Racers Den: Volo Museum

By Eric MonterastelliOn September 29, 2022December 8, 20231 Comment

Do you ever find yourself flipping through the channels and stumble across something that keeps you glued to a show that you’d never considered watching before? That’s exactly what happened to me. I landed on an episode of American Pickers on History Channel, and much to my surprise they were visiting the Volo Museum.

And for those that don’t know … the Volo Museum was established in 1960 by the Grams family in the Chicago suburb of Volo, Illinois. It houses 45 exhibits, over 15,000 historical items and over 400 rotating classic and collector cars ranging from the 1920’s to modern muscle!

The Volo Museum is in a state of constant rotation. Each week you will see something new and exciting. All the vehicles in the many showrooms are fully prepared, restored and made available for sale.

The Volo museum is broken up into various sections or “rooms,” inside of many of the larger show rooms. One of those you’ll encounter as soon as you enter the facility is “The Duesenberg Room”

The Volo Museum houses the largest TV & Movie vehicle collection in the United States. But it goes beyond just cars parked in a show room, there are full scale and sometimes interactive diorama’s that accompany each vehicle.

Would you like to ride with Batman? One of a few original/authentic “Tumblers” that remain from the Batman Franchise starring Christian Bale. **More on this vehicle in the Audio Tour – below!

The Volo Museum houses some of the largest, and the largest, collection of original “Hot Rods” like those created by George Barris and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth (Rat Fink) and others. **More on that in the Audio Tour below!

Swipe/Click left or right for more photos!

Need a break from all the walking? Try out their full scale indoor carrousel or take in a completely animatronic Pirate concert!

The Volo Museum also contains a section entirely devoted to the Armed Forces, with authentic memorabilia donated by soldiers and veterans, it also includes real (not replica) Military Issue vehicles on display like this Desert Storm HUM-V and even a Helicopter or two.

Are you or a loved one a fan of Jurassic Park or more importantly Dinosaurs? Volo also houses one of the largest interactive and animatronic Dinosaur exhibits in one of its many out buildings.

Ever wanted to feel like Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi or Dan Gurney? Well, why not sit in an authentic CART series Indy Car and try it on for yourself?

One of the newest displays at Volo includes the Ford GT-40 and Ferrari 330 P3 from the Movie “Ford v Ferrari” starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon – what’s not to love? #becauseracecar

VIRTUAL AUDIO TOUR!
Taking us on this Virtual Tour to talk about the Museum is Jim Wojdyla marketing director for the Volo Museum, tune in below.

Check out the follow-along notes, transcript and more details for this episode at GTM

The history/backstory/founding of the Museum
Different sections of the museum to include sales and Jurassic gardens. What are some of your favorite exhibits?
Duesenbergs – let’s talk about classics!
TV & Movie cars (Batmobile, Herbie, etc) – how does one go about acquiring a former “movie star”
Reviewing different areas and sections of the property. (Cars, Dinosaurs, Military, Boats, etc)
Costs/Details, etc about visiting the museum. What are your plans for expansion?
Buying/Selling cars – Are all the cars in the museum for sale? What types of cars do you sell?
and much, much more!

Check out our video guided tour via Patreon!

… or check out this 4 min clip from Motorweek about the Volo Museum.

Volo Museum Admission Info

If you’re looking for something else to do this weekend, how about a road-trip to the Volo Museum to check out some iconic cars. And if you can’t make it out to Illinois be sure to check out the TV series “Volo House of Cars” originally aired on History Channel, now available on Amazon Prime. To learn more about the Volo Auto Museum be sure to visit www.volocars.com or follow them on all the social-media majors @volomuseum

Adults – $19.95
Children 5 to 12 – $12.95
Seniors (65 and over) – $17.95
Veterans and Military with ID card – $16.95
Military in Uniform and Children Under 5 – FREE

More information on volocars.com – plan your visit today!

Merry Motoring...