Petersen Museum sellling of Cars

That car gave just the right scruffy unloved incomplete project vibe.

(Its screaming for a V8 swap )



Any of the really good stuff will be in the stratosphere...

 

`Last time I got to go there the Art Arfons Bonneville jet car was out side in the parking garage....kind of shows where their heads are at....wonder what happened to it?

 

Same thing here in Cleveland at Western Reserve Historical Society/Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. Just as with the Petersen Museum, the original intent of the founder or founders now replaced with a bunch of white zinfandel sipping assholes. 'Hot rod junk' is not worthy of their fine breeding and much education, as if that mattered a rats fucking ass. 'We will interpret for you what is good and proper in vehicle preservation' Fred Crawford's very elderly widow tried to legally stop the purge here, was unsuccessful. Curation has been seized by old money playboy jerks with north east educations, who wear golf clothing and no socks. They sell off museum items and increase staff, payroll and expense accounts. There is no safe museum environment to which one can trust with a treasured historic automobile now.

 

that happens with a lot of non profit organizations.....the founder has a grand vision , but others get in control and have their own ideas. look what has happened with the Ford Foundation , i'm sure that is not what Henry had in mind

 

They got the Boothill Express in the auction. I built a model of that thing when i was a kid. I guess I could have a "full size" model of it now if I had the cash (or desire).......

 

I looked at it and thought "Big ugly rat motor and spewing halfshafts". Man, I want that Cunningham. Why was I not born into a wealthy family????

 

The Boothill express is such an icon to the hobby. That is a piece that should be in any automotive museum proudly as a permanent car.

 

The greatest sin of the Crawford Museum was selling the ex Larry Beals HISSO powered 1908 Mercedes. Famous factory race car new, sold to Spencer Wishard who raced in the first INDY 500. Larry Beals dumped a HISSO V8 in it around 1923 and it sat that way in the Crawford from the late 1930's. Total loss IMO with a restoration in Germany. Bob

 

So, I guess what we need is a Hot Rod Museum. One that, unlike the NHRA Museum, focuses on non race hot rods. Bruce Meyer are you listening?

 

It looks like they are making some poor choices that will damage what has been built-up.

The LA Times posted this:

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-petersen-sales-ethics-20130720,0,7179182.story

What an UGLY remodel. And they are selling historic cars for a "deco" remodel?

Meyers has done a good amount for the hobby, and I'm sure he is a great guy... But he doesn't come across well here. I hope these guys don't lose focus of the So Cal car scene and Hot Rod roots.


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Bruce Meyer is Vice Chairman of the Board of the Petersen Museum. He is one of the prime movers behind the changes happening there. Interesting, huh.

 

I don't know what the thinking is with that remodel. If they are seeking more attention it will work, will it bring more people thru, hard to say. I hope the remodelling does not alienate the museums key demographic. If people think it is too posh they will not visit.

Personally I do think Petersen needs to expand and have more French automobiles and Art Deco elements but it should not come at the cost of what has made the Petersen Museum special, it is about car culture, all elements of it, not just one specific thing. As it is the Petersen is an international car enthusiast must see destination.

With the direction the Petersen is moving towards I am wondering if Peter Mullins maybe trying to merge part of his collection with the Petersen. Peter Mullins owns the best French automobiles in the world, I have been to both Museums and they are incredible visual experiences and well worth the visits.

 

I agree, thats horrendous.

 

Lets see, the new director has a museum of French cars. The Petersen is going to add French cars. Something doesn't seem right here. Follow the money.

 

As a long-time museum profession this attitude drives me APESHIT!

The Petersen is not some roadside attraction "museum," it's a legit institution with some very strict policies and proceedures that dictate what they collect and how they handle those collection. According to their website "
A large part of The Museum's focus is to collect and preserve historic vehicles, and a great deal of importance was placed from day one on acquiring a great number of significant vehicles of all shapes, sizes, makes, models, and purposes." It's not a hot rod only museum, there's a lot more to it than that.

I don't know the specifics of why the petersen is selling objects, but they appear to be following acceptabble professional protocals. The article mentions that they are selling off a duplicate Herbie (duplicates are a perfectly reasonable reason to sell off a piece) amont the others. Not everything in every museum collection is museum worhty, it's a sad fact. And most museum's end up with stuff they took that they shouldn't have along the way or that no longer is teh best possible example of an object they need to interpret whatever their missio is.

