Petersen Automotive Museum

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 2014 and 2015, the museum underwent an extensive $125 million renovation.{{Cite web |title=STRUCTURE magazine {{!}} The Petersen Automotive Museum Façade |url=https://www.structuremag.org/?p=12247#:~:text=Construction%20began%20in%202014%20on,new%20and%20very%20dramatic%20fa%C3%A7ade. |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.structuremag.org}} 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.{{cite journal|last1=Vaughn|first1=Mark|title=Anatomy of a Makeover|journal=Autoweek|date=January 4, 2016|page=4}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-petersen-automotive-museum-review-20151124-column.html |title=Petersen Automotive Museum's new look conveys a happily tasteless exterior |first=Christopher |last=Hawthorne |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=3 December 2015}} The remodeled museum opened to the public on December 7, 2015.{{cite journal |url=http://www.hotrod.com/features/1512-we-crashed-a-lamborghini-at-the-petersen-museum-and-they-didnt-care/ |title=We Crashed a Lamborghini at the Petersen Museum |first=Brandan |last=Gillogly |journal=Hot Rod |date=7 December 2015 |issn=0018-6031}}

File:PetersonMuseum 01.jpg|Museum prior to its 2015 renovation

File:Porsche Carrera GT (39995187763).jpg|Porsche Carrera GT concept at the museum

File:Throwback- Petersen Automotive Museum - Ampm Monster Truck Photo by Socialbilitty.jpg|Classic Boss Ampm Monster Truck hanging from the wall, at museum display, before renovation

File:Precious Metals Gallery.jpg

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.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-petersen-automotive-museum-20151202-story.html |title=Petersen Automotive Museum reopens with dramatic architecture, interactive exhibits |first=Charles |last=Fleming |author-link=Charles Fleming (author) |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=3 December 2015}} Age restrictions and an admission premium are in effect to view the vault collection.{{cite web |url=http://www.petersen.org/exhibitions/the-vault |title=The Vault |publisher=Petersen Automotive Museum |access-date=2014-04-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317041825/http://www.petersen.org/exhibitions/the-vault |archive-date=2013-03-17 }} 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.

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.{{cite news |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/the-petersen-automotive-museum-presents-we-are-porsche/ |title=The Petersen Automotive Museum Presents "We Are Porsche," Its Largest Porsche Exhibit Yet |date=April 18, 2023 |first=Tara |last=Hurlin |work=Hemmings |access-date=June 15, 2023 }}
• An extensive Tesla motors exhibit on display from 2022 to 2024 that featured numerous vehicles manufactured by Tesla, as well as many other non-vehicle items, such as space suits worn by Nasa Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, the first NASA astronauts sent into space aboard a rocket and capsule made by SpaceX.

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The museum's collection of vehicles includes:

• The "NASCAR Herbie" Volkswagen Beetle used during filming of Herbie: Fully Loaded
• A life-sized model of Lightning McQueen from Disney Pixar's Cars (franchise) film series
• A 1964 Chevrolet Impala lowrider owned by Jesse Valadez known as Gypsy Rose{{Cite web |title=Jesse Valadez Jr., owner of most famous lowrider in LA history, dead at 45 |url=https://abc7chicago.com/jesse-valadez-jr-died-death-gypsy-rose-car-lowrider-funeral/5556989/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=ABC7 Chicago |language=en}}
• A 1967 Ford GT40 Mk III
• A 1956 Jaguar XKSS formerly owned by Steve McQueen
• A 1992 Batmobile from Batman Returns
• A 2001 Honda S2000 used in 2 Fast 2 Furious
• A Ferrari 308 GTSi 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 replica built by Gotham Garage on Car Masters: Rust to Riches{{Cite web|url=https://www.petersen.org/car-masters|title=Gotham Garage "Car Masters: Rust to Riches"|website=Petersen Automotive Museum}}
• The Corwin Getaway, a compact mid-engined car designed by photographer Cliff Hall that debuted at the 1970 LA Auto Show.{{cite web |url=https://journal.classiccars.com/2021/03/02/corwin-prototype-petersen-notable-piece-black-history/ |title=Corwin prototype displayed at Petersen is notable piece of Black history |last=Golfen |first=Bob |date=2 March 2021 |website=The ClassicCars.com Journal |publisher= |access-date= }}
• A 1998 Cadillac Popemobile.{{Cite web |last=Mechanics |first=Popular |date=2013-04-12 |title=10 notorious cars from the Petersen Museum vault |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/z-archived-cars/slideshow/10-notorious-cars-from-the-petersen-museum-vault-60270.php |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=CT Insider |language=en-US}}
• A 1978 Mercedes-Benz 600 Landaulet used by Saddam Hussein.
• An armored 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL used to transport Ferdinand Marcos during his rule.{{Cite web |last=Shiels |first=Michael Patrick |title=Shiels: Petersen Automotive Museum in LA has distinct Motor City feel |url=https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/life/2023/09/02/shiels-petersen-automotive-museum-in-la-has-distinct-motor-city-feel/70726851007/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Lansing State Journal |language=en-US}}

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.{{cite journal|last=Vaughn|first=Mark|title=Petersen museum gets $100 million gift from founders|journal=AutoWeek|date=April 26, 2011|url=http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110426/CARNEWS/110429898}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Petersen Automotive Museum}}

• {{Official website|www.petersen.org}}
• [http://www.trombinoscar.com/ancetres/anthony9701.html 1897 Anthony Electric Runabout]

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Category:Museums in Los Angeles

Category:Automobile museums in California

Category:Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles

Category:Wilshire Boulevard

Category:Welton Becket buildings

Category:Museums established in 1994

Category:1994 establishments in California

Category:Murder sites in Los Angeles