The Petersen Museum salutes adventure with newest exhibit, “ADV: Overland”

12 July 2021

The newest exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum, titled “ADV: Overland” celebrates adventurous vehicles, both real and imagined. The 23-vehicle exhibit was co-produced by the Motorcycle Arts Foundation, so plenty of pioneering two- and three-wheelers are present, but the exhibit also includes some prominent exploring vehicles with four or more wheels. In that latter camp are models on loan from NASA’s nearby Jet Propulsion Laboratory of both Sojourner and Opportunity rovers, which landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, and January 25, 2004, respectively.

Exhibit curator Paul d’Orléans explains, “This exciting, first-ever collection of Round-the-World, overland racing, and off-world overland vehicles is the perfect pandemic escape hatch. Most of these extraordinary machines have never been publicly displayed and absolutely radiate the spirit of adventure; some even retain their original accessories, 90 years later. These are must-see vehicles, on display in the best motoring museum on the planet.”

This 1903 California motorcycle was the first motorized vehicle to travel coast-to-coast.

Harley-Davidson also helped put the exhibit together. A 2019 H-D Livewire from the Long Way Up television series is next to a 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America adventure bike and a 1962 Harley-Davidson Panhead Chopper that was ridden around the world by Doug Wothke.

Representing fictional space exploration are two vehicles from Lost in Space. A recreation of the tracked Chariot from the 1965 television show is parked back-to-back with its modern four-wheeled equivalent from the 2018 Netflix series of the same name.

Dave Ekins and his stuntman brother “Bud” helped popularize desert endurance racing in Baja California. This 1964 Honda CL72 Baja Scrambler is an homage to the motorcycle Dave rode on his first timed trip down the peninsula.

The exhibit includes plenty more vehicles; these are just a sampling of some of our favorites. To see this collection of go-anywhere vehicles,and the rest of the Petersen’s exciting exhibits, you must visit the Petersen Museum’s website and purchase tickets in advance.