Tourism is slowly picking up at the Chrysler Car Museum with bus tours, car clubs and motoring groups expected to bring a welcome boost to the business in coming months.

Museum owner Jeff Connolly said business had been “pretty slow” recently, but he was increasingly optimistic about the months ahead.

“I think it is slowly improving,” Jeff said.

September is shaping up to be particularly busy, with four group bookings already scheduled, including visits from the Veteran Car Club and the Classic American Car Club, as well as several bus tours.

For Jeff, group visits provide a significant boost compared with individual visitors.

“If I get a busload of 30, that’s a great boost for me,” he said.

“You can do one tour with 30 people rather than one or two or three or four together. It makes my day easier in that respect. The bigger the number the better.”

Jeff said organised tours and rallies had been more frequent before Covid-19, with rising petrol and diesel prices also having an impact on the number of travelling motoring groups this year.

However he believes the tourism market is gradually returning.

“Once you’re getting the bus tours back, it’s really good,” he said.

The benefits also extend beyond the museum, with visitors often spending time exploring Grenfell, stopping for lunch or morning tea and in some cases, staying overnight.

“It's good for the town because they not only come here, they can have a look around the town, have lunch, have morning tea, whatever,” Jeff said.

“Some of them stay overnight.”

Jeff said he had noticed more museum visitors staying longer in Grenfell and exploring what the town has to offer.

The museum itself has been part of Grenfell’s tourism offering since 2006, when Mr Connolly opened it after purchasing a building in Main Street.

His connection with Grenfell began almost by chance.

While travelling from Sydney to Adelaide, he stopped in Grenfell to refuel and decided to drive through the town rather than returning directly to the highway.

“I fell in love with the town,” he said.

Jeff was looking for somewhere to store his collection of cars and eventually purchased a building in Main Street.

Having previously enjoying car shows in Sydney, he decided to turn the building into a private museum rather than simply using it for storage.

The museum continued as a weekend operation while Jeff was still working in Sydney.

After retiring in 2015, he and his family moved to Grenfell permanently.

Since then, the museum has attracted visitors from across Australia, including people who have travelled specifically to see its collection.

Jeff recently welcomed a group of visitors from North Queensland, while others have travelled from Western Australia, including Perth and Albany.

“They come here just to see the museum,” he said.

“They have a good look around at the other stuff while they’re here, too.”

Jeff said visitors regularly commented on Grenfell itself, describing it as a neat and tidy town with a welcoming, family atmosphere.

For a regional town, he said, the museum and its growing connections with motoring clubs and tour operators provided an opportunity to bring more visitors into the community and encourage them to stay a little longer.

“It is a real nice town,” he added.