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Petersen Automotive Museum

The Petersen Automotive Museum is an automobile museum located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world's largest collections, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a nonprofit organization specializing in automobile history and related educational programs.

History

Founded on June 11, 1994, by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and his wife Margie, the $40-million Petersen Automotive Museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. The museum was originally located within the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and later moved to a historic department store designed by Welton Becket. Opened in 1962, the building first served as a short-lived U.S. branch of Seibu Department Stores, before operating as an Ohrbach's department store from 1965 to 1986. Six years after Ohrbach's closed, Robert Petersen selected the largely windowless site as an ideal space for a museum—allowing artifacts to be displayed without harmful exposure to direct sunlight.

On March 9, 1997, rapper the Notorious B.I.G. was murdered just outside the building in a drive-by shooting, after having attended a party at the museum.

In 2015, the museum underwent an extensive $125 million renovation. The building's façade was redesigned by the architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, and features a stainless-steel ribbon assembly made of 100 tons of 14-gauge type 304 steel in 308 sections, 25 supports and 140,000 custom stainless-steel screws. Designers at The Scenic Route worked with museum planner, Matt Kirchman of ObjectIDEA Planning and Design to configure interior spaces to accommodate new themes and changing exhibits. The remodeled museum opened to the public on December 7, 2015.

Exhibits and Collection

The museum has over 100 vehicles on display in its 25 galleries. The remaining half is kept in a vault on the building's basement level. Age restrictions and an admission premium are in effect to view the vault collection. The ground floor focuses on automotive artistry, showcasing an array of extravagant automobiles. The second floor is principally concerned with industrial engineering—including design, performance, and a collection of interactive teaching exhibits. Special displays on the industry floor cover racing, motorcycles, hot rods and customs. The third floor chronicles the history of the automobile, with an emphasis on the car culture of Southern California.

Exhibits

Some of the museums exhibits have included:

An extensive Porsche exhibit (until January 2019), including one of only two 1939 Porsche 64s in existence.
An exhibit on the history of the Japanese automotive industry, with many cars on view from Japanese collections
An exhibit on powered children's racecars
A year long exhibit to mark the 75th anniversary of carmaker Porsche.

Collection

The museum's collection of vehicles includes:

The "NASCAR Herbie" Volkswagen Beetle used during filming of Herbie: Fully Loaded
Lightning McQueen from Disney Pixar's Cars (franchise) film series
A 1964 Chevrolet Impala lowrider owned by Jesse Valadez known as Gypsy Rose
A 1967 Ford GT40 Mk III
A 1956 Jaguar XKSS formerly owned by Steve McQueen
A 2011 Ford Fiesta from Ken Block’s Gymkhana 3
A 1992 Batmobile from Batman Returns
A 2001 Honda S2000 used in 2 Fast 2 Furious
A Ferrari 308 GTS used by Tom Selleck in Magnum, P.I.
A De Tomaso Pantera which belonged to Elvis Presley
One of the DeLorean time machines from Back to the Future
Luke Skywalker's landspeeder from Star Wars
The Plymouth XNR built by Gotham Garage on Car Masters: Rust to Riches
The Corwin Getaway, a compact mid-engined car designed by photographer Cliff Hall that debuted at the 1970 LA Auto Show.
A 1998 Cadillac Popemobile.
A 1978 Mercedes-Benz 600 Landaulet used by Saddam Hussein.
An armored 1988 Mercedes-Benz SEL used to transport Ferdinand Marcos during his rule.

Finances

The museum received a $100-million gift from Margie Petersen and the Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation in April 2011, which includes cash and the property the museum was leasing, as well as many of the vehicles belonging to the Petersens.

In popular culture

In the opening episode of the 2021 television series La Brea, the Petersen Museum is swallowed by a sinkhole that transports the cast (and the wreckage of the museum) to a primeval world.

The museum is destroyed by a lava flow in the 1997 film Volcano.

In a scene from Who Killed the Electric Car?, a previous General Motors EV1 owner visits their car in the museum.

On March 10, 2019, Adam Carolla held his 10th Anniversary Celebration for his podcast The Adam Carolla Show at the museum.