Route 66 Pontiac Joint Tour with the Greater Rockford Regional Group

By John Emmering

An enthusiastic group of NIRG members gathered early Saturday, May 19, in the parking lot of White Fence Farm in Romeoville anticipating an enjoyable tour down to Pontiac, Illinois, along the former path of Historic Route 66. The weather was warm and clear with an indication that it could turn out to be a very warm afternoon.  The members present greeted each other and had a pleasant chat.  A small group gathered around John Judge’s ’50 Convertible to check what’s under the hood - below.

As the 9:00 am departure time rolled around old Route 66 beckoned and a convoy of vehicles not commonly seen rolling down Route 66 in half a century started south on the historic highway.  Participants driving Ford V-8’s included John & Robin Emmering in their 1951 Custom Fordor, Ernie Herzog, 1953 Club Coupe, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell, 1940 Mercury Sedan Coupe, John Judge, 1950 Custom Convertible, Roger Hunz, 1951 Custom Tudor, Dan Pudelek, 1953 Tudor Victoria and Stan Stack with passengers Ron Blum & Ron Dopke, 1953 Customline Tudor.  Alan Wall drove his 1962 Pontiac, which later pleased Pontiac-Oakland Museum Director Tim Dye.  Ron Steck drove his Porsche and driving other modern iron were John Scheve and John & Barb Slobodnik.

John Emmering led the pack, having test driven the route in March in preparation for the trip.  The convoy moved like clockwork with the experienced coordination of Tom O’Donnell in the #2 position and Dan Pudelek at the tail.  The trusty brown “Historic Route 66” signs guided through Joliet and the group enjoyed some of the Route 66 sights such as the Blues Brothers Ice Cream stand and Dick’s Route 66 Garage & Towing on the other side of the street.   Downtown Joliet displayed some old gas pumps in commemoration of the highway.

Leaving urban Joliet, Historic Route 66 led through the small town of Elwood and then at Wilmington the group was greeted by the Gemini Giant, a twenty-eight foot tall green spaceman figure outside the Launching Pad Drive-In.  Next the convoy entered Braceville, passing the Polk-a-Dot drive-in, which features life size figures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.  Continuing through Gardner, the next place of interest passed was Ambler’s Texaco Station in Dwight.  This station pumped gas from 1933-1999 and is now a museum.  Although the curator motioned the group to pull in we needed to continue.  The stop sign allowed some of the station’s visitors to snap a few photos of the early Ford V-8 convoy.    

A long stretch of road followed until reaching Odell where another historic gasoline station stands, this time a 1932 vintage Standard Oil station.  After slowing down to read some Burma Shave signs the group finally reached Pontiac weaving into the downtown square through some residential side streets.                                       

Staff members from the Pontiac-Oakland Museum were at their posts directing members’ cars into some choice parking spaces where they could be displayed in front of the old Livingston County Court House.  Pontiac Mayor Robert Russell and Pontiac-Oakland Museum Director Tim Dye provided an enthusiastic welcome.

Once in Pontiac most of the group headed into the Pontiac-Oakland Museum to check out what it had to offer.  There were some great Pontiacs on display from 1920’s models through the 2002 Firebird, shown in some interesting settings.  The amount of literature and Pontiac memorabilia was staggering.  After wandering the museum the majority of the group headed over to Delong’s Causal Dining and Spirits next to the Museum where many took advantage of both opportunities.

During lunch the Greater Rockford Regional Group arrived with a nice assembly of vehicles, including both Ford V-8 and other vintage cars.  Those who arrived as part of the Rockford convoy were tour coordinators Wendell & Sandy Olson, 1952 Victoria Tudor, Jerry & Dian Swanson, 1949 Custom Convertible, Don & Barb Greenlee, 1950 Custom Convertible, Herb Hofer & his friend Marilyn, 1951 Mercury 4-Dr,  Gale & Irene Downer, 1951 Ford Victoria, and Dick & Sue Brick, 1953 Ford Club Coupe. Members arriving with other vintage and special interest cars were, Don & Liz Johnson, 1955 Pontiac Catalina 2-Door,  Wayne & Marge Ferry, 1956 Plymouth Convertible, Jim & Shirley Diehl, 1963 Mercury Comet Convertible, Bill & Jan Bleitz, 1964 Chevy Malibu, Erwin & Marilee Buhmann, 1965 Mustang Convertible, Curt Moen & Barb Watz, 2005 Mustang Convertible and Keith & Sandy Forberg, 2005 Mustang Coupe.

The rest of the afternoon offered opportunities to visit the Route 66 Museum, the Military Museum and the Mural Museum along with shopping and viewing the Mini Coopers displayed on the opposite side of the town square.  As late afternoon approached the majority of our group headed back to the Chicago area after a very enjoyable day.  John & Robin Emmering, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell and Alan Wall remained in town enjoying a Chicken and pasta meal at Bernardi’s II Restaurant.  After our buffet style dinner the V-8 group was invited to a musical revue called “Sentimental Journey” in Pontiac’s Chautauqua Park, performed by the Vermillion Players, which all present enjoyed.

After a night at the Comfort Inn, which just became a Best Western, participants awoke for some last minute pictures down at the Route 66 Museum mural.

From the hotel, the group took off on a special opportunity to view farmer Lynn Frantz’s private vehicle collection in Cullum, Illinois, near Route 47. Most of the Rockford group along with John & Robin Emmering and Alan Wall toured the collection.  There were scores of untouched original cars, trucks and tractors along with the personal furnishings of generations of the Frantz Family.  All in all those attending had a wonderful weekend.  Pontiac remains a great destination for individuals or groups interested in automotive and Illinois Route 66 history.