On June 11, 1994, Robert E. Petersen and his wife, Margie, fulfilled a longtime dream when they became founding benefactors to start the Petersen Automotive Museum, donating $5 million to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. In April, 2000, the Petersens contributed an additional $24.8 million dollars to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum to retire the bond debt 

and establish the Petersen Automotive Museum as an independent nonprofit organization. Overall, their gifts to the Petersen Automotive Museum total over $30 million, one of the largest gifts to any museum in the United States.
 
The Petersen Automotive Museum, recognized internationally for its innovative design, is dedicated to the interpretive study of the automobile and its influence on our culture and lives. Encompassing more than 300,000 square feet, its exhibits and lifelike dioramas feature more than 150 rare and classic cars, trucks and motorcycles.
Covering four floors, the facility features permanent exhibits on the first floor that trace the history of the automobile. Visitors are invited to walk through, not by, exhibits and dioramas and experience settings of early Los Angeles where the world's first shopping district was designed.
The second floor is composed of five large changing exhibition galleries with state-of-the-art displays of race cars, classic cars, vintage motorcycles, concept cars, celebrity and movie cars, and automotive design and technology.

The May Family Children's Discovery Center is located on the third floor. Designed to spark interest in science by way of the automobile, the 6,500 square-foot, interactive 'hands-on' learning center teaches children basic scientific principles by explaining the fundamental functions of a car.

A spectacular all-glass penthouse conference center, Founder's Lounge and kitchen, comprise the fourth floor, which is available for special events and functions.