At the end of October, the Petersen Museum moved a select display of some of its holdings to a temporary display venue at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, in Simi Valley, California.
Dubbed “Amazing Automobiles: The Ultimate Car Exhibit,” the exhibit showcases some of the Petersen’s most stunning and memorable cars at the Reagan Library while the Petersen is closed to the public for remodeling and renovation. Most of these cars come from the Petersen’s vault and are not seen by regular museum-goers.
“This is a fairly rare collaboration between two world-class museums,” said Terry Karges, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum. “The ‘Amazing Automobiles’ exhibit allows Reagan Library visitors to see several significant cars from the Petersen collection, and the Heads of States cars will be appropriately displayed near Air Force One.” The cars will be separated into themed galleries for Hollywood, History and Heads of State.
In the Hollywood Gallery, cars used in television and movies, as well as ones owned by celebrities:
• 1956 XKSS owned by Steve McQueen
• 1971 DeTomaso Pantera owned by Elvis Presley (which still has the three bullet holes from when he shot the car)
• Batmobile driven by Michael Keaton in “Batman” (1989) and “Batman Returns” (1991)
• 1946 custom “Grease Lightning” Ford used by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in “Grease” (1978)
• 1966 Ford Thunderbird driven by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in “Thelma and Louise” (1991)
• 2001 custom Honda Roadster driven by Devon Aoki in “2 Fast, 2 Furious” (2003)
In the Heads of State Gallery, cars built for Heads of State in multiple countries will be on display including:
• Pope John Paul II’s 1998 Cadillac Papal Parade Phaeton
• 1942 Lincoln Limousine (ordered the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and used by Presidents Roosevelt and Truman)
• 1938 Packard Super 8 Parade Phaeton used by Juan and Evita Peron, President and First Lady of Argentina
In the Historic Cars Gallery, rare, iconic and historic cars will include:
• 1952 Ferrari 212/215 Inter Spyder
• 1913 Mercer Raceabout
• 1939 Bugatti 57C Atalante
For more information visit www.reaganlibrary.com/cars.
