The Petersen Automotive Museum will be reopening December 7th after a long and extensive restoration, unveiling over 100-thousand square feet of exhibition space, 25 new galleries, over 150 cars on display, and rotating events throughout the year. Located on Fairfax and Wilshire, the Petersen is one of the largest automotive museums in the world, as well as a pillar of Museum Row in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles.
Whether you're a loyal gear head or think of your car as the metal box that gets you from point A to point B, the Petersen has something for everyone. Their ever-changing collection of cars and associated exhibits show just how much the careful design and artistry of the automobile has influenced how we think of transportation throughout history, and how integral they are to not only LA culture (hello, traffic!), but on a global scale as well.
Automobiles in the Movies: Featuring Bond Cars
This exhibit raises the question how our relationship with automobiles is expressed throughout cinematic history, whether through romance, comedy, or action. The car shown above is the perfect example of mirroring the design of it's protagonist, James Bond: Sleek, sensual, and suave...but packing an arsenal of gadgets and weapons bordering the nonsensical - all with the power to thwart evil. To really get to the heart of the matter, they're putting on display three bond cars from SPECTRE: an Aston Martin DB10, a Jaguar C-X75, a Land Rover Defender, the original Aston Martin DB5, and Die Another Day's Jaguar XKR. However, unlike Bond's unforgettable taste for martinis, you'll find your curiosity for cars in cinema stirred, never shaken.
Forza Motorsport Racing Experience
This is not your typical racing simulator. While many of us may be used to experiencing a car race as far as playing Cruisin' USA in the local arcade, this exhibit is fully immersive and gets you as close to feeling like you're behind the wheel as you can get. Choosing from six different racing scenarios, you have the chance to feed your need for speed on natural terrain, urban streets, and racetracks. With incomparable graphics, you'll get a good feeling for the physics of driving, including the hair-trigger feeling of the pedals, and potentially whiplash inducing turns. While this is just a simulation, the adrenaline rush is 100% real.
Hot Rods and Customs
An important part of Robert E. Petersen's early career, this exhibit shows the infinite variety of custom cars bred out of post-WWII Southern California and beyond. From rugged road warriors to stunning works of automotive art, this transformative movement goes beyond just nuts and bolts and takes on a new form of creative identity. Explore how hot rods and customs have earned their place in history, why it became such a large phenomenon in the United States, and how it has been portrayed in American media and pop culture.
Cars Mechanical Institute
This exhibit is great for introducing children and adults alike to the basics of how vehicles work with the use of animation. Visitors will dive deep into the science and physics of automobiles while experiencing their favorite Pixar characters through augmented reality. For those who want to explore further, this exhibit also has a digital scavenger hunt that allows curious kids to learn more about cars on the second floor of the museum.
Race Cars for the Road
Explore the progression of the American road-going car in it's quest for speed. Born out of a rivalry with Ferrari for dominance in the world of racing, every design element of modern street-legal Fords has gone through rigorous changes to achieve the high rating in acceleration, handling, safety, aerodynamics, and efficiency. A need for speed under street conditions is what originally gave us the Stock Car, where owners would just drive their stock-purchased automobiles to a race and pit them against other standard cars. This exhibit showcases the Fort GT design, which exemplifies what exactly a street-capable race car is capable of, and the journey it's overcome to achieve exceptional performance.
Precious Metal
Silver has long been used in the creation of everything from jewelry, to utensils, and of course, cars. Not only has silver been used for its malleable and conductive properties, it's been used as a precious material due to it's illustriously reflective surface. Therefore, silver has been used as a prestigious element in car design throughout history, to represent a higher class of driving machine. This exhibit walks you through the history of silver cars and how it continues to embody a "golden standard" of style in automotive design, despite the introduction of new production materials.
BMW & The Art of the Automobile
This exhibit exemplifies how closely art and the automobile go together. Using help from BMW and their support of the arts, it features examples from the BMW Art Car Collection. Alongside these creative cars are featured paintings by contemporary artists such as David Hockney, Robin Rhode, and Alexander Calder.
Howlin': Vehicles from the Nearburg Collection
Many features that we have today for the safety and comfort of the standard vehicle wouldn't have been realized without the rigorous testing of racing cars. While carmakers strive for efficiency on the racetrack, the principle of optimum car performance goes beyond the finish line and into our day to day transportation. The vehicles from the Nearburg Collection are just some of the examples of race cars that have had impacts on our daily driving experience.
