20 Miracle Mile 2017
Larchmont Chronicle
30TH annual edition
Treasures stored in Vault; Movie Museum orb rising up By Suzan Filipek Visitors can step back in time and hop aboard the future when they descend into the recently reopened Vault at the Petersen Automotive Museum. The 250-vehicle collection in the block-sized underPETERSEN CURATOR Leslie Kendall ground space shows an early “roll bar,” made to protect includes three Teslas, passengers in rollover collisions, in a Mereach donated after cury concept car. the owner bought the latest model, a 24K bar that protects passengers in gold-plated DeLorean, and, a rollover collisions, and its air 1955 Mercury Ford concept conditioner is about the size car — the largest fiberglass car of its trunk, says the museum ever built. That “Merc” sports chief curator Leslie Kendall. an early version of the steel A recent purchase is a “really, really, really rare” 1935 Mercedes, its upholstery ripped and paint faded and peeling. The prized possession may be left intact “as an example of how we find things,” Kendall says. There’s an eleSTEVE MCQUEEN’S Hudson Wasp helped the gant Daimleractor stay under the radar in the early 1980s; beKnight from hind it is Clark Gable’s Rolls Royce.
the fleet of King of England, The PetersGeorge V. “It’s like a fine piece en’s strength is of furniture,” says Kendall, its objectivity, opening the lofty carriage and says Kendall. revealing the original leather “We don’t have preconceived seats inside. no Bicycles and motorcycles notions, from every era, a rare 1950s political motivaCalifornia Highway Patrol tions. We report sedan, and several celeb- what we see. rity wheels are here. Clark And because of Gable’s Rolls, Elvis’ canary that, that neuoutlook yellow sports model and Steve tral McQueen’s 1950s Hudson gives us a lot of MAMMOTHS once roamed the area. See Wasp sit side by side, waiting credibility.” their fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits. shartheir turns in the spotlight Also enthusiastic guides are offered ing space in the upstairs. A public favorite is the 1948 Vault are the last car Sen. several times a day, and they Tucker, sporting a powerful Robert Kennedy rode in on are popular, says Kendall. ••• helicopter engine and immor- his way to the Ambassador Across the street, expect to talized in Francis Ford Cop- Hotel, a Bugatti once owned pola’s film, “Tucker: The Man by the Shah of Iran, a Pope- see the Academy Museum of mobile and Sadam Hussein’s Motion Picture’s “sphere” and His Dream.” begin to rise this year. The Acquiring a driverless car, Mercedes. as soon as they are available, Tours by knowledgeable and addition to the historic May Company building is on Kendall’s to-do features a 1,000-seat list. The museum’s theater and rooftop mission is to “explore terrace. Architect the history of the Renzo Piano is also automobile in a local restoring the 1930s context.” Streamline Moderne After all, Los Angeformer department les is the “capital of store building to inconsumption, car clude six floors of exculture and car crehibition spaces feaativity… chances are turing all the magic if it happens with cars, it happens here ACADEMY MUSEUM is preparing for its 2019 and wonder of the opening. first,” Kendall said. (Turn to page 21)
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