Beller Museum Tour

by Tom O’Donnell

After worrying all week about the weather, Sunday, May 31, turned out to be a perfect day for touring in our V-8s. Madeleine and I (1940 Mercury Coupe) met Ron Blum and Stan Stack (1953 Ford Tudor), Gene and Earl Heintz (modern), Alan Wall (modern), Ron Dopke and his friend Norman (1940 Ford Tudor), and Garry and Joan Kelly (modern) at the Town and Country Mall in Arlington Heights. We toured to Glen Ellyn on secondary roads, where we met Tom Buscaglia (1951 Tudor) and Roger Hunz (modern). We continued on the secondary roads to the Beller Museum in Romeoville where we met Ken Bounds (1936 Ford Roadster), Mike Heatherly (1941 Mercury Convertible), Sam Barone and Judy (1941 Ford Pickup), Frank Madrigali (1950 Ford Coupe), Dan Pudelek (1953 Ford Victoria), Joe Kozmic (1937 Ford Coupe), Ernie Herzog (1953 Ford coupe), John Judge (1952 Ford F2 tow truck), Joe Novak, (modern), and Charley Kaiser (modern).

Jordon Beller opened the doors to both the museum and his workshop/storage area as soon as we arrived. We were greeted by a freshly painted floor on the museum side of the building. Half of the floor was painted and the displays were crowded into the other half. Jordon took the group on a guided tour and explained the history of the vehicles in the museum. These vehicles are unrestored and displayed with the patina they acquired in the years prior to being added to the Beller collection. Several 1932 trucks, several Model A trucks, a couple of hearses, a 1936 Ford Phaeton, a Rolls Royce, and a 1950 Ford F4 were among the vehicles on display in the museum. A 1932 Ford fire truck and a couple of vans were also on display.

Jordon took the group into his library, where he has 10s of thousands of pieces of literature. The literature collection consists of Ford advertisements and color folders, dealer handouts, magazine advertisements, and other reference material. It is mainly based on the Ford Vehicles from 1928-1932. There are pieces in the collection that cover other years of Ford manufacture.

The group went into the work shop / storage area of the building next. Several of Jordon’s current projects were on display. They included a tow truck, a Model A sport coupe with a pickup bed where the trunk would be and a Model A phaeton that is having some maintenance to preserve the patina.

When we were finished with the tour of the museum, we drove to White Fence Farm for lunch. Most of us had their chicken dinner. After lunch, a walk through the museum attached to the restaurant was on the agenda. There were a few cars, such as a 1946 Ford Woody and a LaSalle convertible mixed in with such items as washing machines, typewriters, mechanical calculators and baby buggies.