{"id":38732,"date":"2011-04-27T09:57:17","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T13:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=38732"},"modified":"2011-04-27T09:57:17","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T13:57:17","slug":"petersen-automotive-museum-lands-monstrous-100-mil-donation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2011\/04\/petersen-automotive-museum-lands-monstrous-100-mil-donation\/","title":{"rendered":"Petersen Automotive Museum Lands &#8220;Monstrous&#8221; $100 mil Donation"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_38733\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38733\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-38733\" title=\"Petersen Automotive Museum Muscle Cars\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres-398x265.jpg 398w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres-812x542.jpg 812w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/MuscleCarslowres.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38733\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Petersen Automotive Museum will soon get another 135 vehicles for its collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even with one less zero it would have been a significant chunk of change, but at $100 million, the \u201cwonderful, generous\u201d donation announced by the Petersen Automotive Museum is expected to secure its future and expand its displays significantly.<\/p>\n<p>Opened in 1994 by the late magazine publisher Robert E. \u201cPete\u201d Petersen, the museum has had plenty of struggles over the years, especially when it was operated as part of the Los Angeles County government.\u00a0 Petersen rescued the museum shortly before his death in 2007.\u00a0 But the new donation takes things to a whole new level.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34529\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34529\" style=\"width: 152px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"\/subscribe\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34529\" title=\"Subscribe 16\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Subscribe-16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"152\" height=\"91\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Subscribe-16.jpg 152w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Subscribe-16-150x91.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34529\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Smart Source for Auto Reviews!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The donation by his widow, Margie, and the Margie and Robert E. Petersen Foundation actually consists of three components collectively valued at $100 million, explained Buddy Pepp, the museum director:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The 300,000 square-foot museum building, on Wilshire Blvd., at one of the busiest intersections in Los Angeles;<\/li>\n<li>Petersen\u2019s personal collection of approximately 135 vehicles housed in the building but not available, until now, for public viewing;<\/li>\n<li>And what Pepp would only describe as a \u201cmonstrous\u201d check.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38737\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38737\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-38737\" title=\"1925 Rolls Royce Round Door\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm-398x265.jpg 398w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm-812x542.jpg 812w, https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/1925RollsRoyceRoundDoor_sm.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38737\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 1925 &quot;Round Door&quot; Rolls-Royce will now join the Petersen Museum&#39;s collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Among the many new models from that the museum will now be able to roll out of the \u201cvault\u201d are a Tucker, a Stutz, four Duesenbergs, three Bugattis, a \u201clot\u201d of Ferraris and what Pepp describes as possibly the most valuable Rolls-Royce in the world, the 1925 \u201cRound Door\u201d Rolls that was a star of the annual Pebble Beach Concours d\u2019Elegance several years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The cash portion of the donation will be used for some \u201cmuch-needed maintenance and repairs,\u201d and to create a permanent endowment for the museum, something that wasn\u2019t in the cards when publisher Petersen first set up the facility in an old department store 17 years ago.\u00a0 Initially, the Petersen Automotive Museum operated as part of the Los Angeles County museum system, but it was continuously struggling for cash and, at one point, seemed doomed to close.\u00a0 Petersen stepped in, before his death, setting up an independent board and pumping in enough cash to keep the operation going.<\/p>\n<p>But with the new infusion, the museum now has, \u201cmore than a chance to breathe,\u201d said Pepp.\u00a0 \u201cMy great-great-grandchildren will be able to visit the museum.\u00a0 The future is absolutely secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just Pepp\u2019s heirs who will be pleased by the news.\u00a0 The museum typically hosts more than 150,000 paying visitors every year \u2013 plus as many as 8,000 local students who are bussed over as part of a program funded by Margie Petersen.<\/p>\n<p>The Petersen Automotive Museum Board will now be nearly doubled in size, according to Pepp, who promises some \u201cbig names\u201d will be added as part of the effort to expand the facility\u2019s offerings thanks to the new donation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even with one less zero, the $100 mil donation to the Petersen Automotive Museum would be massive. But the gift, which includes 135 new vehicles for display, should ensure the museum&#8217;s long-term viability, as TheDetroitBureau.com reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38732"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38732"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=38732"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=38732"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=38732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}