Local Museum Details Los Angeles Automotive Past

The great Los Angeles automotive love affair has been in effect for 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 located on Wilshire Blvd. along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. It is a non-profit organization focusing on the history of the passenger car.

Established in June 1994 by Robert E. Petersen, the 40 million dollar museum is owned and operated by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. Previously located in the Natural History Museum, the automotive museum is now permanently housed in the old Ohrbach's retail store space. The store was originally built in 1962 for a short-lived 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 truly appreciated in Los Angeles, the only major city that was exclusively influenced by the automobile. The region's growth has been, and continues to be influenced 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. Displays on the first floor show the history of the automobile. Lifesize dioramas and scenes allow visitors to view the automobile as it influences everyday life.

The second floor is devoted to five huge, rotating exhibition galleries with high-tech presentations of classic cars, hot rods, motorcycles and celebrity cars.

The May Family Children's Discovery Center, on the third floor, is purposed to spark young people's interest in science by examination of the automobile. The large hands-on learning center teaches basic scientific principles using the basic elements of a car.

A dazzling glass penthouse conference center, is located on the fourth floor. The center is available for corporate or private events.

In popular culture, notoriously, on March 9, 1997 after attending a party at the museum, well-known hip-hop artist Biggie Smalls got into a car with his entourage and drove 50 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 destroyed.

Matt Paolini is a automotive writer for CityBook, the family-safe Online Yellow Pages, which carries an extensive directory on Los Angeles automotive alternators and starters.