On the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax there lies a striking building. Its bright red color first catches your eye, and then the silver metal that traps the red interior of the building in a pleasant cage, more reminiscent of rippling waves than a prison cell. What lies within this oddly shaped building known as the Petersen Automotive Museum is even more striking, perhaps even unbelievable. Though you can probably guess its contents from the name now. Hidden behind those walls lies a collection of some of the most beautiful, powerful, historically significant and artistic cars in the world. Now, you may be thinking, “I see cars all the time. On the road where they are supposed to be.” To that I say, while you might have looked at cars on the road before, you have likely never truly seen them for what they are. At the Petersen, cars become art. They become history, they become culture, they become stories told through film and people’s lives.
Third floor: Cars, A History
The presence of Henry Ford was prevalent throughout the room. Each car looked like it had just been pulled out of a black-and-white film and put up for display. On one side of the room was a model that resembled a horse-drawn carriage with a steering wheel. To the left of that was a more traditional-looking baby-blue vintage car with a round, sleek style. I felt like I was in the 1950s, like the idea of the car had just been invented and I was the first to see.
Second floor: The Car Industry
Down the spiral staircase. Turn left and there was the Aston Martin exhibit which had me feeling like Bond, James Bond. Walk straight over to the motorsport exhibit where cars and drivers are pushed to their utmost limit of speed and power. First over to the boxy wedge cars, then to the sleek and slender supercars, then to the electric cars and the Waymo. A beautiful blend that has a little bit of everything: past, present and future. I talked to Bryan Stevens, who is in charge of the museum’s exhibitions, and he said that the Petersen tries to, “represent the present and the future in as many exhibits as possible as opposed to being the type of museum that only focuses on the past.” It isn’t there to show you the same dead dinosaur or the same painting by some old dude, but a culture and industry that is still alive and evolving.
First floor: Car Design and Culture
Neon bright lights. Take a turn at 88 mph and you are back in 1985 with the real DeLorean from the “Back to the Future” franchise, flux capacitor and all. Come back to the real world and keep walking through the exhibit to see that cars can be a canvas, where customization makes the car whatever you want it to be, as far as your creativity wants to go. The museum has a “focus on design and intersections with popular culture and with architecture and art and things that might appeal to people who aren’t necessarily car people” Stevens said. You definitely don’t have to be a car person to appreciate a Pac-man shaped car or the Ferrari from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Cars allow people to create an extension of themselves, to communicate emotions, to build connections and to inspire others. They are not separate from the world that we live in, but interweaved with society, architecture, design, art, science and passion.
The Vault: Just Lot of Cars
Here lie the cars that are not being used by the museum, but are still worth a trip to look at. Whether you really have the urge to walk around and say, “Ooh a Ferrari!” “Porsche!” “A GT40!!” like I did, or if you need to bring justice to Gotham and see the Batmobile. Want to get up close to the Popemobile or get a look at Saddam Hussein’s car, the Vault brings all the art, culture and history found in the rest of the museum together in what is probably the coolest storage unit on the planet. At the Petersen, cars, history, art, culture and passion become intertwined in what Stevens describes as a “global center for automotive enthusiasm.”
This enthusiasm for cars extends beyond the walls of the Petersen to the streets of Los Angeles. LA is known for many things: Hollywood, beaches, celebrities, overpriced food, horrible drivers and fantastic sunny weather. However what is often overlooked by those outside the car world is LA’s love for the automobile beyond just the “Fast and Furious” franchise. In LA, what previously might just have been a metal box with four wheels evolves into a powerful beast that roars over the asphalt roads, whose soul is an extension of your very own. From hosting some of the biggest car shows, to featuring cars in movies, to the many customized cars on the road or even just the ever-present roaring engine sound from a random Beverly Hills billionaire driving around in his Ferrari on a Tuesday morning, LA is a car-centric city. The Petersen isn’t just a chance to experience the evolution of the automobile and everything it has to offer; it is a chance to experience a crucial part of LA and what makes it the amazing city we know it to be.
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Featured Image Photographed by Janwayne Orme/BruinLife
