Bernie's Museum Trip: Petersen Automotive Museum... Part II

While I was in Los Angeles for the Dub Car Show, I decided to go back to one of my favorite places, the Petersen Automotive Museum. The Petersen Automotive Museum is one of the greatest places on earth, especially if you're an automotive enthusiast. Located on Wilshire Boulvard, this museum specializes in automotive history. And after 20 years, this museum will be closing its doors on October 19, 2014...



.... for a complete renovation. Ha!!!! I scared you. Once I walked around, I was able to find out some more inside news. Basically, they're expanding the galleries- going from less than 10 galleries to having the ability to hold over 20, open floor plan, but... the more permanent cars will be in glass display cases.  So it won't be nearly as intimate as it is-- well I should say-- was. I'm interested to see what it'll look like- interior wise. Inside the museum, there's a 2-D and a 3-D rendering of what the exterior of the new museum will look like.




As we all know, I love a great museum, and without further ado, here's my updated tour of the Petersen Automotive Museum... I'm actually going to start upstairs since that's the galleries they always change.



One of my favorite areas since I was a film major in college is the automotives in Hollywood gallery. This time around, the museum obtained the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 that was featured in Need for Speed. Oh, and this Mustang not only has Forgiato wheels on it, it also has a New York license plate.



Meet Eleanor, the only Mustang to ever receive star title credit in a film. This 1971 Ford Mustang was driven in the classic Gone in 60 Seconds.



This 1965 Ford Mustang, named Zebra, was in the movie Marriage on the Rocks. Driven by Nancy Sinatra, Zebra was customized by famed car customizer George Barris



Although this 1951 Chevy Truck wasn't in a movie, it belongs to Travis Barker, who lives in Los Angeles and has an extensive car collection.



But this car definitely was in a movie. This was the Batman car in Batman Forever. FYI, George Barris did the original Batman car, and by original, I mean the Batman TV show... from the 60's.

Another interesting gallery was the Limousine Gallery, because everyone got to see how limos progressed from 1897 to 2009.



This is a 1897 Benz Mylord Coupe. Top speed of approximately 19 miles per hour. Discovered in a barn in England and restored in the United States.



1931 Lincoln Model K Razor Edge Brougham Town Car by Willoughby. Willoughby specialized in building chauffeur-driven town cars for wealthy clientele. But the reason why I'm showing off this photo is that I liked the pairing of the Orpheum Theatre backdrop with the car, and the whitewall tires.

But every single limousine failed in compairson to....



Liberace's 1962 Rolls Royce Phantom V Landau Limousine. He commissioned this custom Rolls Royce Phantom V to match his mirrored piano and had the interior upholstered in genuine ermine. He used it on stage in the 70's at the Las Vegas Hilton and in the 80's at Radio City Music Hall. Once I saw Liberace's limo, I was done.

The next gallery was an opinionated gallery where auto enthusiasts picked their favorite sport coupe. But it's strictly opinionated.



Bruce Meyer, Founding Chairman of Petersen Automotive Museum picked the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe. Thank goodness they asked Bruce Meyer because he would have shut this down...



Adam Carolla picked the 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso



John Lasseter (Creator of the Disney Cars movies) picked the 1967 Ford GT40 Mark III



Francis Ford Coppola picked the gorgeous 1954 Plymouth Explorer Concept by Ghia. That color is gorgeous.



Another favorite, the Hot Wheels Collection... Definitely a must see if you love Hot Wheels. It shows you the process to making one to many of the different kinds of cars.



An American Classic has its own gallery- Mustangs Forever: 50 Years of a Legend. This 1965 Mustang convertible was previously used by Ronald Reagan



The answer to the Chevy Camaro's V8, the Ford Mustang Boss 302 (the 1970 edition)



And this Ford Mustang was customized by Galpin Auto Sports and was unveiled at the 2010 SEMA Show (the first SEMA show I attended). It has a retractable hardtop, custom orange pearl paint, custom leather interior, a Ford Racing suspension kit, and a Magna Flow exhaust system.

This concludes my tour of the Petersen Automotive Museum, and hopefully when it's reopened, you can experience the magic for yourself. Side note: I hope that they have a gallery dedicated to Los Angeles car culture for obvious reasons. Just sayin'....

Bernie's tour of the Petersen Automotive Museum

Confession: I've been holding out on showing off photos. I do have car show coverage to show off and also this experience that I'm about to talk about.

While I was in Los Angeles in August, I got the opportunity to do a few things. I got to run up and down Venice Beach, stuffed my face at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, got a tan at the Dub Car Show in Anaheim, and the one thing I wanted to do--- Go to the Petersen Automotive Museum (or PAM).

Photo courtesy of Petersen Automotive Museum's wikipedia page

Tucked away in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles, is one of the greatest automotive museums in the world- the Petersen Automotive Museum. PAM is dedicated to the exploration and presentation of the history of the automobile and its impact on American life and culture using Los Angeles as the prime example. As someone who is kind of familiar with Los Angeles, I can say that PAM met the expectations of the previous statement.

Once you make it past the admissions desk, that's where the fun begins. You start off in The Streetscape: The car and the city in Southern California. When PAM says you're going to learn the history of the automobile, you're really going to learn the history of the automobile. The first vehicle I come across is the 1911 American Underslung Model 50 Traveler.  

I couldn't live in the early 1900's. This vehicle only had 50 horsepower. No thank you. Then I turned around and realized I didn't start with the oldest vehicle in the building... the Breer, which happened to be manufactured the same year my grandmother was born... 1901.

