By Joe Berk
The architecture is visually arresting, riveting our attention as soon we spot the Petersen Automotive Museum. It had a been a few years since I visited the place, I had not expected what I saw, but I knew it was the Petersen as soon as it came into view. Located on Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile (home to several museums, surrounded by incredible wealth, and one of LA’s toniest neighborhoods), the Petersen is a distinctive Los Angeles landmark.
On my earlier visits to the Petersen Museum, the building that housed it positively boring from the outside. Built in 1962 as a department store, it was a big block of nearly windowless concrete. The size and the windowless aspect appealed to billionaire publisher Robert E. Petersen. It was big enough to house Petersen’s collection, and the lack of windows would protect the sensitive finishes of classic and custom automobiles from the harsh southern California sun.
Our visit to the Petersen this day was to be a quick one, as I was on a mission. With an assignment for a Motorcycle Classics magazine “Destinations” piece featuring the Bunch motorcycle collection (on display at the Petersen through the end of March), I wanted to get in early before the Museum became too crowded, grab a bunch of photos, and be on my way. We succeeded. We were in and out in exactly 25 minutes. Click, click, and click again went the Nikon D810 and its boat anchor 16-35mm lens. Click a bunch more times, and we were on our way to lunch at Canter’s Deli (more on that in a bit).
The Petersen Museum underwent an extensive $125 million remodeling in 2015, which treated the existing building as a chassis and created a stunning stainless steel ribbon body over it. The flowing ribbons and their brilliant bright red background create an impression of wind tunnel airflow over a streamlined automobile. As I read those words, my description sounds kind of over the top and maybe a bit hokey, but let me tell you: the architecture works. The unmistakable and instant impression is one of power and speed. I couldn’t wait to get inside.
The wonderment began even before we entered the building. We spotted a neo-vintage ’66 ivory white Mercedes displayed near the entrance. It’s a gasoline (not diesel) powered 250 SE Coupe with an incredible 1,384,563 miles on the clock. The late original owner, Jane Rice Pinner, drove it everywhere, and you can take that “everywhere” adjective literally. Ms. Pinner, you see, was a world traveler. She shipped the car to the different countries she visited, and drove it wherever she went when she arrived. It’s a cool approach to adventure, and it’s probably one that required big bucks. But Wilshire Avenue’s Miracle Mile is dripping in big bucks ambience. We were impressed, and we hadn’t made it into the Museum yet.
Once inside, a stunning Sunbeam land speed record machine again riveted our attention. It’s a 1000-horsepower monster, nicknamed “the Slug,” and it’s powered by two humongous 22.4-liter Matabele V12 aircraft engines (one in the front, and one in the rear). With the two V12’s combined 1000 horsepower, the Slug was designed to hit 200 mph, and in 1927, it did so on the sands of Daytona Beach. The Slug touched 203.79 mph under the skillful touch of Sir Henry Segrave in (get this) 1927. Oh, boy, do they ever have cool things at the Petersen.
But our focus was on motorcycles, and specifically, the Bunch collection. It was up to the second floor for us, and wow, there they were. About 25 early 1900s motorcycles (I’ll provide an exact count in the next blog) had me in digital photography heaven. I’m going to portray these in the ExNotes blog in a different way. We’ll feature one motorcycle per blog and run the blogs around others currently scheduled for publication. They’ll start sometime next year.
After our quick stop at the Petersen, we drove north another mile on Fairfax Avenue to one of my favorite LA restaurants: Canter’s Deli. Matzo ball soup, a kasha knish, a corned beef Reuben, and I was in heaven.
Stay tuned, my friends. There are more Bunch stories and more stunning photos inbound.