Petersen Museum’s Good Recent Ken Block Exhibit Helped Me Grieve The Passing Of A Childhood Hero

The tragic passing of American rally legend, vehicular Gymkhana innovator, Hoonigan founder and DC Shoe co-founder Ken Block in early 2023 devastated automobile enthusiasts. Block and his series of Gymkhana videos brought the thrill of motorsport to an audience of over half a billion people all over the world, including this humble author. Born in my hometown of Long Beach, California, Block’s jovial, unpretentious attitude and fervour for motorsports resonated with me as an already car-obsessed early adolescent. The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California has a brand new exhibit dedicated to his myriad contributions, called “People’s Champ: The Impact Of Ken Block.” Open from now through October, it is a fitting ode to the motorsports legend. I expected the exhibit to be impressive, but I didn’t expect it to assist me process and grieve the passing of Block, one in all my childhood heroes.

The Petersen is widely thought to be one in all the best automotive museums on the earth, but the present choice of exhibits could be essentially the most compelling I’ve ever seen there. The Ken Block exhibit is housed on the museum’s second floor within the Meyer Family Gallery, but crossing the edge feels entirely transformative. If you enter the gallery, you get the identical feeling that you just do while you pass from Frontierland into Star Wars land at Disneyland California; you walk through the doorway and it’s as if you have entered the Ken Block dimension, where nothing else on the earth exists or matters.

Three of his race suits stand tall on display as his affable voice plays over the speakers in the shape of interviews and other sound bites. The interviews are broken up by the sound of Block vaporizing tires and turning fuel into noise as clips of his famous Gymkhana videos play on massive screens. Eight of the monumental vehicles that acted as his chariots of vehicular badassery in numerous eras of his profession sit silently atop plinths, as if paying respects to their fallen champion.

Certainly one of my favorite things about Block was his openness to different marques. Many automobile guys have a firm allegiance to 1 or two brands, but this exhibit alone include Fords, Subarus, Porsches, and Audis. From the 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI that starred within the very first Gymkhana to the Hoonipigasus Porsche 911 SVRSR that was built for the 2022 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Block’s noble chariots stand proudly on display. Various pieces of memorabilia are encased in school along the perimeter of the exhibit, and a comprehensive timeline of his storied profession occupies a whole wall. The floorplan is peppered with cars, including his 1965 Hoonicorn Ford Mustang, 1994 Ford Escort RS Cosworth, 1986 Ford RS200 Evolution, 2016 Ford Focus RS RX, 2022 Audi S1 E-Tron Hoonitron, 1977 Ford F-150 Hoonitruck, and my personal favorite, the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI featured in Gymkhana Two.

As I sit on the bench facing the “Ain’t Care” wall of shrapnel that also vaguely resemble the automobile parts they were before Block pushed them to their limit, it finally sits in. Block’s voice comes across the gallery speakers, chills make their way across my skin, and I begin to feel a lump in my throat; this man who brought joy, excitement, and inspiration to me and tens of millions of other automobile nerds across the globe really has passed. I used to be fortunate enough to share spaces with Ken a pair times in my life, and though I never personally knew him, I felt intrinsically connected to him. I used to be 12 when the primary Gymkhana video made waves on YouTube, and as an enormous gawky pubescent automobile nerd it gave me hope. It inspired me to own my inexplicable infatuation with the car, and almost made it cool. This exhibit gives closure to those that have a private connection to the cultural contributions of the late, great Ken Block, and offers the following generation a probability to find out about and witness why he was such an impactful figure.

Together with “People’s Champ,” The Petersen has several other sensible and enthralling exhibits on display immediately including “Best In Low: Lowrider Icons of the Street and Show,” “Cars are Beautiful: Mr. Brainwash @ The Petersen,” and “Modern Concepts: Future Visions from the Recent Past.” Each of those exhibits are beautifully curated and contain sensible artwork and naturally, unique, rare, and tantalizing cars. A docent told me that the present array of exhibits has drawn in a remarkably diverse crowd of automobile fans, including folks who would not normally feel at home in a museum, and I imagine it. I implore anyone within the LA area to pay the museum a visit. There will probably be a cruise-in event on Saturday, April 5 and other events throughout the week that features 4/3, National Ken Block Day. Visit the Petersen Automotive Museum website to learn more about ticket prices and hours.