Petersen Automotive Museum

Miracle Mile was the first commercial development in L.A. designed expressly for the benefit of drivers, so a former department store makes an apt home for this museum of car culture. A 2015 redesign replaced the automotive history museum’s old-timey displays with industrial-chic galleries, and the changes have absolutely been for the better: If you’re at all interested in cars, you can’t really top this shrine to the progress, dominance and dazzling good looks of the automobile.

The museum’s narrative begins in the third-floor galleries with a bit of automotive history; you’ll find sections dedicated to Southern California road culture and a rotating selection of Hollywood cars, from the Tim Burton–era Batmobile to the ice cream truck from Borat. The second floor puts the focus on industrial design while the ground floor spotlights artistry, but the actual cars on display here swap in and out via multi-month and open-ended exhibitions. That’s excellent news for the average visitor, who might encounter shows dedicated to anything from lowriders and hot rods to Andy Warhol and Keith Haring designs to vehicles featured in James Bond and Fast & Furious films.

The Petersen may not be as essential of a stop for first-time visitors to L.A. as, say, the Getty or LACMA. But the familiar and fascinating cars here are always impeccably presented, and if you’ve ever ogled a sports car before, you’re bound to connect with something on display. Car aficionados, meanwhile, will have to contain themselves: The riches here are ridiculous, especially if you add on access to the vault, a subterranean garage with more than 300 additional vehicles.