Volo Auto Museum - Is it Worth a Visit?

The Volo Auto Museum has one of the largest indoor classic car collections in the country featuring hundreds of cars spanning just about every era. The sprawling museum, located on a former dairy farm, hosts more than a half a million visitors a year and is an active dealership. But, is it worth a visit?

Related: Volo Auto Museum - Fast Facts

Volo Auto Museum - Guide Review

I thought this museum was definitely worth the trip from Chicago, and I would not describe myself as a car buff. I went with my two kids and my parents. We wandered the sprawling, 30-acre site, which features five car showrooms, a military vehicle exhibit, a children's showroom, and, to my delight, a collection of vehicles by George Barris, who is known in the industry as the "King of Kustomizers."

He's the guy who seems to have designed just about every special movie and TV car you have ever seen. The entire car collection is huge. More than 300 classic cars and loads of movie and TV cars, many by Barris: the Blues Brothers bus, the Ghostbusters station wagon, the Batmobile, the Starsky & Hutch car, the Back to the Future car, the Dukes of Hazard car, and many more.

I also found myself ooohing and ahhing over a bunch of the beautifully restored classic cars (all for sale) and discussing the emergence of seat belts and head rests with my kids.

There's also a military exhibit (which my children wanted to avoid because of some simulated gun fire coming out of it), a large shopping and antique mall (which, I'd say was fair, but I did not get through all of it), a cafe, restoration facility and more.

What clinches my recommendation that you ought to visit the Volo Auto Museum, in addition to all that's listed above, is that the prices seemed fair and the setting is really lovely.

At the time I visited tickets were $9 for adults, $7 for seniors, veterans and active military personnel. Children between 5 and 12 were $5 and kids under 5 were free. To their enormous credit, they did not charge for parking.

The museum, though all under roof, is located in a series of buildings in a lovely, rolling setting. There's even a nice outdoor playground for the kids to blow off some energy after a long car ride.

Learn more: Volo Auto Museum - Fast Facts