The Breer has a 2 cylinder steam engine with a grand total of 5 horsepower. I could probably outrun this car. Also, this car has two gears- forward and reverse.

I ran into Laurel and Hardy while at the museum.

From there, I got to see a 1931 Ford Model A Station Wagon.

A fun 1931 Twin Coach Delivery Truck

I enjoyed the scenery that they had in the museum. The people seemed so lifelike... including this guy in the insurance office. He wasn't helpful though.

I even ran into the Speed Shop and the auto parts were authentic.

From there, we got into what I thought was the interesting... the Hollywood era.

A 1940 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe named Sophia, named after the Italian actress, Sophia Loren.

Now we're heading upstairs, into the Hollywood Gallery. I enjoyed this exhibit the most, because Hollywood is the movie capital, and when you come to California, you expect to be see something that has to do with that theme.

First up, a 2013 BMW i8 Concept that Tom Cruise drove in Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol.

The 2002 Ford Thunderbird that Halle Berry drove in Die Another Day

The Original Batman Mobile and Motorcycle. This wasn't the vehicles used in the Batman movies. Before there were Batman movies, there was the 1960's Batman TV show, and that's where these vehicles were from.

Now we're in the history of the pickup trucks. I still walked through this area, even though I have a distaste for pickup trucks. We're going to zoom through this section...

a 1932 Ford Model B Pickup

a 1953 Dodge Power Wagon...

and a 1958 Jeep Forward Control.

Another interesting section: the Hot Wheels Hall of Fame. Once you head inside, there's a display of different Hot Wheels and they show the process of how to create Hot Wheels.

I did skip over a few sections of the museum on purpose so that you can check out the Petersen Automotive Museum yourself. It's really easy to get to, it's right on Wilshire and Fairfax. The museum isn't going anywhere, next year will be the 20th annivarsary of the opening. And if you consider yourself an automotive enthusiast, going to the Petersen Automotive Museum is something you should experience at least one time in your life.

For the rest of my pictures from my museum visit, you can check out Bernie's Petersen Automotive Museum gallery.

Bernie's Recommendation: Cruisin' Califas at the Oceanside Museum of Art

So while pulling my weave out looking for something to post, I came across something interesting. Another side to me is that I do love going to museums, and quite often, museums do have exhibits dedicated to automobiles. Halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, lies a city called Oceanside, and within that city is a gem called the Oceanside Museum of Art (or OMA). OMA realized how important Lowriding is to Los Angeles culture (side note: even I knew that, and I'm New York to the heart) and how LA is the Lowrider Capital of the World. This past weekend was the opening weekend to Cruisin' Califas: The Art of Lowriding, the exhibit that's dedicated to art of lowriders.

(Photo by Kid Duece)

According to the Oceanside Museum of Art,

"The title of the exhibition, Cruisin’ Califas, refers to Lowrider culture in California and the favorite pastime of the Lowrider – cruising! Califas is a slang term that refers to California amongst the Latino culture with roots that going back to the mythological land of Calafia that inspired the naming of California. Largely associated with the rise of the automobile industry and the post WWII manufacturing boom, Lowriders became a popular way for people, mostly without the means to purchase a brand new car, to express their individuality and cultural pride. Lowrider describes a car that is customized with a hydraulic setup to be low to the ground, with an elaborate paint job that often includes pin striping and lettering, with striking chrome features, and uniquely designed upholstery. Classic cars such as Chevrolet Impalas and Master Deluxes are often associated with this culture, but today, any type of vehicle can be transformed into a Lowrider, from motorcycles to bicycles, SUV’s and tricycles. Reaching farther then cars; this phenomenon has become a way of life for many people, influencing the style of the artists involved in this exhibition."

(Photo by EO)

(Photo by JB)

And you know that artwork of Estevan Oriol and Jae Bueno will be a part of the collection... Thank God. I said Thank God, because to have a collection about Lowriders and not feature the work of Oriol- whose body of work is greatly influenced by Los Angeles culture and Bueno- the one person whose work you can count on seeing in Lowrider Magazine and who shoots Car Shows in the Southwestern Part of the US. I honestly think Jae Bueno has photographed every lowrider that is in the Southwest. And you have to respect the both of them, and I tip my NY Yankees hat to them.

(Photo by Kid Duece)

This exhibit will be at the museum from May 13 - September 30, 2012, so hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I will make it to LA to see this. But if you live in LA or San Diego and love lowriders-- or cars in general, haul ass down the 5, and get there. Because you may know a lot about Lowriders, but I'm sure you can learn something at this exhibit.

(photo by Kid Deuce)

The photo above is the prime example why I respect Lowriders so much. I did not personally know the owner of this vehicle, but I understand that he's in a much better place and isn't suffering (Bernie doesn't deal with death well). I've said this plenty, plenty of times on this site. The main reason why I respect Lowriders simply because of the attention of detail that the owners put into their car. The engraving is serious. And since I do have a design background, I can and do appreciate that level of intricate detail. No matter how hard you try, you can't throw together a Lowrider- it takes serious thought.

I'm still getting a Lowrider Plaque that says Bernie and I want Estevan Oriol to photograph me with it. My mind works fast and while typing this, I just came up with the photo shoot.

P.S. My favorite museum of all time is the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and I do think that the High Museum of Art in Atlanta is not a real museum. The High Museum sucks.