Volo Auto Museum and Cooper’s Hawk
Where can you find the Batmobile, a vintage Duesenberg collection, dozens of kiddie rides and a Show Biz Pizza place? Toss in four antique stores, military equipment and a jet plane or two and you’ve got the Volo Auto Museum. It was a great place to spend a Date Day.
Neither of us had ever heard of the museum, let alone been there, so we didn’t know what to expect. Theresa was especially skeptical, as evidenced by our conversation as we entered the parking lot.
Theresa (with an incredulous eye-roll): You brought me to an auto museum?
Tom: Not just any auto museum.
Theresa: Really? An auto museum?
Tom: Trust me. You’ll love it. It’s got a Show Biz Pizza place!
Theresa: This better be good bucko. And the pizza place better serve wine!
With that less than auspicious start, Theresa marched through the rain to the museum entrance while Tom crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.
We’re not sure if it was the finger crossing or something else, but Theresa’s eyes lit up like a little kid when she entered the museum. The combination of lights, music and vintage toys are enough to make even the grumpiest curmudgeon smile. We paid our admission and set off into the first of 33 exhibits.
Duesenbergs and Much More
Our first stop was the Duesenberg Room where we found not only a dozen Duesenberg automobiles, but also several vintage musical instruments. We marveled at beauty and intricacy of the cars and enjoyed the sounds of a 1927 Steinway Grand Piano.
After the Duesenbergs, we made a quick stop at a little theater (with a strange Batman theme) to learn about the history of the museum. It’s a fascinating 6-minute story about the Gram family and how they started the museum on a 110-year-old dairy farm.
Muscle Car Madness
As we wound our way through the exhibits we got to see an incredible selection of cars. There are hundreds from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, all lovingly restored and all for sale. We fell in love with a grey 1957 Thunderbird convertible, but the $43,000 price tag was a bit much for a Friday morning. If you’re a fan of cars from this era, they alone are worth the price of admission.
Notable Cars and Interesting Signs
After a couple hours we were feeling a little overwhelmed and we hadn’t even gotten to the celebrity and movie cars yet. Then we found them. We saw Rod Stewart’s Viper, Donald Trump’s limo and Britney Spears’ convertible. On and on they went. Elvis’ Cadillac, Oprah’s Bentley, Princess Di’s Rolls Royce and just about every other celebrity you could think of. They had everything but Pee Wee’s bike!
Next, we found the movie cars and they were equally impressive. The Flintstones, Beverly Hillbillies and Munsters cars reminded us of fun movies and strange families. The Dukes of Hazard and Blues Brothers cars made us want to jump bridges and dodge the police on our way home.
At the back of the movie car showroom was perhaps the weirdest display of all. The wall featured a set of old advertisements. To say they would be politically incorrect today is a vast understatement. Tom appreciated their nostalgia and representation of a bygone era, but Theresa wasn’t as fond of them. She wouldn’t even pose for a picture with the one showing a man spanking his wife for buying bad coffee! We both, however, chuckled at the one portraying a smiling family with the caption, “They’re happy because they eat lard!”.
Everything Under the Sun
The museum is not just for car buffs. It has something for everyone. There’s a large military display, a section dedicated to jukeboxes and a huge selection of working kiddie rides. We also saw snow mobiles, campers, scooters and just about every other means of transportation we could think of. Around every corner something new and interesting is waiting to be found.
After the museum we visited two of the antique stores, but it was getting late and we were hungry, so we didn’t stay long. We will definitely be back.
October 2018
Volo Auto Museum
27582 Volo Village Road, Volo, IL 60073
$15 per adult
3.5 Hours
Free Parking
Cooper’s Hawk
583 N Milwaukee Ave, Wheeling, IL 60090
1.5 Hours
$100
