A petrolhead’s dream
Why you should visit the Petersen Museum
You can’t deny that SA is a pretty special place to live if you’re a petrolhead. We’ve got some of the world’s best driving roads through incredible scenery and a vibrant, diverse car community, including ardent devotees of the classics.
Just think of shrines like the Franschoek Motor Museum, boasting priceless specimens in immaculate condition.
Then we have those rare homologation specials produced exclusively by and for the local market. Stuff like the BMW 530 MLE, Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0, Ford Sierra XR8 and other nameplates that are only dropped in conversation among the most knowledgeable of motoring anoraks.
So I was feeling pretty smug in the knowledge that I’d seen it all, as I strutted into the Petersen Automotive Museum for the first time in Los Angeles last week. I’d even questioned whether the ticket price of R342 (at the current exchange rate) was worth the money.
Okay, it was. That was affirmed even before setting foot into the actual museum, when, right outside, was a pristine Vector W8 ostensibly waiting to be carefully manoeuvred in for display. Never heard of it? The Vector is a symbol of ’80s supercar excess, with a 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 wrapped in a radical body. Think Lamborghini Countach meets DeLorean DMC-12. The sight was a foretaste of things to come: at Petersen, you’ll see stuff you’ve only seen on GranTurismo or read about in foreign publications. It’s wild. The displays are thematic and during our visit, there were eight exhibits (with a bonus one I’ll get to later).
First up, a display showcasing the cars of film and television. Stars like the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future, the Ford Gran Torino of Starsky & Hutch fame, the Lexus LC 500 from Black Panther (replete with claw marks), the 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 from Gone in 60 Seconds and Lightning McQueen himself.
I then sauntered into the Hypercars exhibit. Amidst the expected showpieces from Bugatti, Pagani and Koenigsegg, a delightfully purple Hispano Suiza caught my eye. The Carmen Boulogne is as ostentatious (and exclusive) as they come. Its carbon fibre exterior is spellbinding, rolling on massive chrome wheels.
You know about the Andy Warhol BMW Art Car creations, but did you know that he was also commissioned by Mercedes-Benz? “Andy Warhol’s uncompleted 1986/87 Cars series was to include 80 pictures intended to record the history of the motor car from the Daimler Motor Coach and Benz Patent Motor Car,” according to the museum. “The last series of pictures to be undertaken in his lifetime, only 36 silk-screen paintings and 13 drawings representing eight different Mercedes-Benz models were completed.”
Also in this exhibit, the W125 and W196R racing cars were on display, as well as the fascinating Type C111-II experimental vehicle. In the next section, a partnership with Volkswagen saw the showcasing of the imminent I.D Buzz electric vehicle, spiritual successor to the iconic T1 of yesteryear. It fed into a bigger electric vehicle theme, including displays of early pioneers from the 1900s.
Moving back to internal combustion, a display titled The Colours of Success boasted McLaren racers in their papayahued glory, from the 1968 M8A to the 2018 MCL33. There was also a section honouring Ford hot-rod style culture: those cartoonish, mean-looking street racers with large hind wheels and shortened rooflines. The cherry on top was that our visit coincided with a special display dubbed The Vault, in association with classic car firm Hagerty. For an extra $25 (R431) downstairs, in a basement parking garage, over 250 vehicles are arranged. It is overwhelming and I find myself doing as many as four loops through. First lap, to take pictures, second lap, to drink it all in, third lap for the sake of memory and fourth, just to be really sure that I am getting the most out of my 25 bucks.
A portion of the garage is dedicated to the Magnus Walker Porsche collection. The Urban Outlaw’s 911 T 277, 914 Art Car and 930 Turbo were among highlights. As for the rest, it would probably be easier to list the cars I did not see. The Vault was like a vehicular ark of sorts, in which a representative from every species was present.
Including bizzare stuff, like an early limousine from Chinese manufacturer Hongqi (Red Flag); built to carry dignitaries. The first Tesla Model S concept was also there, as was a Fisker Karma, the opulent Round Door Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser, original Dodge Viper, a string of Ferrari models from various generations, Americana from the fintail era, plus more modest specimens like a showroom condition, first generation Honda Civic. The Petersen Automotive Museum is a bucket list experience.