Petersen Museum Pays Homage to ‘Power and Prestige’ of Aston Martin

By Brett Foote - October 28, 2025

‘Performance and Prestige: A History of Aston Martin’ takes us on a journey through the evolution of some rather iconic automotive designs.

The ever-rotating display of rare, interesting, and historically notable vehicles at the Petersen Automotive Museum gives us valid reasons to keep going back to that magical place, week after week, and month after month. For automotive enthusiasts, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, especially for those lucky enough to live in or within a reasonable distance of Southern California. The latest of these amazing exhibits is specifically designed for Aston Martin fans – officially dubbed “Performance and Prestige: A History of Aston Martin.”

It may seem a bit hard to believe, but Aston Martin has existed since 1913 as the manufacturer of fine British sports cars and grand touring machines, many of which are heralded as the most beautiful such creations in existence. Aston Martin truly rose to fame in the 1960s after a DB5 appeared in the James Bond film Goldfinger – after which the brand became synonymous with that movie series – but it has also supplied vehicles to literal royalty as well, all while enjoying plenty of motorsports success, to boot.

All of that history is summed up quite nicely in Performance and Prestige, via more than a dozen cool machines parked in the Meyers Gallery portion of the Petersen Automotive Museum. It’s the very first Aston Martin specific exhibit to ever grace the museum, notably, and is designed to document the brand’s styling evolution from post-war racing prototypes to contemporary hypercars of the more modern era.

The exhibit contains early models like the 1949 DB2 Prototype, which introduced aerodynamic lines at a time when such things were in their early stages of development, along with the 1961 DB4GT Zagato, which was conceived alongside that notable coach builder, taking a more minimalist approach. Then there are experimental rides like the 1979 Bulldog, a unique wedge-shaped concept, capped off with the 2015 Vulcan and 2021 Valkyrie Spider, ushering in the modern era of Aston Martin design language.

Front and center, one will find the AMR23 race car, which marked the brand’s return to Formula 1 racing and features stunning matte reflective green paint, making it seem as if the racer is moving – even when it’s sitting stationary.

Performance and Prestige: A History of Aston Martin will open to the public at the Petersen Automotive Museum on October 30, 2025, and will remain on display through October 2026. You can find more information on the Petersen’s latest must-see exhibit by heading over here.