Visitors to the Los Angeles Auto Show got a sneak peak at a new exhibit that will be available at the Petersen Automotive Museum until next fall. “An American Supercar” uses Microsoft’s HoloLens technology to provide an “augmented reality experience” that takes visitors inside the new Ford GT.
“Our compelling new HoloLens experience will be a wonderful addition to the museum, as we set out to include more interactive displays to enhance our storytelling capabilities,” Terry Karges, the museum’s executive director, said in a news release.
At the exhibit, visitors will wear a device that allows them to see overlaying holographic imagery designed to blend “the real with the virtual” during four-minute demonstration that includes an actual 1967 Ford GT40 Mark III and a 2017 Ford GT.
“The unique mixed reality experience will offer a true-to-life account of how the two cars are historically linked and what makes each remarkable,” the museum said in its news release.
Petersen presents its first ‘Pete Award’
For his “revolutionary contributions to automobile manufacturing,” Kevin Czinger of Divergent 3D has received the first “Pete Award” from the Petersen Automotive Museum. The presentation was made during the recent Cities in Motion Leadership Conference in Los Angeles.
As Divergent 3D’s founder, lead inventor, and CEO, Czinger has transformed car manufacturing, creating a new production system that incorporates 3D metal printing,” the museum said in its news release.
“Realizing that manufacturing presents a bigger economic and environmental threat than car fueling, Czinger patented his production platform to radically reduce the materials, energy, and capital needed to build a car. The manufacturing system was named Frost & Sullivan’s ‘2016 Technology Innovation of the Year’ and a Google Solve for X ‘Moonshot’ for its disruptive impact on global transportation.”
The Petersen was part of the conference staged “to stimulate an essential dialogue about the future of transportation” among international policymakers, industry and others about how urban mobility “is set to transform every city in the world.”
Corvette Hall of Fame Class of 2018
The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has announced the newest inductees into its Corvette Hall of Fame. To be honored at the 21st annual induction ceremony, scheduled during the museum’s 24th anniversary conference August 30-September 1, 2018, are:
John and Burt Greenwood — With John as the driver and Burt as the rules-bending aerodynamicist, the Greenwood’s star-spangled Corvettes were dominating cars in sports car racing.
Tom Wallace — Like Zora Arkus-Duntov, Wallace was both a Corvette chief engineer and a race car driver. As chief engineer, he led the team that produced the 2009 ZR1.
Mike Yager — Yager was 20 when he bought his first Corvette. Since there was no local Corvette club, he started one. When he discovered there was no place to purchased Corvette merchandise, he launched Mid America Motorworks, which annually hosts thousands of Corvette owners at its Corvette Funfest in Effingham, Illinois.
Engine builds resuming at Corvette museum
The Engine Build Program resumes in January for those buying Z06 cars and in February for the ZR1, the National Corvette Museum has announced. The cost is $5,000 and can be ordered through Corvette dealers.
The program includes a full day (5:45 a.m. until 3 p.m.) at the assembly plant with an engine assembly technician who instructs and overseas your hands-on engine build (which concludes with a cold test of the engine), a personalized engine plaque, professional photography of the build, a piston trophy commemorating the experience and a shirt and cap.
After the build, the engine goes the vehicle assembly area to be installed in your car.
The museum also is accepting registrations for its “Springtime in the Dells” Museum in Motion tour scheduled for May 20-24 in the Wisconsin Dells. For details, visit the museum’s website.
70th anniversary has been good for Ferrari museums
Throughout 2017, Ferrari has been celebrating its 70th anniversary as an automaker and the Ferrari Museums have benefited with yearly attendance already setting a record by the end of November. For the first 11 months of the year, more than half-a-million people visited the museums in Modena or Maranello. The previous attendance record was 478,000 for all of 2016.
Stahl’s sets December schedule
Except for its “Back to the Basics Christmas party” December 20, Stahl’s Auto Collection, located in Clinton Township near Detroit, will be open only from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on December 12 and 19 for the rest of this month before reopening January 2. The Back to Basics event is an old-fashioned pot luck with the museum providing pizza, salad and soda with visitors paying $15 and brining dessert to share.
Special events this weekend
Santa will swap his sleigh for a 1906 Cadillac Model K Tulip touring car Saturday and Sunday at the LeMay-America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, where children can get their photos taken and receive a free slot car voucher for the museum’s Speed Zone. Visitors to the museum who bring an unwrapped new toy, book or board game to donate to children of military families between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily in December will receive $2 off the museum’s admission price.
There’s a similar deal at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, which is collecting toys for Shriners Hospital of Philadelphia. Take one to the museum and get $2 off the admission price through December 18.
Mark your calendar
December 14 is racing night at LeMay-America’s Car Museum where the Speed Zone racing simulators will be linked to provide racing experience against other competitors.
The Kansas City Automotive Museum hosts a “Breakfast with Santa” from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. during its Cars & Coffee event December 16.
America on Wheels museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, stages its “Ice Cream with Santa” event December 17 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
