The Petersen Museum heats up Monterey Car Week
You may have heard of the Petersen Automotive Museum’s year-long “Hollywood Dream Machines” exhibit of over 40 famous movie and TV cars. And even though you may not have visited Monterey Car Week quite as often as you’ve seen Back to the Future, you may have heard about the Californian confluence of all things automotive. To enhance California’s week-long celebration, the Petersen will be bringing six California-built star cars and one very historic Golden State hot rod to two of Monterey Car Week’s most prominent events.
Every year, the Quail Lodge & Golf Club hosts The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering. For the 2019 edition of the event, scheduled for August 16, the Petersen will be displaying six of the most famous vehicles to appear on big and small screens alike. Among the group is the DeLorean time machine from 1985’s Back To The Future alongside Michael Keaton’s Batmobile from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and the Speed Racer-inspired Mach 5 Prototype race car built in 1999. George Barris’ 1946 Ford “Greased Lightning” from 1975’s Grease will make an appearance, as well as the 1998 Shagmobile driven by Mike Myers in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and the 1961 Herbie Beetle from 2005’s Herbie: Fully Loaded with Lindsay Lohan.
The Petersen was started by founder of Hot Rod magazine Robert Petersen, so it’s not surprising that the institution has curated a collection of historically significant rods and customs. Two days after The Quail, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will host the Petersen’s 1959 Outlaw custom car, built by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Outlaw signaled a watershed moment in the custom car world. Earlier hot rods and customs were fairly traditional, and based mostly on Model T and Model A Fords. Roth fabricated a completely custom body, for the Outlaw car, taking full advantage of the ability to mold fiberglass into new and wild shapes and creating one of the most famous custom cars ever built.
In announcing its participation in the festivities, Petersen Executive Director Terry L. Karges said, “Monterey Car Week is one of the centerpieces of the automotive world, and its luxurious events are a perfect opportunity to share this group of Hollywood hero cars and timeless customs with the public outside of the museum.”
For more information about the Petersen Automotive Museum and its collection, visit www.petersen.org.
