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Leslie Kendall is the Curator at the Petersen Automotive Museum. He was born in San Diego, California and has had an insatiable interest in automobiles and automotive history from an early age. After earning his MBA he entered mortgage banking, but left the lending profession after just seven years to volunteer full-time at the San Diego Automotive Museum where he was hired to be the curator after only eight months. He was invited to join the team responsible for creating the Petersen Automotive Museum in April 1993 and in October 1995 was named curator. He is a regular contributor to automotive media outlets (both print and broadcast), a concours d’elegance judge at events around the country, and frequently consults on automotive history related, public- and private-sector projects.
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Leslie is re-facing his biggest challenge that happened over 20 years ago when the Petersen Museum was first built. Now it being re-built and reborn and once again, Leslie is in the thick of things.
AH-HA MOMENTS
After creating an exhibition at the Petersen Museum called Vacationland USA, Southern California, Leslie discovered that it was more than simply the cars that people wanted to experience.
FIRST SPECIAL CAR
A 1965 Ford Falcon
BEST AUTOMOTIVE ADVICE
Buy what you like.
FAVORITE BOOKS
Buaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile – Nick Georgano
FAVORITE RESOURCE
Having a good comprehensive automotive library.
PARTING ADVICE
Do whatever you do but do it with passion and do it with honor.
HOW TO FIND LESLIE
The Petersen – www.petersen.org
Facebook – www.facebook.com/PetersenMuseum
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Hello
My name is Ashley Song and I am doing a math project concerning the dimensions of this car, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me the radius of the car as well as the height of both the car itself and of the door. If you could get back to me ASAP that would be wonderful as the deadline is quickly approaching.
Thank you
Ashley Song
I’ll forward your request to Leslie at The Petersen Museum.
Hi this is Ashley Song again
Forgot to mention the car I am looking at is a 1925 Rolls Royce Jonckheere Coupe with the circle doors. Thank you!
Hi Mr.Kendall
I had first met you when I visited the museum some years ago where my grandfather’s round door Rolls Royce is now housed .my grandfather was the Raja of Nanpara ,a state in India in the time of British rule .If you remember I’d shown you photographs of tiger shoots that my grandfather organized and took part in .I recently saw die-cast models of the car on the website that I wanted to purchase for sentimental reasons .However they’re all sold out and not available. I wanted to present one to my grandson on his upcoming birthday in November. I’d like to kindly request you to use your contacts and influence to procure the same for me .I’d like to buy at least six of them .Your kind cooperation will be highly appreciated .
Sincerely yours
Yasmeen Khan
4506 Saint Andrews Drive
Chino Hills CA91709
Phone :909 631 6340
Hello Yasmeen –
I will forward your message to Leslie.
Hello, Mr. Kendall!
I hope this email finds you well in the early days of this wonderful new year! My name is Hunter, and I am a freshman political science student. Several months ago, I had the pleasure of watching a delightful documentary called “The Lady and the Dale”, where – with the help of excellent sources of knowledge such as yourself – someone who I consider the most fascinating person in history was examined. Her name was Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael. In her, if I may be so presumptuous, I detect a kindred spirit and source of inspiration. The final episode left me awe-struck and dying for more information about this person whose renegade mentality was almost as powerful as her heroic actions over the course of a seven-decade life. This desire for more information led me to an interview of Nick Cammileri, the brilliant and talented producer of the documentary who referenced a 60 minute interview of Mrs. Carmichael in which she discusses her outlook on things and various other topics. This was very exciting to hear, not only because I had a preexisting interest in this character – but also due to the fact that I am in the process of planning a project for my Intro to Psychology class. The assignment has very broad directions since it’s early in the semester. We are supposed to find people who we find interesting and write a lengthy essay on their psychology. With Mr. Cammileri’s interview and the documentary in mind, I thought “Who better to focus on other than Liz Carmichael?!” I wanted to know if you would be so gracious as to allow me access to that interview and perhaps even answer a few questions of my own. I know it’s a big ask and I’m not entitled to anything pertaining to this person, but in the interest of my work and personal desire to learn as much as I can about Liz – I would love to see if I can listen to and/or see this tape and be further informed on Mrs. Carmichael’s life. I think that to expose my classmates to the philosophy of Liz Carmichael would be a service to the world. Moreover, I think my life would be enriched by being allowed access to it – if I may be so selfish. Let me know what you think!
P.S.: I’ve sent two separate emails to you with similar requests, for more details be sure to refer to those.
Thank you