The Coronavirus closed museums and other attractions nationwide as social distancing, home quarantining and the “six feet apart” rule make everything from social gatherings to school field trips impossible. Many of those venues are staying on people’s minds online via social media by offering online access to exhibits and resources.
Two California automotive museums — both hallowed ground for devoted car lovers — are keeping it on the road by offering virtual tours and other initiatives. The Petersen Automotive Museum and the Mullin Automotive Museum are throwing open their doors through the world’s computer and smartphone screens to remind gearheads that the roads will open again.
Two California automotive museums combat the Coronavirus by offering virtual access.
The Petersen Automotive Museum is a Los Angeles fixture, saluting the maching for which LA was built. Its sweeping, stainless steel architecture stands proudly on Museum Row at Wilshire and Fairfax. While the joint is closed due to COVID-19, it’s offering low cost virtual tours of its famous vaults where significant potions of the Petersen’s car collection snoozes when not on display.
The $3 journeys provide an instance of a tragedy opening up an opportunity as the museum visitor who stops by during average times wouldn’t necessarily get a peek of the vaults. The online tours offer viewers access to rare race cars, movie machines and culturally significant vehicles. The vault tours are led by globally recognized automotive expert Collection Manager Dana Williamson.
During the COVID-19 shutdowns, the Petersen will also provide free online educational programming for students, including worksheets, coloring sheets and video activities.
The Peterson Automotive Museum and The Mullin Automotive Museum are staying open online.
About an hour north of the Petersen in the more rural enclave of Oxnard, Calif., the Mullin Automotive Museum is physically closed — but remains virtually alive with free, schedule tours via the property’s Instagram feed. Each docent-led social media tour will cover true stories behind the museum’s unique European car collection.
The Mullin’s halls pack one of the largest Bugatti collections in the world, saluting the automaker that would go on to build the fastest production cars in history. The events will run weekly throughout the lockdown portion of this current viral crisis.
