Petersen Automotive Museum's New Exhibit Traces 70 Years of 'World's Fastest' Production CarsLos Angeles' Petersen Automotive Museum has a new reason to visit this summer. Opening July 18 on the second floor, World's Fastest: A Timeline of Record-Setting Automobiles walks visitors through nearly 70 years of production cars that, at one point or another, held the outright title of quickest car money could buy.The exhibit runs through August 22, 2027, and is included with standard museum admission. Rather than focusing on brand-new machines the way the museum's recent Hypercars Exhibit did, this show digs into the decades leading up to today, tracing how each speed record reshaped the industry that followed it.Six cars anchor the timeline, and each one marked a turning point in postwar performance. The 1950 Jaguar XK120 kicks things off as the car that first proved a production model could clear 120 mph, a benchmark that helped kickstart the sports car boom the museum credits with shaping enthusiast culture as we know it. Anyone curious what condition these hold up in today can look at this 1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster.AdvertisementAdvertisementFrom there, the exhibit jumps to the 1966 Iso Grifo, a low-slung Italian GT that quietly out-ran better-known rivals of its era despite never building the same following as Ferrari or Lamborghini. We've covered why the Iso Grifo remains one of the most overlooked GTs of its generation.Next up is the 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400, widely credited as the car that invented the modern supercar layout, followed by the 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, whose claim to the title arrived just as Ferrari and Lamborghini were locked in a very public rivalry for bragging rights. Recent examples of both cars continue to command attention, like this 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400SV that took Best in Show honors, and this Ferrari 365 GTB Daytona Berlinetta.The timeline then leaps ahead to the 1989 RUF CTR, nicknamed "Yellowbird," a heavily reworked Porsche 911 that stunned the industry by out-running every factory supercar of its day, a reputation that still drives huge money at auction. The chronology closes with the 2010 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, which pushed production car top speed past 267 mph and held the crown for years afterward.Each car on display is framed less as a record-book footnote and more as a milestone in how aerodynamics, materials, and powertrain design evolved over time. It's a pursuit that hasn't slowed down, either, as manufacturers keep chasing new numbers, whether that's a modern hypercar clawing back the crown or something like the Corvette ZR1 setting a fresh benchmark. For those in Southern California, World's Fastest opens July 18 on the museum's second floor and runs through August 22, 2027, included with regular admission. It's also worth carving out time for the museum's Vault, which hides some of the world's rarest cars.⚡️ Read the full article on MotoriousSign up for the Motorious Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
