Los Angeles Automotive History On Display

By: Matthew Paolini


The great Los Angeles automotive love affair has existed for more than a century and is being linked together in a historical experience in one of the world's biggest 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 organization focusing on the history of the passenger car.

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

Those who visit the museum experience a 20th Century road map depicting the creation of a culture that has influenced life throughout SoCal. The displays tell a story that can be truly appreciated in Los Angeles, the only major city that was entirely influenced by the automobile. The region's growth has been, and continues to be influenced by the motorcar.

The three floors of automotive history take the museum visitor through time and traces the development of the automobile and its influence on the society of Los Angeles. Exhibits on the first floor follow the history of the automobile. Lifesize dioramas and settings allow guests to view the automobile as it influences everyday life.

The second floor is devoted to five huge, rotating exhibition galleries with state-of-the-art presentations of classic cars, racecars, motorcycles and movie cars.

The May Family Children's Discovery Center, located on the third floor, is designed to spark children's interest in science by examination of the automobile. The 6,500 square-foot, hands-on learning center instructions on basic scientific principles utilizing the basic elements of a car.

A dazzling glass penthouse meeting center, is located on the fourth floor. The center is available for corporate or private functions.

In pop culture, notoriously, on March 9, 1997 after attending a party at the museum, well-known rapper Biggie Smalls got into a car with his bodyguards and drove a few yards to a red light where he was shot and killed by a still unknown assailant. Also, in the 1997 film Volcano, the museum is crushed.


Matt Paolini is a automotive writer for CityBook, the family-safe Online Yellow Pages, which carries an extensive directory on Los Angeles automotive alternators and starters.