Fifty years ago, it was just one man and a truck servicing car wash equipment. This year, its golden anniversary, AVW Equipment Co is considered one of the largest independent car wash manufacturers in the country, with thousands of car wash installations around the globe.

AVW Equipment was founded by Milovan “Mike” Vidakovich in 1973 in Stone Park, Ill. After emigrating from Serbia, Vidakovich worked many different jobs to make ends meet in the U.S., including factory work. However, walking into work one day, Vidakovich found that the doors were locked. The factory had closed, and Vidakovich was placed in a tough position without a job. Needing to provide for his family, he quickly found an opportunity in the car wash industry.

Vidakovich in front of Will Call

Vidakovich began tinkering with the equipment on the job and believed he could make the designs better by simplifying them. When he shared his ideas with his boss, his boss said they did not have time for the changes. But Vidakovich was not deterred, and he took the equipment home to work on in his spare time.

Once he had re-engineering the equipment, Vidakovich went into business with a partner to service car wash equipment in Addison, Ill. Eventually, he went out on his own and established AVW Equipment with the support of his wife, Dusanka.

Vidakovich and his wife serviced car washes all over the Midwest in the late ’70s. Their children, Mira Djordjevic and Velimir “Willy” Vidakovich, soon joined in the family business, too.

Every day, Vidakovich contemplated new ways to tweak the engineering, simplify it, adapt it and customize it to fit the situation. He developed car wash technology such as the circular motion mitter, the modernized flex wrap and the following wheel blaster, in addition to the belt conveyor, introduced in 1998.

Today, Mira, Willy and their children continue to drive the company, continuing Vidakovich’s legacy of hard work and helping everyone along the way.

AVW Equipment booth at The Car Wash Show 2023 in Las Vegas