The Petersen Automotive Museum is the car museum of Los Angeles: four levels of automobiles, motorcycles, film cars and racing machines in a building wrapped in red and stainless-steel ribbons at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. This guide covers what you need to plan a visit in 2027, from tickets and the Vault to parking, the new Metro station outside the door and what else to see on Museum Row. Hours, prices and exhibition dates below come from the museum’s own website as of November 2026, and they do change, so check petersen.org before you go.
What Is the Petersen Automotive Museum?
The Petersen is a nonprofit museum dedicated to the history of the automobile and its effect on life and culture. Los Angeles is a fitting home for it: the museum sits where the Miracle Mile ends, at what it describes as the third-most travelled intersection in the city. Inside, more than 150 vehicles are on view across rotating exhibitions on three gallery floors, and several hundred more are kept in the Vault on the lower level.
It works on two levels. Serious enthusiasts come for the rarities: Formula 1 cars, pre-war coachbuilt classics, prototypes and celebrity-owned cars. Everyone else tends to enjoy the Hollywood vehicles, the racing simulators and the sheer variety of design on display, which makes it one of the easier museums in Los Angeles to visit as a mixed group or a family.
The History Behind the Petersen Automotive Museum
The museum was founded on June 11, 1994, by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and his wife, Margie, and is run by the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation. It moved into a department store building from 1962, designed by Welton Becket and Associates, that had been an Ohrbach’s store until 1986.
The building you see today is the result of a $90 million renovation. The architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox redesigned the facade, wrapping the old box in the flowing steel ribbons that have become a Wilshire Boulevard landmark, and the museum reopened in December 2015 with galleries built for changing exhibitions.
Petersen Tickets and Prices
There are two kinds of ticket: general admission, which covers the first, second and third floor galleries, and a combination ticket that adds the Vault. Online prices listed on petersen.org in November 2026:
- Adult (18+): $23 general admission, $52 with the Vault
- Senior (62+): $20 general admission, $45 with the Vault
- Youth (12–17): $13 general admission, $42 with the Vault
- Child (4–11): $12 general admission, $25 with the Vault
A few useful details from the museum’s policies: unused online tickets are valid for 12 months from purchase, same-day re-entry is allowed, and you can also buy tickets or a Vault add-on at the admissions desk by card or cash. Members get unlimited free general admission. You don’t need a ticket to visit the museum store or the Meyers Manx Cafe on the ground floor.
The Vault: What Makes the Petersen Different
Most visitors come for the galleries; car lovers come for the Vault. Presented by Hagerty, it is a basement-level collection of more than 300 cars, trucks, concept vehicles, hot rods, vintage motorcycles and muscle cars spanning 120 years. Expect early automobiles, Formula 1 cars, rare supercars, political vehicles and celebrity-owned cars. Vehicles rotate in and out, so a second visit is rarely the same as the first. In late 2026 the Vault also hosts two exhibitions of its own: Jeff Zwart: Life at ZwartSpeed, about the photographer, filmmaker and racer’s decades with Porsche, and A Legacy of Excellence: Masterpieces from the Mullin Collection.
Things to know before you go down:
- Last entry to the Vault is at 5 PM, an hour before the museum closes.
- Children under 4 are not admitted, visitors under 18 must stay with an adult, and strollers are not allowed.
- Handheld photos and video are fine, but tripods and gimbals are not, and you can’t walk between the vehicles.
Guided Vault and Shop Tours
If you want the stories behind the cars, the museum offers several guided options. A Vault Guided Tour with a docent is sold on set dates with limited space. The Shop Tour runs on Saturday mornings (9:30 to 11 AM on the late-2026 calendar) for a small group and takes you through the Vault and onto the working shop floor where the collection is maintained. For groups, the Petersen books a 60-minute Private Highlight Tour or Spotlight Tour at $15 per person plus admission ($150 minimum), and a 90-minute Private Vault Tour at $1,000 for up to 15 people, admission included. Private tours need 72 hours’ notice and are booked through the museum’s tour office.
