Is the Petersen the Best Automotive Museum?

The Petersen Automotive Museum is, without any doubt from us, the busiest motor vehicle heritage center in the Southland.

On any given day, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, the museum has dozens of exhibits simultaneously on display. It may even have programs outside of the exhibit areas, such as the gatherings on the museum aprons or rooftop.

One year ago, we asked the question, “Have you been to the Petersen Museum lately?” (see Christopher Carreiro’s story).

We decided to go back, and do what the public is encouraged to do upon admission—take a top down stroll through the exhibits that are now being offered.

What exhibits are at the Petersen Automotive Museum right now? Read on.

LEVEL THREE

You can either take the elevators or the spiral staircase up to the third floor. Four exhibitions focused on the history, culture, and artistry of the automobile grace the third floor. Here’s what you’ll find there at the moment:

Made in America

Subtitled "Celebrating 250 Years of the USA", this expansive floor-wide exhibit explores America's rich automotive history and heritage. In addition to many milestone cars from America’s past, the exhibit includes the state of the art Czinger 21C, a hybrid hypercar manufactured using artificial intelligence-driven design and additive manufacturing (3D printing) for many of its structural and metal components. This exhibit runs through December 27, 2026. 

Transatlantic Lines

Subtitled "American Cars by Italian Masters" - Throughout this country’s history, American car companies have often turned to Italian design houses to push the envelope on automotive styling. This gallery showcases the artistic fusion of American muscle horsepower and elegant Italian coachbuilding. It is scheduled to remain open through February 27, 2028. 

How We Roll

Subtitled "The Ever-Evolving Automotive Tire", this exhibit focuses on the history, engineering, and cultural impact of the automobile tire. How We Roll is a permanent exhibit of the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The Cars of Film and Television

A permanent exhibition space featuring Hollywood-famous vehicles, including the iconic DeLorean automobile-turned-into-a-time machine from Back to the Future, one of the Corvettes with a Ferrari Daytona-esque body shell that brought out Ferrari's lawyers, and a replica of the 1968 Ford Mustang from the movie Bullitt.

LEVEL TWO

Take the Petersen’s spiral staircase down one floor this month, and you’ll be greeted by eight active exhibits and spaces open to the public.

A Fast & Furious Legacy

Subtitled "25 Years of Automotive Icons", this exhibit features the stunt cars and vehicles from the wildly popular movie franchise. When it first opened back in March of this year, the crowds were overwhelming. Now you can see it without feeling like you’re in a rock concert. The Petersen boasts that it’s the largest collection of screen-used vehicles and production prototypes ever assembled at their museum. The exhibit It’s open through April 4, 2027. 

World's Fastest

Subtitled "A Timeline of Record-Setting Automobiles", this display traces over 70 years of postwar production cars that broke speed milestones, from 1948 through today. Not every car is represented, but the exhibit has the major milestone vehicles, including the 1948 Jaguar XK120, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, Iso Grifo, AC/Shelby Cobra 427, Lamborghini Miura P400, Ferrari Daytona, McLaren F1, RUF CTR "Yellowbird" Porsche 911, and the Bugatti Veyron (see LA Car’s World’s Fastest Cars at the Petersen). The exhibit runs through August 22, 2027. 

Driven by Possibility

Subtitled "Waymo's Road to Autonomous Transport", this installation covers the technology and evolution of self-driving vehicles. Anyone who’s traveled the streets of Los Angeles will recognize the Waymo hardware on display. This exhibit is open through July 30, 2028. 

The American Motorcycle

Subtitled "Pioneering Machines from the Bunch Family Collection", this exbhibit is located in the Richard Varner Family Gallery and highlights more than 25 rare and historically significant motorcycles, spanning from the late 1890s through the 1930s. This exhibit remains open through March 7, 2027. 

Legends of the Dirt

This off-road exhibition highlights legendary dirt-racing and rally-style machinery. a major exhibition showcasing the world of off-road motorsports. Located in the Charles Nearburg Family Gallery, this display marks one of the rare times the museum has explored the engineering, history, and culture behind vehicles purpose-built to handle rugged terrain at high speeds. The exhibit runs through January 18, 2027. 

