New museum provides trips down memory lane

Deepa Bharath

Bob Teller was looking for a way to take Orange County Fairgrounds

visitors back in time -- a vehicle to transport them to an era that gave

shape, form and meaning to the American dream. Teller found 27 cars --

most of them antique and some driven by celebrities -- to give swap meet

visitors a historic ride on the road traveled by Southern Californians

from the past.

His Automotive Road of Dreams Museum, says Teller, is an attempt not

just to recreate the past but to show visitors that automobiles were an

intricate part of Orange County’s history, culture and evolution.

“Cars are part of Americana,” said Teller, who founded the swap meet

in 1969. “Cars, roads and freeways are how we grew as a nation.”

Spread over 14,000 square feet are cars from the 1900s to the 1980s --

the oldest of them a burgundy 1904 Cadillac. The most expensive of the

lot is the one Teller is proud of -- the beige Pierce Arrow that belonged

to one Mr. Charlie Chaplin. It’s now worth $200,000.

Other star cars include former baseball player Reggie Jackson’s

Ragster, OJ Simpson’s Bentley, Telly Savalas’ Rover and the Stutz that

belonged to Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The entrance to the museum has photos of old Orange County -- a 1940s

picture of a family shopping at Knott’s Berry Farm and several others.

“When people think of Knott’s Berry Farm today, they think rides,”

said Teller. “But in the 40s, you went there to buy berry jam and chicken

dinner.”

It was a two-hour drive to Knott’s from Newport, but with the Santa

Ana Freeway built in 1945, it now takes less than an hour to get there,

he said.

“It’s just amazing to see how things change over time,” said Teller.

Getting the historical photos was the biggest challenge, said Terry

Schulz of Gothic Moon Productions, the company that designed the museum.

Over two years, designers painted murals and created facades of a

farmhouse, citrus packing facility, a drive-in theater with a wide

screen, lover’s lane, service station and speedway racing arena.

Teller’s favorite set is a used car dealership modeled after old-time

“crazy car salesman” Mad Man Muntz’s L.A. dealership.

“He was this short guy who used to wear a Napoleon hat, quite a

salesman,” said Teller with a laugh.

The museum is also a good way to “enhance the swap meet,” he said.

“We hope this will bring in more people and make the swap meet

attractive,” said Teller.

But more than anything, it was his passion for cars that really

motivated him to build a museum, said Teller, whose plates on the back of

his 1956 Chevy convertible read IM17AGN.

“I’ve always loved cars,” he said. “This is just a way to share that.”