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| Established | June 11, 1994; 30 years ago (1994-06-11) |
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| Location | 6060 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, California United States |
| Coordinates | 34°03′45″N 118°21′40″W / 34.062472°N 118.361034°W / 34.062472; -118.361034 |
| Type | Automotive museum |
| Director | Terry L. Karges[1] |
| Curator | Leslie Kendall |
| Website | www |
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.
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.[2][3] 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.[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.[5] The remodeled museum opened to the public on December 7, 2015.[6]
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.[7] Age restrictions and an admission premium are in effect to view the vault collection.[8] 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:
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The museum's collection of vehicles includes:
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.[15]
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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.
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