The Petersen Automotive Museum Chairman of the Board Steven E. Young has announced that Terry L. Karges has been appointed Executive Director of the Museum. Karges has succeeded Buddy Pepp effective August 15, who is retiring following a successful two-year run as Executive Director where he made significant contributions to the long-term stability and prosperity of the museum. Karges brings four decades of automotive, entertainment and motorsports management experience to the Petersen Automotive Museum. He is known as an innovative leader with a keen ability to merge cutting-edge marketing tactics.
“Terry is a very well qualified businessman with a strong management background that the Board of Directors feels will do a terrific job as the Petersen Automotive Museum Executive Director,” said Young. “In addition to being a Southern California native familiar with our unique car culture, Terry also has valuable experience leading sales and marketing operations for major California theme parks, which makes him the best candidate to lead the museum in unique and exciting ways.”
Karges will be leaving his role as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Venchurs Inc., a Michigan based OEM supplier. As the former Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Roush Performance, Karges helped grow the company into the largest specialty high performance car brand in the world. As owner of Karges Sport, he was involved in motorsports marketing and ran his own team. Karges also previously held marketing management positions at Disneyland, SeaWorld and Marine World.
“As a lifelong automotive design enthusiast and someone who spent his formative years at tracks like Riverside and Laguna Seca, the opportunity to take the reins at The Petersen – arguably one of the premier automotive museums in the world – is a humbling and thrilling prospect,” Karges said. “I look forward to working with the museum’s incredibly talented staff of curators, historians and restoration experts, as well as with the knowledgeable and enthusiastic board, to come up with innovative and interactive ways to share Robert E. Petersen’s legacy and the world’s love affair with the automobile.”
