The rain stopped just enough to let the Petersen Museum Event go on…
by Wallace Wyss –
What with Climate Change ya never know how the weather is gonna be. But for the second time in recent memory, on February 26th, the Petersen Automotive Museum on mid- Wilshire in Los Angeles managed to stop the rain, infuse some sunshine and have an event proceed forthwith.
High performance cars are often at the Petersen, ironic this time because their Tesla display was still up, and the Tesla brand in a way is leading the coming denouement of all international combustion cars. I counted 100 Ferraris. They predicted 300 but that was way before the actual event.
They even had a second event scheduled that day–a dinner and what not–but I only went to the morning’s outdoor display on the second to the top open air deck of the parking garage. There weren’t many oldies-but-goodies cruising in–of course Bruce Meyer’s (the founding chairman of the Museum) SWB 250GT and Earl Waggoner’s Lusso–both Sixties treasures–were there.
Most were newer cars including a very recent SP2. I should have asked the driver and passenger how far they drove because the chilled temperature was 50 deg. F even when not moving. The front-engined two seater roadster is a daring model in this modern day and age, cheeky to offer it with no windscreen (requiring racing helmets with big flip down face bubbles.)
As usual they had wonderful bagels of various flavors and coffee, ideal for such a frigid morning. The setting is exciting for those who have never been there–you can see the surrounding neighborhood from what must be nearly 100 feet up, this event happening when snow was blanketing even nearby mountains–mountings usually lost in a mist. Taking place in a multi-level parking garage, it offers a rare opportunity to shoot a camera angle down on cars because there’s still a second open air deck above the one where all the visiting cars are parked. If I make a painting it will be one of those shot-from-above.
Ironically on the very top deck there was a handful of Maseratis–a Lister plus a lonesome DeTomaso Pantera.
This event renewed a lot of friendships between those who met at earlier events. Future events on the FCA Southwest Region schedule include driving tours ending with dining at a nice restaurant.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR/ARTIST Wallace Wyss is the co-host of Autotalk, a weekly radio show broadcast on KUCR FM (88.3) Riverside. One can receive a list of his available art work on Ferraris by writing malibucarart@gmail.com
Lazy dog or just spoiled?
Lazy dog or just spoiled?
Ironically, perhaps the most unusual red car there
Thanks Wallace
For those of us far away from L.A. this was a special treat!
Thank you Bruce Meyer for creating one of my favourite places in the world!