This LA Car Museum Charges $99 for a Guided Tour. Here’s Why You Should Book It.

I’ll be upfront: I’m car illiterate. I still call my dad when something’s wrong with mine. But I’ve always loved classic cars. The bigger and shinier, the better. So what better way to indulge my inner classic car lover than booking the Petersen Automotive Museum tour?

For someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about cars, spending $99 on a museum tour sounds a little crazy. My mom even asked me afterward, “Did you have nothing else to do?” (I love a good roast from a parent.)

If you’re on the fence about whether the Petersen Shop Tour is worth adding to your Los Angeles itinerary, here’s everything you need to know before you book.

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What to Expect on the Petersen Automotive Museum Tour

The Petersen Automotive Museum tour is a guided, behind-the-scenes look at two parts of the museum: the Vault and the Thomas E. and Sharon J. Malloy Family Workshop.

While Vault access is available as an add-on to general admission, the workshop isn’t open to the public any other way. More importantly, the guided tour adds stories, historical context and behind-the-scenes details that simply aren’t available on a self-guided visit.

The tour is scheduled for 90 minutes. Mine lasted THREE hours.

Our guide, Chris, warned us at the start of the tour that he loves talking about cars and that his tours sometimes run long. That wasn’t hyperbole. I also may have jokingly told him the tour was three hours. Whether he believed me or it was just a coincidence, nobody knows. Either way, I got my money’s worth.

Since the tour only runs once a week, I was expecting a much larger group. Instead, there were just 18 people. I could easily spot the car enthusiasts in the group. Two people left before the tour ended, but that seemed to have more to do with other plans than a lack of interest. If you book this tour, I’d avoid scheduling anything immediately afterward.

The tour begins on the museum’s first floor, where Chris gave a quick overview of the building’s history. Before becoming the Petersen Automotive Museum, it was a Japanese department store called Seibu and then an Ohrbach’s department store. (Department stores getting a second life as a museum is a recurring theme on Miracle Mile.)

If you thought a “Shop Tour” would head straight to the workshop, you’d be wrong. We got there, eventually. Just not for very long.

The Petersen Automotive Museum Vault

The Petersen Automotive Museum Tour starts in the Vault, and it’s where you spend most of your time. Once you’re in it, you understand why.

The Petersen Vault holds more than 300 vehicles. Because it’s underneath the museum, you feel like you’re walking into a secret automotive archive. Think rows and rows of cars packed close together. The entire time I thought to myself that I’d hate to be the person who has to move one for an exhibit.

I’d actually been to the Vault in 2025 as part of the general admission ticket, so I knew what I was walking into. But with Chris leading the way, it was a completely different experience.

Some cars in the Vault have boards in front of them with basic information, but Chris filled in everything the boards leave out. He also stopped at cars I’d walked right by without a second thought.

A few favorites:

1913 Mercer Type 35-J Raceabout

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One of the United States’ first sports cars, the Mercer is considered one of the most legendary American automobiles of the Brass Era. It’s a really cool car and even days later, I’m still thinking about this car.

Clark Gable’s 1941 Cadillac Series 62

Custom-built for his wife, Carole Lombard. He sold it almost immediately after her tragic death.

1925/1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Aerodynamic Coupe

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This 1925 Phantom I chassis is fitted with a body built nearly a decade later, making it one of the rarest cars in the world.

1942/46 Lincoln Custom Armored Limousine

This car is a beast. Used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Harry S. Truman, the limo weighs 7,000 pounds, with the bulletproof windows weighing 125 pounds each.

The Popemobile

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A 1998 Cadillac De Ville Parade Phaeton used for a 20-minute photo session in Mexico. The Pope blessed the vehicle, and some visitors have been known to lightly drag handkerchiefs over it.

The Dale

During the midst of the energy crisis in the 70s, Liz Carmichael introduced the Dale as a “car of the future.” She couldn’t deliver on any of it, cashed out, and disappeared, eventually getting caught. Want the full story? Watch The Lady and the Dale on HBO.

Two areas the tour doesn’t cover: the BMW room, which holds about eight cars, and the Vault’s F1 collection. Chris said doing the F1 cars justice would take an entire day on its own. You can access both areas on your own after the tour.

The Thomas E. and Sharon J. Malloy Family Workshop

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After spending nearly 2.5 hours in the Vault, we finally made our way to the restoration shop. We spent about 20 minutes in this off-limits workshop before the tour ended. Considering the experience is called the “Shop Tour,” it wasn’t what I expected.

That isn’t necessarily a complaint. It’s a real workshop where the museum maintains its collection behind the scenes. And getting to step inside a space that the public can’t normally access did feel exclusive. But walking through a workshop with about 20 cars felt a little anticlimactic.

That being said, a few cars did stand out: the 1966 Ford Thunderbird Convertible from Thelma & Louise (not the one that went off the cliff, obviously), a Cybertruck riddled with bullet holes, Dominic Toretto’s 1970 Dodge Charger R/T, and Elvis’s yellow 1971 De Tomaso Pantera, the car he shot twice.

What to Know Before You Go

Here are a few things I wish I’d known before taking the Petersen Shop Tour.

Book in advance. The Shop Tour is only offered on select Saturdays, and spots are limited. Don’t assume you can walk up and get on a tour.

Budget 3–4 hours.The tour is scheduled for 90 minutes, but as you’ve probably gathered by now, that’s not always how it goes. Factor in time for the museum afterward, too.

Plan for paid parking. The garage costs $18 for the first two hours, then $3 for each additional hour, with a $24 daily maximum. Street parking in the surrounding neighborhoods is theoretically possible. Good luck with that.

Bring a snack. I rationed a fruit bar through the last hour and a half, and let’s just say everyone in that museum should be grateful I did.

Use the bathroom before entering the Vault. There aren’t any down there.

Take advantage of your museum admission. Your ticket includes full-day access to the museum. If your tour runs long, take a break before heading upstairs to explore the exhibits. Not sure where to start? I cover the museum’s highlights, movie cars and everything else you need to know in my Petersen Automotive Museum guide.

Fuel up nearby if you need to. The Grove is a short walk down Fairfax and has plenty of food options. There’s also a restaurant on site, but after a long morning tour it tends to fill up fast.

Experience the Petersen Automotive Museum Tour for Yourself

If you’re expecting an in-depth workshop tour, you’ll probably be disappointed by the Petersen Shop Tour. But if you go in knowing what it actually is, a guided tour through one of the world’s most impressive automotive collections led by a knowledgeable guide who somehow makes even the most car-illiterate visitor appreciate a 1925 Rolls-Royce, it’s absolutely worth the $99.