Petersen Automotive Museum

Petersen Automotive Museum : The Michelin guide review

Going beyond the automotive museum tradition of simply restoring and displaying vintage automobiles, the Petersen-which opened in 1994 in the refurbished Ohrbach's department store-employs imaginative dioramas, photographs and computer stations to show how developments in automotive transport influenced the growth of Los Angeles, the quintessential car town. A visit here is as much a colorful hike through the history of the city as a chance to admire a collection of more than 200 rare, beautifully restored cars, trucks and motorcycles.The permanent exhibit Streetscape sets classic vehicles into colorful dioramas illustrating Los Angeles at various points in history. A variety of vehicles-including a 1922 Willys-Knight and a 1931 Chrysler CD-8 Roadste-highlight car-related architectural and marketing innovations designed to catch the eye of the fast-moving automotive traveler. Other displays detail civic decisions to build broad boulevards, parkways and eventually freeways in place of trolley and streetcar lines, thus tying the growth of the city to the car rather than to public transportation. Galleries on the second level feature rotating thematic exhibits on such topics as race cars, vintage motorcycles, concept cars and celebrity automobiles. On the third floor is the May Family Children's Discovery Center, a hands-on learning facility.