‘Flight of the trailers’ from the Petersen

Not too long ago, I told you about the trailer exhibit leaving the Petersen Automotive Museum. Well, officials at the museum came through with some wild photos of a mid-air Airstream and a hanging Hunt House Car.
Enjoy!

Trailers Take Flight After Museum Closes Exhibit

(Los Angeles, CA February 13, 2009) Eight pre-1940 camping vehicles took a road less traveled on Tuesday during the move out of the From Autocamps to Airstreams: The Early Road to Vacationland exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum. This six-month exhibition was one of many themed temporary exhibits that the museum uses to capture the imagination of its visitors in order to educate them. These vehicles were arranged in chronological order in an illustrative campsite setting.

To get these large recreational vehicles in and out of the Grand Salon on the second floor was no easy feat. The spiral ramps at the ends of the attached parking structure are too confined to use for anything that large, so a crane from Specialty Crane and Rigging was brought in to assist. One by one, the vehicles were loaded on to an adjustable purpose-built platform and gently took a 30-second flight down to Fairfax Avenue where they were off loaded.

Ironically, one of the campers that took flight was custom-built for Charles Lindberg, who was the first person to fly non-stop from New York to Paris in 1927, and another was a 1935 Curtiss Aerocar built by the company of the same name founded by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss.

The Grand Salon is currently being prepared for the next exhibit, What Were They Thinking? The Misfits of Motordom, which opens February 28th. This new exhibit will explore vehicle ideas where "thinking outside of the box" didn't live up to the success that it may have promised.

The Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity. The Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax) in Los Angeles. Admission prices are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students with ID, and $3 for children ages 5 to 12. Museum members and children under five are admitted free. Covered parking is available for $8.00 per car. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 6pm. For general Museum information, call 323/930-CARS or visit the Museum’s Web site address at www.petersen.org.