LA’s Petersen Automotive Museum is excellent. I checked my temperature. I have no fever and writing this of my own free will.

The building went through a $90M renovation. It was designed by New York-based firm (KPF) Kohn Pedersen Fox. You can’t miss the red box building that has steel ribbons running through it. It evokes speed and movement.

There is something for everyone. When you walk in, it feels like a walk on a red carpet with the cars as the stars. It is considered a world-class museum with 150 cars on display.

The vault tour is interesting. There’s a backstory with every car that’s not necessarily technical. For instance, my favorite car in the collection is Steve McQueen’s 1956 XKSS Jaguar. Worth $30M. The story goes that the LAPD (LA Police Department) couldn’t keep up with “The Green Rat” roadster. If you’ve ever sat in LA traffic, I would like to know where they gave chase and at what time.

During last year’s lockdown, they did a virtual tour of the vault. I sent the link to every friend I knew around the world so they, too, would get to tour the Petersen.

The Petersen hosts a monthly hoods-up event. The hoods are popped up so the public can see the spotless engines. While Car Guy knows a lot, I tend to also eavesdrop as other mates educate their date about the car. Some are subject matter experts about upholstery, paint, etc.

Each visit offers a new opportunity to learn something related to cars.

I learned that Bugatti was a furniture maker before they became a car manufacturer. The Petersen exhibited both the cars and furniture. All beautiful expressions of creativity and design.

There’s a permanent room where you can watch students from the Art Center College of Design as they design cars. I have thought about what a dream job that would be for a student to marry an interest in design and cars. Bonus to work at the Petersen.

The Petersen hosts fundraisers. I imagine there have been a fair share of celebrities moving through the museum. It would be fun to hear their reactions about some of these cars that were used in movies.

Enjoy.