The Los Angeles-based Petersen Automotive Museum has announced a gift of approximately $100 million from Margie Petersen and the Margie and Robert E. Petersen Foundation.

The gift comprises a substantial, unrestricted financial gift, a matching challenge, the 300,000-square-foot building the museum has occupied since it opened in 1994, and a collection of cars assembled by the late Robert E. Petersen, who published Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines. His widow, Margie Petersen, said the gift will provide the museum with the resources it needs to continue to enhance its collection, curatorial expertise, and exhibitions.

Since 2005, the museum has funded transportation that enables approximately eight thousand K-12 students a year from the Los Angeles Unified School District to visit. Teachers use the trips to inspire students to think about science, art, design, engineering, fuel supply, transportation, and urban planning.

"I am fulfilling a vision that Mr. Petersen and I shared and planned to do someday," said Margie Petersen. "I am so happy that this day has come and that I can launch the museum into a new era of growth and expansion. While I expect the resources of the museum to be available to the world, this gift is especially designed to the benefit of the Los Angeles community where we made our lives together."