I should confess right now that I am not a car person. I remember in my married life that all the men in my wife’s family were definite “gear-heads” making me the odd man out during the holidays. Needless to say, I was happy when our friend, Joan Yingst (who shared my view of cars), covered the George Barris Charity Car Show during our brutal Chicago heat wave last July (see story HERE).  Despite the obvious allure of the actual vehicles driven by “The Munsters,” I was still in no hurry to head up north to The Volo Auto Museum. That is until National Horror Host, Svengoolie, made a recent appearance there!

Photo courtesy of Jim Roche!

The Svengoolie aspect of this fateful day will be covered soon. For now, let me just share my shock at just how amazing this place is and why ALL horror fans should  head up there this Halloween season. In contrast to Joan’s visit, it was slated to be chilly and rainy but, surprisingly, the sun came out. The sky was not the only thing to be illuminated as I soon discovered that cars can pretty darn cool, especially when featuring some of Hollywood’s most famous sets of wheels!

From the film THE CAT IN THE HAT

We grabbed our tickets and, right off the bat, were treated to some amazing movie vehicles including the ones featured in Joan’s piece. Overseeing “The Munsters” car was a scary ghoul (played by Kevin Skoglund) who I just HAD to pose with! He was just one of the museum’s monstrous embellishments that added to the overall experience!

As it turns out, Kevin wasn’t the ONLY monster I’d be posing with…

An adjoining room featured even MORE great stuff including Scooby-Doo’s “Mystery Machine” and “The General Lee.” But the car I was REALLY interested in was none other than Ms. “Hell-on-wheels” herself, CHRISTINE!

I did partake in the “Haunted Trolley Ride” which featured a special trip around the impressive grounds along with some real-life ghost stories. Fans of local lore will enjoy hearing Volo’s own bout with the supernatural which is not only shared by the driver but later a ghostly story-teller himself! I might add that this was done just a few yards away from an actual cemetery on the museum’s grounds!

After the tour, passengers are then treated to a trolley exclusive – special access to the museum’s most prized showroom! This included vehicles driven by Oprah, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Dick Clark, Tony Curtis, and Princess Diana!

After the trolley ride there was still a LOT more to see, including outside museum walls. Let me say that this is one fanboy that lit up like a Christmas tree having been in the presence of the actual plane trashed by The Hulk in this past summer’s blockbuster, THE AVENGERS!

Hulk SMASH….Dave LIKE!

DC Comic fans also have something to go batty over as Volo is home to the actual truck driven by the late, Heath Ledger, in the best of the BATMAN trilogy; THE DARK KNIGHT!

Believe me, I’m suppressing my desire to show you even more of the Silver Screen gems Volo has to offer but absolutely encourage you to go and discover them yourself! Head up to The Volo Auto Museum THIS month!!! Tickets for the trolley go fast so you may want to plan ahead and purchase your tickets in advance online (which you can do by clicking HERE). I guarantee, whether you like cars or not, you will have a truck-load of FUN!

Dave Fuentes~