Los Angeles Automotive History on Display

The great Los Angeles automotive love affair has been in effect for a century and is being joined together in a historical experience in one of the globe's largest and most innovative automotive museums. The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Blvd. along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. It is a non-profit enterprise specializing in the history of the automobile.

Founded in June 1994 by Robert E. Petersen, the 40 million dollar edifice is administrated over by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. Previously located in the Natural History Museum, the automotive museum is now permanently housed in the former Ohrbach's retail store space. The store was originally built in 1962 for a transitory U.S. branch of Sogo, a Japanese department store chain.

Those who visit the museum experience a 20th Century road map showing the evolution of a culture that has changed life throughout Southern California. The displays tell a story that can be told and appreciated in Los Angeles, the only major city that was entirely influenced by the automobile. The city's development has been, and continues to be influenced by the motorcar.

The three floors of automotive history whisk the museum visitor through time and follows the development of the automobile and its influence on the culture of Los Angeles. Exhibits on the first floor follow the history of the automobile. Lifelike dioramas and scenes allow visitors to view the car as it influences everyday life.

The second floor contains five large, rotating exhibition galleries with high-tech presentations of classic cars, racecars, cycles and movie cars.

The May Family Children's Discovery Center, on the third floor, is purposed to spark young people's interest in science by examination of the automobile. The large hands-on learning center instructions on basic scientific principles using the basic elements of a car.

A modern glass penthouse conference center, is located on the fourth floor. The center is available for corporate or private events.

In pop culture, notoriously, on March 9, 1997 after attending a party at the museum, well-known hip-hop artist Biggie Smalls got into a car with his entourage and drove a few yards to a red light where he was murdered by an assailant. Also, in the 1997 film Volcano, the museum is crushed.