Petersen Museum’s Driven to Win Spotlights 11 Cars Spanning a Century of Racing

In its latest exhibit, Driven to Win, the Petersen Automotive Museum has gathered 11 significant cars incorporating groundbreaking designs and innovations. The cars run the gamut from F1 to NASCAR and range from 60 to several thousand horsepower.

One of the innovative cars on display in Driven to Win is the 1957 Teverbaugh & Kirkland Bonneville Special, a tube-chassis land speed racer equipped with a Mercury Y-Block V-8. It was the first land-speed car to be equipped with a parachute, a safety device now required for all SCTA competitors attempting records above 175mph.

They may have controversial styling, but you can't argue that Mopar engineers didn't know what they were doing when they sculpted the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and 1970 Plymouth Superbird to cheat the wind. Buddy Baker, the first NASCAR driver to run more than 200mph, did so in a Dodge Charger, but not this one. Baker would drive this car in 1969 and 1970 NASCAR season. Mopar's dominant wing cars were such a force on superspeedway tracks that NASCAR tried to get rid of them, limiting the displacement of aerodynamic models to 5.0 liters starting with the 1971 season.

Driven to Win is currently open to the public and is located in the museum's Nearburg Gallery on the second floor. As always, we highly recommend visiting the Petersen if you find yourself anywhere near Los Angeles. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Petersen.org/Tickets.