Performance & Prestige

Subtitled "A History of Aston Martin", it’s the first ever Aston Martin exhibit presented by the Petersen. The exhibit brings together a painstakingly curated selection of cars celebrating Aston Martins 112-year history (see Christopher Carreiro’s A History of Aston Martin at the Petersen in LA Car). The exhibit is open through October 11, 2026. 

Forza Horizon 6 Experience

Located inside the Bobby Rahal Family Gallery, this permanent interactive exhibit celebrates the convergence of real-world car culture and digital racing. The museum says It was substantially upgraded to coincide with the release of Forza Horizon 6, which is set against the diverse biomes and neon-lit streets of Japan. 

Rob Walton Discovery Center

The Rob Walton Discovery Center (also known as the Cars Mechanical Institute) is an interactive, family-friendly space designed for young "gearheads" and families, it blends science, engineering, and play to teach children how automobiles work. The Petersen designed the center so that it’s walled off from the rest of the museum galleries, and children can “play freely without parents worrying about them disturbing other patrons.” This is a permanent, family-friendly interactive center. 

LEVEL ONE

The first floor of the Petersen Automotive Museum is dedicated to automotive artistry and currently features two primary exhibitions: World-Class: 100 Years of Mercedes-Benz and Flat Out: The Art of Joshua Vides. Here are the exhibits on display:

World-Class: 100 Years of Mercedes-Benz

This exhibition highlights a century of engineering excellence by showcasing over 40 iconic vehicles. It features rare classic models, historic race cars, and vehicles with celebrity ties, such as Clark Gable’s 1956 300 Sc (see LA Car’s story 100 Years of Mercedes-Benz, featuring photographs by Christopher Carreiro). The display is open in the Mullin Family Grand Salon through April 25, 2027. 

Flat Out: The Art of Joshua Vides

Located in the Armand Hammer Foundation Gallery, this installation features real vehicles transformed by the artist's signature black-and-white illustrative style. This is an immersive art exhibition featuring five classic cars and a fully stylized mechanic's garage that have been transformed into what looks like a giant, two-dimensional, black-and-white comic book sketch. This exhibit is remaining on display through July 5, 2027. 

The first floor also contains the museum store, the welcome center, and the main dining restaurant where the excellent Meyers Manx Café is situated. 

THE VAULT

The underground James H. Frank Family Vault at the Petersen Automotive Museum features a vast, 70,000-square-foot collection of over 300 rare vehicles alongside specific featured exhibitions. Currently, there are two special exhibits in the Vault.

A Legacy of Excellence: Masterpieces from the Mullin Collection

A marquee exhibition showcasing exquisite, historically significant French art deco automobiles and treasures curated from the renowned Mullin Automotive Museum collection. Opened in July of 2026, the exhibition serves as the public debut of a landmark permanent gift from the Mullin Family Foundation following the closure of the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard earlier in the year. The exhibit includes some of the most-prized Bugattis in North America.

Jeff Zwart: Life at ZwartSpeed

An exhibition celebrating the career, legendary photography, filmmaking, and Pikes Peak racing exploits of automotive icon Jeff Zwart. This Hagerty-presented exhibit traces the four-decade career of Jeff Zwart—the legendary photographer, filmmaker, racer, and Porsche ambassador. It highlights how his professional advertising career for iconic automotive brands intersected with his personal obsession for racing, specifically his historic success at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The exhibit runs through June 13, 2027.

Permanent Vault Galleries 

Following a massive expansion and layout reimagining, the underground space also houses dedicated and permanent showcase areas: 

The Icons Gallery

The Icons Gallery is the permanent space located within The Vault's 70,000-square-foot sanctuary. It offers a good look at some of the best examples of automotive works in the Petersen.  

The Phil Hill Legends Room

This is a newly introduced gallery, named in honor of American racing driver Phil Hill—the first American to win the Formula One World Championship—the space was unveiled as part of the expansion and reimagining of the museum's Vault.

Formula 1 & Motorsports Display

This display is a dedicated racing section showcasing open-wheel engineering. The motorsports gallery allows racing fans to get close to modern F1 cars, IndyCars, and legendary endurance racers. 

Hollywood & Celebrity Vehicles

The Hollywood and celebrity vehicles housed in The Vault stores over 300 iconic vehicles that are rotating or separate from the public galleries upstairs. Among these are the personal rides of entertainment legends and screen-used vehicles spanning generations of cinema history, such as Fred Astaire’s 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I, Elvis Presley’s 1971 DeTomaso Pantera, and John Frankenheimer’s Rolls-Royce. 

