Cape-up for Cosplay Day at the Petersen Automotive Museum

Fans are invited to dress as characters connected with the cinematic star cars on view.

What to Know

  • Saturday, Aug. 10
  • Miracle Mile
  • Included with museum admission

Is there a connection between your car and your cosplay look, the outfit you wore to Comic-Con International or WonderCon or another pop culture convention?

Probably, for the most part, no.

For while cars are often required to transport people to places where cosplay events are happening, and they need to be roomy enough to hold the more elaborate costume creations, cars and cosplay rarely find a middle ground of imagination and creativity.

But that is changing on Saturday, Aug. 10 when the Petersen Automotive Museum holds a Cosplay Day in celebration of its "Hollywood Dream Machines" exhibition, which is going on now through the middle of March 2020.

The subtitle of the show?

It's "Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy," and to say that some of the greatest cinematic cars from these imaginative genres are in it is quite the understatement.

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It's like saying that a V8 Interceptor is the same as a Landspeeder.

Which, of course you'd absolutely never do, because you know your movie cars as well as you know many movie characters.

And you also get that costuming is a major element in both sci-fi and fantasy films, making a Cosplay Day a perfect complementary event to the turbo-charged exhibit.

What costumes might you see there?

Batman, surely, as there's are some excellent Batmobiles in the exhibit and from different eras, no less.

Fans portraying Mad Max, we've got to guess, will be around, as two souped-up dystopian rides, including Max's wheels, are part of the scene.

And is Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder in the house? You bet, so best don your Tatooine togs pronto, if you love "Star Wars: A New Hope" the most.

"Blade Runner," "Back to the Future," and "RoboCop" all have a presence in the Miracle Mile museum, as do other classic flicks from the worlds of fantasy and science fiction.

So, yep: There may be a Doc Brown or two roaming around the exhibit space, and maybe a few replicants, too.

Good to know? There are costume guidelines, so read all before you head out.

How to join this unusual meet-up of cosplay and cars? Your museum admission is all that's required. 

A Pop-Up Gallery and Cosplay Academy are also on the vroom-vroom roster.

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