ’40 Mercury Sedan-Coupe; Steve O’Neill, ’41 Ford Sedan; Dan & Diane Pudelek, ’53 Ford Victoria; Colin Sprau & son Brandon, ’47 Ford Street Rod; and Stan Stack, modern iron.

Crystal Lake Museum Tour - Saturday, May 12

By Ken Bounds

Well, if one driving tour wasn’t enough for you, how about two in one week?  On May 12 a group of V-8’ers met at the Town & Country Mall in Arlington Heights for a tour to two museums in Crystal Lake.  The sight of all those V-8’s ready to roll was interesting enough, but we were also treated to two new “finds” from NIRG members.

A lot of time was spent inspecting the “new” ’39 Ford Convertible that Paul Jensen had just brought back from Southern Illinois.  The car is pristine!  Paul has himself quite a car and should really put it in the Concourse class in Winona.  We would like to hear more from Paul about how he sweet-talked this one away from its prior owner.

Also arriving with a “new” car was Steve O’Neill with yet another ’41 Tudor; his third this year!  And when we say “arrived”, we mean he just arrived.  Steve bought the car in South Dakota the previous afternoon and drove it all the way back overnight, arriving just in time for the tour.

At 9:30 our host, Jack Nikolich, led the group out Northwest Highway to Marvin Richer’s collection at Brock Equipment Company in Crystal Lake, arriving by 10:30.  Marvin has quite a collection of unusual antique cars, including several Ford V-8s that he has gathered from all over the country.  Among Marvin’s diverse collection are a large number of Corvairs (don’t tell Ralph Nader).  As impressive as Marvin’s collection was the enormous size of his facility; you would just have to see it to believe it.  Large shelves throughout the facility contained a huge stock of parts from engines to fenders to complete bodies.  One notable item was a ’40 Ford Flower Car purchased from a local funeral home.

After we had time to view Marvin’s collection, Ken Weger met us and led us to his Mini-Motors collection at his expanding museum.  In addition to viewing Ken’s restoration shop, his incredible collection of mini cars, and his memorabilia collection, we were also treated to a guided tour of Ken’s new 15,000 square foot museum, currently under construction.

We wrapped up the tour with a late lunch at Kief’s Reef, just off Route 176 at the Fox River.  A hearty NIRG “Thank You” to Jack Nikolich for arranging and leading the tour and for working the phones to get so many V-8’s out on the road.

Attending were:  Ron Blum, ’40 Ford Sedan; Ken & Carolyn Bounds, ’50 Ford Convertible; Don Braun, ’56 Ford Pickup; Tom & Judy Buscaglia, ’51 Ford Tudor; Lloyd & Gladys Duzell, ’40 Ford Pickup; John Judge, ’51 Ford Victoria; Charles Kaiser, modern iron; Joe & Nell Kozmic, ’37 Ford Coupe; Paul Jensen & Paul Linzer, ’39 Ford Convertible; Frank & Phyllis Madrigali, ’51 Ford Pickup; Joey Novak, modern iron; Jack & Jean Nikolich, ’39 Ford Convertible; Tom O’Donnell & Len Vinyard, ’40 Mercury Sedan-Coupe; Steve O’Neill, ’41 Ford Sedan; Dan & Diane Pudelek, ’53 Ford Victoria; Stan Stack, modern iron; and George & Dawn Zulas and Alan Wall, ’40 Ford Tudor.