Petersen Automotive Museum is a museum that displays expensive and iconic cars usually featured in movies, cars like Suki’s pink Honda S2000 and the Batmobile. Seeing these cars in person makes me feel nostalgic, remembering how much I used to enjoy watching the movies these cars were featured in. Older cars and futuristic cars are also displayed.
In order to enter the Petersen, you do have to pay. Children below 4 can enter for free, kids between 4-11 pay $11, youth 12-17 pay $13, adults pay $21, and senior citizens pay $19.
The first car that really caught my attention while walking around was the 2 Fast 2 Furious Honda S2000. The car was driven by Devon Aoki (Suki). 2 Fast 2 Furious is my favorite movie from the Fast and Furious franchise. It happens to be my favorite because of the first race scene, where the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 and Honda S2000 are shown. The S2000 was used in the movie as one of the stunt cars. It was amazing to see in person, a very vibrant pink and just cool.
Lightning McQueen and Sally were also displayed at the museum. It brought me even more nostalgia because of my love for the “Cars” movies. The Sally displayed also happened to be the real one, not a replica. In honor of the 20th anniversary of Sally, they recreated her in a 2022 Porsche 911 and named it the “Sally Special.”
Seeing McQueen in person reminded me of my favorite scene when he was head to head with two other racecars for the win. “Ka-Chow,” as Lighting McQueen would say.
Some other cars displayed in the museum are the first Bumblebee Camaro used as well as the 2007 model. All Bumblebee had to do was scan the vehicle and he’d transform into it. Seeing both old and new models of cars is interesting because it shows us how far we have come. They also have the “Mirage,” otherwise know as a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.8 (964), a very rare Porsche. Mirage was first shown in “Transformers: The Rise of Beasts.” It is Transformer’s newest movie.
I also find it awesome that they have a lounge/kid area on the second floor. The lounge had couches and Hot Wheel tracks for anyone to play with.
On that same floor, they have a room dedicated to Porsches. Some were heavily modified, some race cars, some old, and some very expensive. I was shocked when I saw a Porsche 918 Spyder because it is very expensive! They can go anywhere from 1.1 million to upwards of almost 4 million! It was so cool seeing it there because it happens to be one of my favorite Porsche models.
As I came to the end of the museum, I noticed that they had their own merchandise shop where they sold diecast cars and clothing. Diecasts of 1:64 scale models and even 1:24 scales. There were tons of things I wanted, however, a lot of the things being sold there were a bit on the pricey side so I ended up not purchasing anything. But I did enjoy spending time there and highly recommend others to visit the Petersen, as it is a very special place for those who like having nostalgic feelings.
