A city of CARS

The sprawling highways of the City of Angels have always felt like more than a necessity: their twists and turns have formed the very backdrop for Hollywood cinema itself – and where better to learn more than the Petersen Automotive Museum.

W O R D S : R I C H A R D F R A N K S

In the summer of 2005 I went to Los Angeles for the first time. I remember driving around Santa Monica as a wide-eyed teenager, with the scratched copy of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas I’d borrowed from my friend’s older brother, on a dusty old Hewlett Packard PC that whirled and rattled every time the disc loaded. In 2013 I went back again: this time I drove around Hollywood as a twenty-something-year-old with enough disposable income to have upgraded my cranky gaming machine and attain my own copy of GTA V.

I wasn’t born yet but I was there in 1976 and 1978 too, when the Los Angeles River was used for iconic racing scenes in The Gumball Rally and Grease. I was just about born in 1991 when Arnold Schwarzenegger whizzed down the very same river in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but you can bet I was there as well.

Los Angeles is synonymous with both the entertainment industry and car culture and has a knack for making film lovers and gamers feel like they’ve been there before. I can attest to this, having stolen many a car in GTA and circumnavigated down the many highways, hills and beaches of its game maps so frequently that I already knew where I was going when I finally made it over in person a few years ago.

Having always held a vested interest in LA and its car culture, I knew I needed to get back and I knew there was only one place for it.

“Los Angeles and car culture go hand-in-hand for a number of reasons, not least because owning one is necessary to get around the place,” said tour guide Andy Wasif during a walk around the Petersen Automotive Museum. Petersen, on LA’s Miracle Mile, is widely regarded as one of the world’s best museums of its kind.

“It’s true that public transit isn’t great here but that’s probably because the city only really grew in size around the1920s and 30s, which is close to when Hollywood took off and when cars grew in popularity,” said Andy. “This meant that by presuming everyone had [or needed] a car, the city naturally spread outwards, rather than upwards like many dense European cities. This caused the huge sprawl that you see today.”

“The city is also naturally associated with cars due to Hollywood and the vast number of car-based movies produced in the city; and then there’s the whole California road-tripping scene,” he continued. “All of that combined is what triggers this familiarity you mention.”

Petersen is a treasure trove for the motor enthusiast with some 300-plus vintage, rare and as-seen-on-screen cars in its collection. On a tour of the exhibition hall we passed the famous 1976 AMC Pacer, otherwise known as the Mirthmobile, driven by Dana Carvey (Garth) in Wayne’s World; and the 1984 AM General FJ8C ice cream truck, as driven by Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat.

“Amazingly, around 80% of these vehicles still drive,” says Andy, alluding to the fun the team has when moving them around. He then pointed out an original Batmobile from the 1989 Batman movie: “Michael Keaton actually drove that car.”

But it’s not just movies that celebrities are known for driving cars in: the famous Gumball 3000 Rally’s latest event ties in with the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ for its route this year. Beginning in Miami and ending in tournament host Mexico City, an impressive roster of celebrities will be joining the ride including David Hasselhoff, Usher and Tony Hawk.

Having been a start or end point for some of the Rally’s most iconic races, Los Angeles is synonymous with the Rally. Take the 2014 event where EDM musician Deadmau5’s custom “Purrari” Ferrari, featuring the then-relevant Nyan Cat meme on its wraparound, was the star of the race; and the 2008 edition when the Knight Rider KITT car broke down on Hollywood Boulevard resulting in Hasselhoff having to drive his Audi R8 instead. First-world problems. 2026 is also poignant as the 50thanniversary of Charles Bail’s action comedy The Gumball Rally, in which motor enthusiasts raced their rare and collectible vehicles from coast to coast (New York City to Los Angeles) for bragging rights. The blue 1966 Guardsman Shelby Cobra 427 was one of two leading vehicles (the other a red 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder) as seen racing down the LA River, and is now under the ownership of US-based performance car specialist, Blackdog. “Les Lindley, the original owner, had exactly what Warner Bros were looking for,” said Chris Davis, manager at Blackdog Performance Cars. “They struck a deal to rent the Cobra, refinished it in a brighter blue and prepped it for itsscreentime to their vision.”

“After filming was completed, the Cobra was serviced and put in storage for over 30 years,” said Chris. “It was restored to its movie prominence by David Nutley Automotive in San Diego and was immediately brought to the Petersen Automotive Museum for display, for about two years. It is [still] drivable and enjoyable!”

The 1976 Gumball Rally movie was indeed pioneering and it may well have inspired Randal Kleiner to use the LosAngeles River for that iconic Thunder Road race scene in Grease , released two years later. However it was certainly the race that inspired these real-life events to happen across the globe.

After visiting Petersen, I took a local bus down to Santa Monica, where the odd red-hot Chevrolet Corvette or 1964 Impala lowrider would dip in and out of a futuristic tailback of chunky silver Tesla Cybertrucks and driverless Waymo taxis. Down by the pier, drivers of said cars would stop to pose with their pride and joy, and the pier as a backdrop.

For all its traffic, Los Angeles clearly remains a city that inspires and ignites car enthusiasts – both on screen and in person.

GETTING THERE Virgin Atlantic and British Airways operate daily direct flights between London Heathrow and Los Angeles International (average flight time is 11 hours). GETTING AROUND Los Angeles is notorious for its traffic, but it can be equally difficult to navigate it without a car. Uber and Waymo taxis are ubiquitous, while there’s an inexpensive Metro transit system across the Greater Los Angeles area – but it’s not the quickest. BEST TIME TO GO Visit Los Angeles in the spring or fall for cooler days, cheaper accommodation and fewer crowds. Average temperatures in the summer months (June-September) reach average highs of 29°C. LA is however a year-round destination with something for everyone – from awards ceremonies and sporting events to concerts and music festivals. WHERE TO STAY Stay in the heart of Downtown LA at Omni Los Angeles, California Plaza, less than 10 minutes’ drive from iconic sports venues including Dodger Stadium and Crypto.com Arena. Request a corner room for a view of the Hollywood sign. From £177, room only. omnihotels.com/hotels/los-angeles- california-plaza FURTHER INFORMATION discoverlosangeles.com www.petersen.org gumball3000.com blackdogperformancecars.com