Take a virtual tour of the Petersen Automotive Museum’s Vault

The Petersen Automotive Museum is always evolving and highlighting different exhibits in its numerous galleries. You can find Italian motorcycles, racing legends, and some of the coolest cars ever featured on screen. One of its hidden jewels, however, is the Vault.

Off-limits to everyone except the museum staff for decades, the Vault has been reorganized and opened to the public for the past few years. Now that the museum is closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Petersen is offering virtual tours so that you can experience the wide variety of beautiful vehicles from your couch.

“Although we wish patrons could be visiting us at this time, we understand the risks and want to offer a new experience for fans of the museum to enjoy from the comfort of home,” says Petersen Executive Director Terry L. Karges. “The benefit of offering digital tours is that we are now able to extend the stories of our collection to a global audience and give our patrons more access to the cars than ever before.”

Initial tours were $3, but now all future tours will be free. The Petersen suggests, however, that you make a donation to offset the cost of staffing the museum. Each tour will last an hour and will take you through the 250 vehicles in the ever-changing catalog of the Vault. You’ll be able to see a recreation of the first production Ferrari, some hot rods, celebrity rides, and plenty of Porsches.

In addition to the live-streamed Vault tours, the Petersen Museum is also offering educational live streams for children while closed to the public for the next few weeks.

Virtual Vault tours are available Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through April 4. Click the link on the Petersen Automotive Museum landing page to register for your tour.