Automobile Museum
I visited the Petersen Automotive Museum, where you can see the history of automobiles all in one place. Located in Los Angeles, this museum opened in 1994 and is a popular destination not only for car enthusiasts but also for the general public, showcasing a variety of historical eras from classic cars to high-performance vehicles, motorcycles, small models, engines, and parts. It’s particularly one of the few museums where men continuously press their cameras.
From the moment you enter the entrance, the first thing that catches your eye is a truck from Tesla. It was displayed at the entrance so that anyone could see the actual vehicle without entering the exhibition hall. Seeing something I had only seen in videos with my own eyes made me think, is this really the future? After checking tickets at the entrance, you can see a truly diverse range of vehicles. The exhibition hall is composed of three floors, and based on the staff’s recommendation, we started our tour from the third floor and made our way down.
From very old cars to iconic vehicles from various companies, many donated cars are on display. It’s truly astonishing how they restore and maintain such old cars to look like new ones. Particularly, this place seems to have a greater popularity for old cars rather than supercars, likely because they evoke memories for older visitors.
The hallway leading down from the third floor to the second floor looks like a piece of art. As you descend the stairs, Porsche vehicles are on display, including the 911 series and actual racing cars that participated in competitions. There are so many Porsche vehicles on display that you can’t capture them all in photos, and you can freely explore both the exterior and interior, so it’s definitely worth a visit to appreciate them.
As I was admiring the cars, I quickly found myself on the first floor. As of now (April 2024), the first floor features Tesla vehicles on display, where each electric car has been taken apart to show how the wiring is arranged. You can also see Tesla’s Roadster and other vehicles that have not yet been released, along with information about The Loop project, an underground tunnel currently being constructed in LA. This tunnel stretches 1.14 miles from the SpaceX headquarters parking lot in Hawthorne, South LA, to near LAX airport. If you want to catch a glimpse of Tesla’s future, visiting the first floor to see The Loop might give you a glimpse of what a future city could look like.
Petersen Automotive Museum
The Petersen Automotive Museum, a paradise for car enthusiasts, is a space where you can feel the history of the era, not just through vehicles. It is undoubtedly a place where you can learn about the values and thoughts of that time, not just the history of cars. If you love cars, you must visit, and for those who don’t, it will be an opportunity to see the flow of history.