Current and Upcoming Exhibitions (2026–2027)
The Petersen changes its special exhibitions regularly, so the mix depends on when you visit. These are the exhibitions petersen.org lists as open in November 2026, with closing dates where the museum gives them:
- Made in America: Celebrating 250 Years of the USA (3rd floor), through December 27, 2026
- Legends of the Dirt (2nd floor), through January 18, 2027
- Performance & Prestige: A History of Aston Martin (2nd floor), through February 27, 2027
- The American Motorcycle: Pioneering Machines from the Bunch Family Collection (2nd floor), through March 7, 2027
- A Fast & Furious Legacy: 25 Years of Automotive Icons (2nd floor), through April 4, 2027
- World-Class: 100 Years of Mercedes-Benz (1st floor), through April 25, 2027
- Jeff Zwart: Life at ZwartSpeed (the Vault), through June 13, 2027
- Flat Out: The Art of Joshua Vides (1st floor), through July 5, 2027
- World’s Fastest: A Timeline of Record-Setting Automobiles (2nd floor), through August 22, 2027
- Transatlantic Lines: American Cars by Italian Masters (3rd floor), through February 27, 2028
- Driven by Possibility: Waymo’s Road to Autonomous Transport (2nd floor), through July 30, 2028
- How We Roll: The Ever-Evolving Automotive Tire (3rd floor) and A Legacy of Excellence: Masterpieces from the Mullin Collection (the Vault), no end date listed
Several of these close in the first months of 2027, so if Aston Martin, Fast & Furious or the Bunch motorcycles are the reason for your trip, go early in the year. The museum had not announced its later 2027 openings at the time of writing; new shows appear on the exhibitions page of petersen.org as they are confirmed.
Permanent Galleries
Alongside the Vault, three galleries stay put. Cars of Film & Television on the third floor gathers Hollywood picture cars. The Forza Horizon 6 Experience in the Bobby Rahal Family Gallery on the second floor has seated racing simulators. The Discovery Center, also on the second floor, is a hands-on space for children with car-themed toys, books, crafts and a different daily activity, from art projects on Mondays to building challenges midweek.
Where Is the Petersen Automotive Museum?
The Petersen is at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax Avenue in the Miracle Mile district. It’s at the western end of Museum Row, the stretch of Wilshire that also holds the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits. Beverly Hills is a short drive west, and the Original Farmers Market and The Grove are a few minutes north up Fairfax.
Opening Hours
The museum is open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM. Check-in closes at 5:30 PM and the last call for the Vault is at 5 PM. Holiday changes for the 2026–27 season: closed on Thanksgiving (November 26) and Christmas Day, closing at 3 PM on Christmas Eve, and regular hours on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day 2027. The Discovery Center closes at 5:30 PM and the racing simulators at 4:45 PM.
Parking at the Petersen
The museum has its own garage, entered from Fairfax Avenue and open 9 AM to 11 PM. The first 15 minutes are free, the first two hours cost $18, and each additional hour is $3, with a $24 daily maximum when you have museum admission. Parking is free with a Museum Store purchase of $75 or more, and top-tier members park free. Accessible spaces are on level P1, and overnight parking isn’t allowed.
Getting There by Metro
Since May 8, 2026, the Metro D Line (the former Purple Line) has run west from Koreatown under Wilshire Boulevard, and the new Wilshire/Fairfax station puts you at the museum’s doorstep. It’s the closest stop for the Petersen, the Academy Museum and LACMA, and it makes a car-free trip from Downtown or Koreatown straightforward. The same extension added Wilshire/La Brea and Wilshire/La Cienega stations.
How Long to Spend at the Petersen
The museum says most visitors spend two to three hours. Two hours covers the three gallery floors at a comfortable pace. If you add the Vault, plan on three to four hours in total, and remember the 5 PM last call: arriving after about 2:30 PM makes it hard to do both properly.
