What is The Volo Auto Museum?

 

The world famous Volo Museum is an all-day, 35-acre, destination the entire family can enjoy, even for those who aren’t car lovers. The attraction consists of over 45 unique exhibits and over 10,000 mechanical marvels, some that can’t be found anywhere else in the world! While some museums focus on one particular item, like cars or motorcycles, the Volo Museum takes pride in offering a variety to keep the interest of all our guests. Our visitors are able to enjoy displays that span from a Military Jet to the Little Mermaid along with our 300-car collection that features special interest cars from the 1900’s and up to the most famous in TV and Movie History. With an on-site pizzeria, ice cream parlor and mini-theaters, it’s easy to spend a full day taking everything in. Volo Museum is open year-round and weatherproof with climate-controlled buildings. The Museum is also the focus of the History Channels TV series “Volo, House of Cars”.

Our Mission at Volo Auto Museum 

Our mission at the Volo Auto Museum is to simply be the best at what we do. We have two branches to our business, entertainment and collector car sales.

Our entertainment division, also known as the Museum, is on a constant move forward. We strive to keep things from getting stale by adding new displays and improving on old ones. Walt Disney once said “Disneyland will never be completed” and that’s a motto we live by. Our concept is to have a destination the family can spend the entire day; no matter what time of year or what the weather is. Being a family business we know how important it is to not focus on one member of the family but instead the whole family. We offer something for everyone from grandparents to grandchildren, men and women both. Even if you are not a car lover, we have something for you.

Whether you are buying or selling a collector car with us, it’s our goal to provide you with the service you would expect from decades of experience. When it comes to buying and selling, we don’t attempt to be the biggest, just the best!

History of Volo Auto Museum Illinois

In 1960 the Grams family purchased this property, which at the time was a 110-year-old, non-operating, dairy farm. The vision was to live in the old farmhouse and convert the dilapidated barn into a resale shop. It was the teenage sons Greg and Bill who had an interest in cars. With no money, and for a hobby, the brothers would scour the area looking for old cars the local farmers put out to the pasture. In their free time, after working the family business, the brothers would stay up late wrenching on their latest finds.

Even though their collection was nothing more than a dozen or so unrestored cars, the brothers started attracting attention from people, specifically the attention of their soon to be first customer. Even though none of their cars were for sale, that didn’t stop a man from making an offer on a car he had his eye on, an offer they decided to take. The brothers realized there was money to be made in old cars and it was that event that lead to the brothers starting their business “Volo Auto Museum”.

 

Over the decades, the museum has evolved from a single pole barn with a gravel floor, no heat or plumbing, to the 35-acre attraction you see today. Because of the Grams family’s passion and hard work, it has become a destination for half a million visitors annually from all corners of the world and the leader in collector car sales.

The Volo Auto Museum is a privately funded, for-profit business; therefore, they do not receive state or federal funding nor are they eligible for any tax relief. The museum’s collections are only able to exist and grow because of the Grams family’s commitment to reinvest any profits back into the museum rather than to be used for personal gain.

The museum currently has 3 generations of Grams family members running and operating the business and they look forward to their future generations continuing with the family tradition.

Come See The Museum For Yourself

Plan your trip today to see our amazing exhibits in person! Whether you're into vintage cars or antique musical instruments, there's something for everyone in the family. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us