If you’re like me and have always wanted to own a Hollywood-inspired “star car,” a chance to do so is on the way. Volo Auto Museum in Illinois is clearing out their storage vault to raise money and create room for their forthcoming Punishment and Crime Museum, set to open in 2019. The auction will be held via eBay beginning on September 19, 2018. Those who visit Volo often know it to be a museum where the collection is ever-changing, and sometimes that means some surprises will come up for sale… and when they do, it’s because the museum is getting ready to buy. Among the items headed to auction this September are screen-used vehicles from Furious 7, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Ant-Man & The Wasp, American Gangster, Tucker: A Man and His Dream and more, along with replica vehicles based on famous rides from Scooby-Doo, Mad Max, Knight Rider and Back to the Future.
Museum Director Brian Grams said that the value of film-related and screen-used cars has skyrocketed in recent years. A few years ago, he sold a Fast and Furious Eclipse driven by Paul Walker for $21,000.
“Today that car would bring closer to the $200,000 mark,” he said. “I recently sold a replica of that car for what I got for the original. Movie cars and the unusual have become increasingly attractive to collectors, but they are extremely difficult to get.”
Grams recently sold an original screen-used “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series General Lee, one of only 17 to exist, to an overseas buyer for $225,000.
The Volo Auto Museum has developed an international reputation for being experts in the movie-car field. Because of his dedication, resources and knowledge in preserving movie-car history, Grams often is asked to help verify whether a car is an original or a replica.
“The auction we’re hosting is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for collectors,” Grams said. “Where else would you have a chance to bid on everything from a screen-used Tucker to a custom-built, off-road ‘Fast and Furious’ vehicle or even a Bugs Bunny carrot car?”
Aside from the star cars, there’s a range of other items on the block including artifacts from Disney on Ice; a complete set of robots from Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World in Wisconsin Dells; vintage ride-ons, campers and snowmobiles and more.
See the full assortment at the Volo Auto Museum website, and look for more items to be added before it all kicks-off on eBay September 19. There’s no reserve and items will be sold to the highest bidder regardless of price.