Tips for Car Lovers and Families
For Car Lovers
- Buy the Vault combination ticket. The galleries are good; the Vault is what sets the Petersen apart from other car museums.
- Arriving after lunch? Do the Vault first. Last call is at 5 PM, while the galleries stay open until 6 PM.
- Bring a camera, not a tripod. Non-flash handheld photography is allowed in most areas; tripods, monopods and selfie sticks are not. Some special exhibitions have their own restrictions.
- Check the events calendar. The Petersen hosts cruise-ins, car festivals and workshops, many on weekend mornings. The Cars & Bids Festival on November 22, 2026, is one example.
For Families
- Plan a stop at the Discovery Center on the second floor. Children must stay with an adult at all times, and there are extra free activities on some weekends.
- Check heights for the simulators. Drivers must be at least 4 feet 10 inches tall, and children can’t ride on laps.
- Know the rules. Children 13 and under must be with an adult (18+). Strollers are welcome in the galleries but not in the Vault, and kids under 4 can’t go into the Vault.
- Food: food isn’t allowed in the galleries, apart from water bottles with a lid, but families can eat snacks on the first-floor patio. The Meyers Manx Cafe serves breakfast and lunch from 8 AM daily (until 3 PM Sunday to Thursday, 4 PM on Friday and Saturday).
- Accessibility: the museum is fully wheelchair accessible, free wheelchairs can be borrowed at admissions, and touch tours and ASL interpreters are available on request.
What Else Is on Museum Row
The Petersen is one of four major attractions within a few minutes’ walk along Wilshire, so it’s easy to make a full day of the area:
- Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (6067 Wilshire Blvd): directly across Wilshire, in the renovated former May Company building, now the Saban Building, with a spherical theater addition by Renzo Piano. It covers the history and craft of filmmaking and is closed on Tuesdays.
- LACMA: just east of the Academy Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. At its Wilshire entrance stands Chris Burden’s Urban Light, 202 vintage street lamps, and in April 2026 the museum opened its new David Geffen Galleries, designed by Peter Zumthor.
- La Brea Tar Pits (5801 Wilshire Blvd): a short walk east, where Ice Age fossils are excavated from natural asphalt. The indoor museum closed in July 2026 for a two-year renovation, with reopening planned for 2028, but the surrounding park, including the Lake Pit with its mammoth sculptures, remains open.
Visiting the Petersen in a 1970 Cadillac DeVille
A car museum makes more sense when you arrive in a car worth looking at. Classic Experiences, based in Beverly Hills, runs a classic car tour of Los Angeles in two 1970 Cadillac DeVille convertibles, one blue and one black, with pickup from your hotel. The Petersen fits easily into a day like that: Wilshire and Fairfax is a short drive from Beverly Hills, and the Original Farmers Market is a few minutes up Fairfax for lunch afterwards.
Seeing a 1970 DeVille up close on the drive over and then the museum’s own American classics inside makes the connection between the cars and the city easy to see. Larger groups can do the same day in a Cadillac Escalade on a private SUV tour.
Petersen Automotive Museum: FAQ
Where is the Petersen Automotive Museum?
At 6060 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax in the Miracle Mile. The Metro D Line’s Wilshire/Fairfax station, opened in May 2026, is right outside, and the museum’s garage is entered from Fairfax Avenue.
How much are tickets to the Petersen?
As of November 2026, general admission online is $23 for adults, $20 for seniors (62+), $13 for youth (12–17) and $12 for children (4–11). Tickets that include the Vault are $52, $45, $42 and $25 respectively. Unused online tickets are valid for a year.
Is the Petersen Vault worth it?
For car enthusiasts, yes. It holds more than 300 vehicles that aren’t on the main floors, from early automobiles and Formula 1 cars to political and celebrity-owned vehicles. Last entry is at 5 PM, and children under 4 aren’t admitted.
How much time do you need at the Petersen?
The museum says most visitors spend two to three hours. Allow about two hours for the three gallery floors and three to four hours if you add the Vault.