The great Los Angeles automotive love affair has existed for more than a century and is being linked together in a historical display in one of the globe's largest and most innovative automotive museums. The Petersen Automotive Museum is situated on Wilshire Blvd. along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. It is a non-profit enterprise specializing in the history of the automobile.
Established in June 1994 by Robert E. Petersen, the 40 million dollar museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. Previously situated within the Natural History Museum, the Petersen museum is now resident 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 depicting the evolution of a culture that has changed life throughout SoCal. The displays tell a story that can be told and appreciated in Los Angeles, the only large metropolis that was entirely influenced by the automobile. The region's growth has been, and continues to be dictated to by the motorcar.
The three floors of automotive history take the museum visitor through time and follows the progress of the automobile and its influence on the culture 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 contains five large, 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 young people's interest in science by examination of the automobile. The 6,500 square-foot, hands-on learning center teaches basic scientific principles utilizing the fundamental elements of a car.
A modern glass penthouse conference center, is situated on the fourth floor. The center is rented out for corporate or private events.
In pop culture, notoriously, on March 9, 1997 after attending a shindig 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 shot and killed by a still unknown assailant. Also, in the 1997 film Volcano, the museum is crushed.
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