5 Gems You Don’t Want to Miss from the Petersen’s Newest Exhibits
Rare, historic Japanese vehicles steal the spotlight at L.A. museum.
Now open to the public at the Petersen Automotive Museum, “The Roots of Monozukuri: Creative Spirit in Japanese Automaking” and “Fine Tuning: Japanese-American Customs” explore over 60 years of Japanese manufacturing and car culture. The two new exhibits showcase the best aspects of that exciting time period with the help of historically-significant vehicles, many of which have never been displayed outside of Japan.
While each of the very special cars on display at the museum tells a unique story, the following five gems really stood out to us, either for their rarity, or for their importance in shaping today’s automotive world as we know it.
1. 1967 Toyota 2000GT Roadster
Seeing the legendary Toyota 2000GT in person is already quite an accomplishment. But to see a 1967 Toyota 2000GT Roadster — only two were ever built — is simply something else. The 2000GT was such a hit when it debuted at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show that two were converted into roadsters to be featured in the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. This particular example was driven by actress Akiko Wakabayashi in the film.
2. 1969 Nissan R382
Motorsports have always been an opportunity for manufacturers to experiment with new technologies, and Nissan studied the race cars of the North American Can-Am Series to create the 1969 R382. This was the first time that the automaker built a V12 engine, and it won the 1969 Japanese Grand Prix. Like they always say: “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”
3. 1966 Nissan Silvia
An international design team was assembled to create this early attempt at a personal car. Each hand-built Silvia was uniquely spec’d out by a customer, and its “crisp-cut” design helped turn it into an instant classic. Many regard the Silvia as an excellent example of Nissan’s design-focused craftsmanship, and also the predecessor of the legendary 240Z sports car.
4. 1998 Honda Civic Dragster
During a time when rear-wheel drive vehicles dominated all of motorsport, racer Stephan Papadakis became the first to tackle the quarter-mile in under nine seconds with a front-wheel drive car. This stripped-down ‘98 Honda Civic produced 650 horsepower from a 2.2-liter inline-4 engine. His team and success would become instrumental in popularizing the National Hot Rod Association’s Sport Compact Car drag racing series.
5. 1969 Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S
In 1961, Mazda secured a license to build Wankel engines. Then the company began developing its own version, which featured better fuel economy, more power, and increased reliability. This would later become Mazda’s legendary rotary engine. During the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda introduced the Cosmo, a hand-built futuristic flagship vehicle, which went on sale to the public in 1967 as the first mass-production two-rotor vehicle.
The Petersen Automotive Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles “The Roots of Monozukuri” and “Fine Tuning” will run through April 14, 2019. For more details, click here.
Photos for Team Speed by Andrew Chen
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