One of the many benefits of being part of the CMGC is access to private collections and garages and in this case, museums that are not open to the public. On Saturday June 26, about 25 CMGC members (14 cars), braved the rainy or authentic British weather (for the optimists). The day began with a well planned 1.5-hour drive through scenic and winding roads ending up at an unmarked warehouse featuring the Beller Car Collection. Owner Jordan Beller and his wife gave us a detailed and personal tour of the collections. I asked her to describe the collection and she said “it is mostly 1932 Fords,” but for every ’32 Ford, it seems there is an exception. In fact, this collection of about 90 complete vehicles is so much more than just cars, the only way to describe it is to describe all 6 parts of the collection.

Cars: Yes, ’32 Fords, in every configuration; sedans, coupe’s, hot rods, pick-ups. In addition to Fords, he also has a 60’s Rolls, a 50’s Cadillac and an early Chevy Suburban (50’s). The oldest vehicle is a 1928 Ford and the newest is a mostly original 1966 Ford Mustang, with original interior and one repaint.

Trucks: Many of these trucks (and cars) are barn finds. Many are original or “sympathetic” restorations, meaning he kept the original paint and used as many original (OEM) parts as possible, and he has retained much of the patina. The trucks include, pick-ups, farm trucks, tow trucks and fire trucks.

Signs and license plates: This part of the collection alone would be worth a visit. It appears he has nearly every type of road sign seen on Illinois roads, and some signs that I have never seen. Jordan collects 1932 Illinois license plates (pairs only) and has them mounted on the south wall of the museum. Inside that display are 1932 license plates (again only pairs) for each of the 48 states that were part of the US at that time.

Engines, heads and manifolds: I never thought a display of manifolds would be so entertaining, but Jordan has dedicated the back corner of his museum to fuel delivery and various components. Both walls contain 200+ neatly hung and organized manifolds, while the work benches around them contain heads, carburetors, pistons, and other components that are both Ford (OEM) and several that were custom made for street racing. Jordan also had an impressive collection of old auto diagnostic equipment.

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