Gifts and bequests of artifacts contribute immeasurably to our ability to educate and enlighten the public about how automobiles have shaped society. With its full-size dioramas and engaging thematic galleries, the Petersen Museum rapidly established a new standard of interpretive excellence. Its architecture, user friendly parking facility, and central location make it a living example of automobile culture in Los Angeles. The two-hour-plus tour is hosted by COO Michael Bodell and includes views of the Chip Ganassi Racing exhibit, Porsche’s Redefining performance, and a look inside the Petersen Museum’s coveted Vault. The original Petersen Automotive Museum opened in June 1994 as a branch of the Natural History Museum with a mission to explore and present the history of the automobile and its impact on American life and culture using Los Angeles as the prime example. Exhibits are spectacular in scope and detail, featuring some of the world's rarest and most valuable autos and motorcycles. Its interactive spaces provide for family learning and entertainment, and are adjacent to a new satellite campus of the ArtCenter College of Design. Petersen Automotive Museum: Great history on automobiles - See 2,330 traveler reviews, 2,417 candid photos, and great deals for Los Angeles, CA, at Tripadvisor. Photo by Ted7, courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum. The afternoon session is a hands-on activity. Located at the end of “Miracle Mile” and the third-most travelled int American automotive museums have come and gone, but until publishing magnate and philanthropist Robert E. Petersen and his wife Margie opened the Petersen Automotive Museum, there was no central location in which to celebrate the entirety of automotive history, industry, culture, and artistry in Los Angeles, the most car-centric city the world has yet known. Enthusiasts with a desire to discover the vehicles from the collection that are not on display in the public areas, can now satisfy their curiosity by a visit to the well-known Vault, a climate-controlled subterranean area where collections vehicles are housed when they are not in a gallery or offsite for conservation, restoration, or public outreach. Thanks to the coronavirus scare and subsequent social distancing measures, gearheads have seen many events and venues cancelled throughout the world.Plenty of places are still closed down, including the Petersen Automotive Museum, which has been a fantastic job of releasing interesting videos regularly.This time we get to go on yet another partial tour of the Vault, only we’re seeing pre … Discover some of the most iconic and rare cars, motorcycles, and trucks spanning over 120 years of automotive history. If you're a car and motorcycle aficionado, and haven't been to the reimagined Petersen Museum, you're missing out. Museum History Founded on June 11, 1994 by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen, and his wife Margie, the Petersen Automotive Museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation and seeks to explore and present the history of the automobile. Thanks to the vision and generosity of founding benefactors Margie and Robert E. Petersen, the Petersen Automotive Museum was able to acquire over time a number of important vehicles that speak to the museum’s mission and help visitors understand and appreciate the history and complexity of Los Angeles’s rich automotive heritage. With Los Angeles on lockdown again because of a second surge of Covid-19 cases, the Petersen Automotive Museum has been forced to close its doors for a … 158,870 were here. In 2018 the Petersen Automotive Museum teamed up with Motor Trend Group for a project to digitize 1-million images from the Petersen Publishing Archive. The Petersen Automotive Museum envisions a rapidly evolving, multi-dimensional society in which it thrives as a progressive, globally respected center for automotive research and collecting; the focal point for automotive history, culture and enthusiasm in the United States; and a premier educational institution in Los Angeles. Guided vault tours help visitors understand that Petersen Museum collections vehicles are more than mere static showpieces. Approximately 15 years after the adventure ended, Mr. Petersen proposed the idea of an automotive museum to the Board of Directors of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (whose vehicle collection then encompassed 66 cars and motorcycles) and offered a lead gift of $15 million to begin the project. Funded by … After spending $125 million on the renovation, they chose to ignore paying customers so that they could rent out their parking to nearby office buildings. Like the automobiles it was created to celebrate, the Petersen Automotive Museum was keeping pace with the increasingly sophisticated expectations of the public and by December 2015 had been literally “turned upside down” to accommodate them. Kristin Feay received her BA in history with a minor in art history from California State University Northridge (CSUN) in 2016. Opened in 1962, the building first served as a short-lived U.S. branch of Seibu Department Stores, before operating as an Ohrbach'sdepart… No stranger to the museum world, Robert Petersen had operated the Petersen Motorama Cars of the Stars on Hollywood Boulevard near Grauman’s Chinese Theatre during the 1970s. In the years since the Petersen Museum opened, the generosity of the Petersen’s and other donors has allowed the museum to increase its collection to over 300 vehicles in addition to hundreds of complementary objects such as engines, parts, accessories, books, sales literature, photographs, videotapes and movie films. The Petersen Automotive Museum is constantly updating its offerings, adding wonderfully curated exhibits every few months that cater to a wide range of enthusiasts. Founded on June 11, 1994 by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen, and his wife Margie, the Petersen Automotive Museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation and seeks to explore and present the history of the automobile. Petersen Automotive Museum Supercars: 1981 BMW M1 Developed in collaboration with Lamborghini (a deal that later fell apart) and designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the fiberglass-bodied BMW M1 … 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. In 2015, the museum underwent an extensive $90 million renovation. The second floor is now dedicated to the industry of the automobile and explores racing, customization, manufacturing, and alternative-fuel technologies. Fun Facts About BMW — Petersen Automotive Museum Fun Facts About BMW BMW is headquartered in Munich, Germany and sells nearly two million vehicles each year. 158,775 were here. DRAGO RISTORANTE (323) 800-2244. Start your (virtual) engines: the Petersen Automotive Museum offers free online educational livestreams twice daily. Even the Petersen Automotive Museum building represents aspects of automotive history as important as the vehicles displayed inside. 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