Petersen Automotive Museum
Encyclopedia
The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard
along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile
neighborhood of Los Angeles
. One of the world's largest automotive
museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a non profit organization specializing in the education and history of the automobile
.
Founded on June 11, 1994 by Robert E. Petersen
(who founded Hot Rod and Motor Trend
magazines) and his wife, Margie, the $40 million dollar Petersen Automotive Museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. Previously located within the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
, today the museum is permanently housed in a historic 1960s department store building. It was originally built in 1962 for a short lived U.S. branch of Japanese department store chain, Seibu
. Then, from 1964–1986, it operated as Ohrbach's
department store
.
The museum can display over 100 vehicles and owns over twice that. The ground floor displays a virtual history of the automobile
in Los Angeles, complete with vintage vehicles and buildings. The second floor houses both permanent and special exhibits. The third floor features the May Family Children's Discovery Center, an interactive exhibit for children to learn science through the workings of a car. The fourth floor houses an all glass penthouse
conference center, Founder's lounge and kitchen for corporate and private use.
got into an SUV with his entourage and drove fifty yards to a red light where he was murdered by an unknown assailant.
Orbach's department store is featured in a lengthy sequence in the 1988 film Miracle Mile
.
The museum is destroyed in the 1997 film, Volcano.
In a scene from Who Killed the Electric Car?
a previous General Motors EV1
owner visits their car in an exhibit.
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile
Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California
The Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, California, is an area in the Mid-Wilshire region consisting of an almost two-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Western Avenues...
neighborhood of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. One of the world's largest automotive
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a non profit organization specializing in the education and history of the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
.
Founded on June 11, 1994 by Robert E. Petersen
Robert E. Petersen
Robert Einar "Pete" Petersen was an American publisher and founder of the Petersen Automotive Museum in 1994.Petersen was born in East Los Angeles, California and served in the Army Air Corps in World War II...
(who founded Hot Rod and Motor Trend
Motor Trend
Motor Trend is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, issued by Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, and bearing the tag line "The Magazine for a Motoring World". Petersen Publishing was sold to British publisher EMAP in 1998, who sold the former Petersen...
magazines) and his wife, Margie, the $40 million dollar Petersen Automotive Museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. Previously located within the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1913 as the Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building, with fitted marble walls and domed and...
, today the museum is permanently housed in a historic 1960s department store building. It was originally built in 1962 for a short lived U.S. branch of Japanese department store chain, Seibu
Seibu Department Stores
is a Japanese department store. The first store to trade under the name opened its doors in 1949. Seibu is typical of Japanese department stores with a wide variety of stores doing business on several floors. The company is now a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd..-Japan:The Seibu...
. Then, from 1964–1986, it operated as Ohrbach's
Ohrbach's
Ohrbach's was a moderate-priced department store with a merchandising focus primarily on apparel and accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain's demise in 1987, Ohrbach's expanded dramatically after World War II, and opened numerous branch locations in the metro areas of New York,...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
in Los Angeles, complete with vintage vehicles and buildings. The second floor houses both permanent and special exhibits. The third floor features the May Family Children's Discovery Center, an interactive exhibit for children to learn science through the workings of a car. The fourth floor houses an all glass penthouse
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
conference center, Founder's lounge and kitchen for corporate and private use.
Finances
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.Museum in popular culture
On March 9, 1997, after a party at the museum, The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
got into an SUV with his entourage and drove fifty yards to a red light where he was murdered by an unknown assailant.
Orbach's department store is featured in a lengthy sequence in the 1988 film Miracle Mile
Miracle Mile (film)
Miracle Mile is a 1988 apocalyptic thriller cult film written and directed by Steve De Jarnatt, and starring Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham that takes place mostly in real time. It is named after the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles, where most of the action takes place. The movie was...
.
The museum is destroyed in the 1997 film, Volcano.
In a scene from Who Killed the Electric Car?
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 documentary film that explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the mid 1990s...
a previous General Motors EV1
General Motors EV1
The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by the General Motors Corporation from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker, and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the...
owner visits their car in an exhibit.
External links
- Petersen Automotive Museum - The museum's web page
- A brief history of the Petersen Automotive Museum - Article in the Los Angeles Business Journal