Peter Mullin, the founder of the Mullin Automotive Museum, passed away in September 2023 in Los Angeles. The museum he founded together with his wife over a decade ago will close down forever on Saturday, February 10.
For almost 14 years, the museum dedicated to Art Deco design kept its doors wide open to guests curious to see the extensive automobile collection, as well as art and furniture with their own eyes.
Peter W. Mullin and his wife Merle founded the museum in 2010 with a sole purpose: to educate those coming in about 20th-century French automotive and design. Most esteemed French master coachbuilders had representatives in the gallery.
The place houses coach-built coupes, racing cars, some of which are Le Mans winners, and touring cars coming from Talbot-Lago, Delahaye, Bugatti, and many others. Most of the automobiles in the automotive museum are from Peter Mullin’s personal collection, while some are on loan from various collectors who wanted theirs on display.
One of Peter Mullin’s cars, a stunning 1935 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne, was a Best of Show winner at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The location covers nearly 47,000 square meters of exhibit space in a building that was previously owned by legendary newspaper publisher Otis Chandler. It also includes a rooftop garden, a theatre, a gift shop, and archival storage.
From now on until February 10, the exhibition will be open on a limited basis, until it closes down forever. To keep the legend alive, four of the most iconic vehicles in the collection have been donated to the Petersen Automotive Museum.
The 1937 Talbot-Lago T150 CS “Teardrop,” the 1938 Hispano Suiza Dubonnet, the 1939 Delahaye 165, and the 1938 Delahaye 145 will move south from Oxnard to Los Angeles. Muslin was a founding board member of the Petersen Automotive Museum and one of those who completely transformed the look of the building eight years ago.
Therefore, the relocation of the four cars makes sense. Furthermore, many of the cars in the Mullin Automotive Museum have been exhibited there before over the years.
Merle Mullin, director of the Mullin Automotive Museum, says that she hopes that past and first-time visitors will have a chance to say goodbye before the museum closes for good. He also wishes to thank those who stood by the venue, especially for the past months, despite the financial problems.
Those interested in dropping by must know that they can purchase tickets in advance on the museum website, which also lists the opening dates and hours. It costs $16 for adults and $10 for children. For automotive enthusiasts who live too far away from Oxnard, the Mullin Automotive Museum’s official social media pages show photos and videos of the cars on display.