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The Petersen Automotive Museum
for significant cars built by manufacturers ranging from Ford to
Ferrari. With the exception of a favorite Bentley Turbo (bearing the
California license plate H-O-T-R-O-D) and a Mercedes-Benz 600
Pullman limousine (the first of its kind in America), virtually all of
those vehicles were regularly traded-in with the arrival of each new
model year.
Upon founding their namesake museum, Mr. and Mrs. Petersen’s
first acquisition as serious collectors was Preston Tucker’s personal
1948 Tucker. It was a vehicle that exemplified the museum’s new and
enduring commitment to acquire only high quality vehicles with a
traceable provenance, setting a high standard by which every
subsequent acquisition would be judged. Ultimately, vehicles that
Mr. and Mrs. Petersen acquired for their collection could almost
always be distinguished by their outward beauty, excellent quality of
manufacture, high performance capability, extreme rarity,
uncommon originality, or impressive prior ownership history.
Having been built, bodied, or designed in Los Angeles, a large
Introduced in 1907, the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was a reliable, well-engineered number of them also had an important local connection. Many
vehicle that established a new universal standard for motorcar quality. This rare others represented unique and pioneering approaches to design,
1912 touring car was bequeathed to the Petersen Museum by local businessman engineering, marketing, or manufacturing.
Gordon R. Howard and enables us to illustrate how rapidly luxury cars evolved It is no secret that having the opportunity to see photographic or
during the first decade of the twentieth century. artfully rendered depictions of art objects, precious gems, and other
artifacts can be exciting, but studying them in person gives such
ore than mere transportation, automobiles are now objects entirely new meanings. And that change in mindset can also
embraced by museums of all fields, having become the ideal be experienced with automobiles. Most already know about the
Mlearning tool because they can be used to illustrate virtually Jaguar XK-SS that once belonged to actor Steve McQueen, but seeing
any scenario or teach any lesson. Yet the importance of automobiles it in the metal enables us to envision how the legendary actor might
and their worthiness of scholarly study looms especially great when have looked sitting in a car that was lower and even more
they are described in the context of Los Angeles, one of the few voluptuous than we might have at first thought. It might also give us
modern cities to have come into its own almost entirely during the the means to envision ourselves at the wheel, flicking through the
automotive age. And we have enthusiastic philanthropists Margie and gears as we explored the limits of tire adhesion during a spin along
Robert E. Petersen to thank for rising to the challenge and giving the Mulholland Drive.
general public the kind of museum that will help them to better Like the McQueen Jaguar, vehicles later acquired by the Petersen
appreciate the role of the automobile in shaping our modern world. Automotive Museum embodied the excitement, safety, and spirit of
Understanding that automotive history must be interpreted both the typical and the rare. Understanding that some cars are
objectively, Robert E. Petersen and his wife Margie opened the important for what they are not, acquisitions including the lozenge-
Petersen Automotive Museum to celebrate the entirety of our like three-wheel 1948 Davis, the diminutive 1914 Petite Speciale,
automobile landscape with a focus on the industrial, cultural, and and the 1947 Jordan “Twin Crank Four” motorcycle take their place
artistic aspects as they relate to Los Angeles and Southern California.
They agreed that unlike individual enthusiasts who acquire cars for
personal reasons, a museum exists to collect, preserve and interpret in
a way that speaks dispassionately to a mission that transcends
both time and the tastes of a single person. Having
embraced this disciplined acquisition
strategy, Mr. and Mrs. Petersen
ensured that the collection would
align with the museum’s mission
to explore and present the history of
the automobile and its impact on
global life and culture using Los
Angeles as the prime example.
Mr. Petersen’s position as the
publisher of Hot Rod, Motor Trend,
and dozens of other enthusiast The unusually flamboyant
magazines gave him unprecedented body on this supercharged 1939
access to some of the most exciting Bugatti Type 57C was built during a time
cars in the world. Well before the when streamlined, Art Deco styling was fashionable.
establishment of the Petersen Automotive Originally the property of the Shah of Iran, it is taken to
Museum, he had been at the top of the waiting list select public outreach venues where it can be safely
operated for the benefit and enlightenment of onlookers.

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