If cars could talk, this museum would be full of motormouths
| Los Angeles
Cars have stories to tell. Here in the 鈥渧ault鈥� at the Petersen Automotive Museum, visitors can discover over 300 amazing vehicles and their tales.
There鈥檚 the first Ferrari, with a fire extinguisher on the passenger side (the car鈥檚 estimated worth: a cool $150 million). There鈥檚 also the armored Mercedes owned by Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos before his death. It can drop an oil slick and spew tear gas to foil pursuit.
鈥淣ot a bad place to pique an interest in cars,鈥� says Olivia Thompson, standing among the curvaceous automobiles of the Roaring 鈥�20s. She is one of the museum鈥檚 enthusiastic educators, ready to share her knowledge with novices and gearheads alike.
Why We Wrote This
There鈥檚 a story behind every vintage car. Whether they鈥檙e gearheads or not, visitors to the vault at the Petersen Automotive Museum will hear plenty to pique their interest.
The area, as big as a city block, showcases the museum鈥檚 permanent collection 鈥� from Formula One race cars and colorful lowriders to historic limousines used by figures such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Nikita Khrushchev.
This spring, the vault added a Jaguar in British racing green once owned by Steve McQueen. The legendary 1960s actor had 鈥渨ay too much fun鈥� racing around Los Angeles and almost had his license revoked, as Ms. Thompson tells it.
Visitors have their stories, too. Paolo Galardi, a hotelier in Argentina who owns 40 cars from the 鈥�50s and 鈥�60s, has visited car museums the world over. The Petersen vault 鈥渂lows my mind,鈥� he says.
For more visual storytelling that captures communities, traditions, and cultures around the globe, visit聽The World in Pictures.