The sale of the collection is part of a formal process call deaccessioning. It is used to make sure the museum is maintaining the best possible collection to further their stated mission. In this case they are doing what most museums do in this situation. They are selling the objects and have already earmarked the money for acquisition of new, more pertient objects for the collection. It would be different if they were selling things off to pay the operating bills--that's called "capitalization of collections" and is a big ethical and legal no-no. I'll spare you the Amercian Alliance of Museum's white paper on it but trust me it's well covered.

It's also important to point out that most museum display only a fraction of their collections. Normally about 10-15%. That has to do with object care protocals that requrie limited exposure to uv light and the elements in most display galleries. Rembmer that their job is to care for this stuff FOREVER or at least to make it last as close to that long as possible.

Loans are a perfectly viable part of a healthy museum, but to NOT consider making a object gift because a museum is doing exactly what the should be doing ethically and professionally is short sighted and shows a complete lack of understanding of the process.

And if you ever offer a "permannet loan" any museum worth a salt will laugh you out of the building. Your stuff has both monetary and interpretive value--but museum's aren't your personal storage facility.

enough soapboxing. rant over. now I can go read the rest of the thread

here's some references for those so inclined.

http://www.petersen.org/about-us/

http://www.aam-us.org/

 

The LA Times posted another new story Saturday. Looks like the Attorney General is now looking into it.

While it may look a little like over reach at first, seems that at least 10 of the cars being auctioned for cash had been donated to the Petersen by the LA Natural History Museum. Which is interesting.

http://www.latimes.com/business/aut...neral-probe-petersen-20130725,0,6955998.story

 

The auction was this weekend. Does anyone know what the blue Bonneville Deuce roadster and the Doane Spencer T-bird went for ?


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32 respect tradition $115,000 if thats it .I left as the spencer "t" bird rolled in

 

Hard to believe the design was approved for the new building. Looks like crap, nothing art deco about it that I can see. A larger than life Frank Lloyd Wright gas station would be more appropriate.
As for museums selling things, it happens, be it the NHRA museum or all the way up the ladder to the Smithsonian.

 

You got that wrong Hoof. They are a Gold Chainer museum and now the rich guys got bored of the hot rods. They brought the hot rods to Pebble Beach and now the thrill is gone.
On to the next toy of the moment which is French art deco and high end motorcycles.

 

did you miss the "hot wheels" room?

 

FNG here, i hope i am wrong here but, in Capitol letters FOLLOW THE MONEY.....maybe the new rage in cars will be French BS automobiles? The movers and shakers in the collector car world, must have some French crap cars that need to be unloaded out of their collection, what better way then auction them off to the Peterson museum for $$$$$$????? The auto auctioneering company's will be more than happy to ablige..everyone will be scrambling to get their hads on a POS French car........anyone remember past history when tulip bulbs were the thing to invest in........

 

Don't worry the Jado Special is now in a home where it will be appreciated and shared for ALL to see! Might even make a return to the salt!!!!

 

This planned renovation ought to make the Peterson even less appealing than it already is!

How can a Curator that like French cars & a team of NYC architectural know-nothings ever interpret the history of hot rodding in Cali?

May the Peterson Museum Rest in Peace...

Thankfully we have the Henry Ford & the Gilmore here in MI.

 

What would Bob and Margie Petersen say about this? It's got to be the second ugliest building I have ever seen. The worst is the EMP museum in Seattle.

 

Dear falconsprint63,

You mentioned that no respectable museum would accept a "permanent loan".
What could be done if you wanted to make sure that the car wouldn't be "sold for profit"?

I have a car that one museum said that they would accept it, but they may use it for parts in a few years if they wanted to.
Another one said that they wanted it, as it is an unmodified example of an early east coast car that they do not have.

 

Thats the "good" side

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OK, where the hell do they get off calling that design Art Deco? If they called it "Robert Petersen's thumbprint rendered in stainless steel" it would be more believable.

 

Whoa. Sad to see a wad of money pissed away to change the façade of the building. From the articles it sounds like a little political pressure exerted to keep the city looking modern, to me that is like rebodying a '30's vintage car. Destroying what it was intended to be. The new facad is definitely not "art deco".

 

I gotta walk by that pile of shit every day on my way to work. At least the sun is out in the photo.