Head-of-State & Historical Classics

This subset features armored transport, limousines, and parade vehicles that carried some of the 20th century’s most prominent—and notorious—figures, such as Saddam Hussein's Mercedes-Benz Pullman, President Eisenhower's Chrysler Imperial, Nikita Khrushchev’s personal limousine, and Pope John Paul II’s 1998 Cadillac.: A highly customized, open-top parade vehicle built specifically for the Pope's public appearances.

Adjacent to the presidential vehicles are "Historical Classics" that trace the birth and early evolution of automotive design, such as the 1925 "Round Door" Rolls-Royce Phantom I, the 1947 Ferrari 125S, the 1939 Shah Bugatti, and the 1914 Petite Special.

For more details on the scheduling of these galleries, you can check the Petersen Current Exhibitions Page. 

BEYOND THE EXHIBITS

The Petersen’s activities reach beyond the museum exhibits. There are events offsite, often in partnership with other organizations, that are planned for the near future. Here’s a snapshot:

Car Meets & Cruise-Ins

OKTOBERFEST Euro Cruise-In: Sunday, September 27, 2026 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. The outdoor facilities of the Petersen is the venue for this celebration highlighting European engineering excellence, welcoming European makes from classic vintage cars to modern performance builds. 

Diecast Social: Sunday, October 11, 2026 from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. A favorite, reoccurring event at the Petersen is this gathering for scale-model diecast collectors, customized miniature builders, and toy car hobbyists. 

Educational Workshops & Activities

Mini Motors (Car History - Route 66): Saturday, September 5, 2026 (morning session). A free, youth-focused workshop on Route 66 history is scheduled as part of the 100=year anniversary celebration of Route 66.

Roadside Assistance Workshop: Saturday, September 5, 2026 (morning session). This is a member-exclusive session on vehicle maintenance basics. It’s one of several sessions that the Petersen opens its doors for.

Little Sparks (Sounds of the Street): Saturday, September 19, 2026 (morning session). “Little Sparks” is described as an interactive children's session on safety.

Detailing Workshop: Sunday, September 20, 2026 (morning session). A free public workshop on car cleaning and preservation. Did I mention that it’s FREE?

Special Interactive Events

Escape the Petersen: Friday, October 30, 2026 (evening session). This is is an after-hours, immersive escape room challenge held at the museum and geared toward participants 18 and older. The event turns different exhibit areas of the museum into interactive puzzle rooms that incorporate the museum's historic vehicle displays. 

Prominent Off-Site & Partner Collaborations

21st Annual Japanese Classic Car Show (JCCS®): Saturday, October 3, 2026 (all day). The Petersen Automotive Museum is a proud partner and sponsor of this magnificent event celebrating vintage Japanese imports.

4x4 Off-Road Adventure Rally to SEMA: Starting on Monday, November 2, 2026. This multi-day off-road driving event is organized by the Petersen and takes participants on an special dirt trail journey from Southern California to the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The Best of the Best?

Trying to single out the best automotive museum in the world runs the risk of negating the extraordinary and often exclusive offerings of the other world class locations. 

Any discussion of the world’s best museums must include the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany for its massive double-helix spiral building and a collection that includes the world’s first motorized vehicles and legendary racing cars.

And the Cité de I’Automobile in Mulhouse, France—The Schlumpf Collection in the National Autmobile Museum, as it’s also known as, is home of the world’s largest and finest collection of historic Bugattis.

In North America, there is the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan—a 12-acre indoor-outdoor facility housing legendary historical artifacts like the Rosa Parks bus and numerous presidential limousines.

But by almost any criteria, the Petersen Automotive Museum will be included in any discussion of the world’s best car museums. 

By a few measures, it would be ranked at the top, taking into consideration the sheer quantity of diverse activities and exhibits, not to mention its striking architecture and famous underground Vault (which now includes some of the most prized vehicles from the former Mullin Automotive Museum). 

We did say the Petersen Automotive Museum is, without any doubt from us, the busiest vehicle heritage center in the Southland. Given all the evidence presented, there’s a good chance it’s the busiest automotive museum in North America. It’s a major reason why Los Angeles is car culture ground zero.