There are some truly tremendous car collections around the world – from the National Motor Museum in the U.K. to the similarly named Australian institution in South Australia to the mind-bogglingly private collection of U.S. comedian Jay Leno – but if there is one place a connoisseur of cars should visit in their lifetime, it’s the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Founded in 1994, the Petersen Automotive Museum sits on the corner of Fairfax Avenue and the famous Wilshire Boulevard, and was the brainchild of magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen. It’s impressive display of classic vehicles numbers more than 100 with a similar number in storage, and you’d be hard pushed to find a more splendid array of four-wheel works of art anywhere.

In May, the museum put on a couple of exhibitions: Seeing Red: 70 Years of Ferrari, which featured highlights from across the Italian company’s long history; and The Porsche Effect, which focused on the German carmaker’s emergence as a sports car force to be reckoned with.

The selection of road-going and competition cars was stunning, and MTA Queensland’s Business Development Manager Andrew Bear happened to be in L.A. at the time and went along to see the exhibitions. It was, he says, a sensational trip for a car enthusiast.

“The Petersen museum is amazing, and I would highly recommend it to anyone going to Los Angeles,” said Andrew. “They always have a revolving array of exhibitions, so there is always something different to see when you’re there.

“I was very lucky on my trip to visit the Seeing Red: 70 years of Ferrari and The Porsche Effect exhibitions – I was like a kid in a candy shop! It’s not every day that you get to see a $50 million Ferrari or a $20 million Porsche in one place at one time!

While every car was a winner, there were a couple that stood out from the pack, said Andrew.

“The rare and gorgeous 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, which finished second at Le Mans in 1963, was a showstopper,” he said. “The other car I never thought I’d see in real life was the 1969 Gulf Porsche 917K. It was Porsche’s first Le Mans winner and also appeared in the Steve McQueen movie Le Mans.

“To be honest, there were so many priceless race winners from all over the world that the list just goes on and on”!

14 Jun 2018