Terry Karges to replace Buddy Pepp as executive director of the Petersen Museum

Terry Karges will take over as executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, replacing Buddy Pepp, who is retiring after more than two years on the job. Karges brings four decades of automotive, entertainment and motorsports management experience to the Petersen. According to Steven E. Young, chairman of the Petersen Museum board, Karges is known as an innovative leader with a keen ability to merge cutting-edge marketing tactics.

“Terry is a very well-qualified businessman with a strong management background that the board of directors feels will do a terrific job as the Petersen Automotive Museum executive director,” Young said. “In addition to being a Southern California native familiar with our unique car culture, Terry also has valuable experience leading sales and marketing operations for major California theme parks, which makes him the best candidate to lead the museum in unique and exciting ways.”

Terry Karges

“The board acknowledges that Buddy Pepp will be a hard act to follow, and his infectious enthusiasm for the Petersen Automotive Museum will be sorely missed by all that had the opportunity to work with him. Buddy committed his heart and soul to the well-being of the museum, and we can't thank him enough for his work and achievements on behalf of the institution that we all love so much,” Young said.

“It's time to leave. I've put 150 percent into the Petersen for the past 26 months,” said Pepp, 71. “I have six grandchildren who live 400 miles away. I've got six collector cars that need my attention. I've got a golf game that I love and would like to play more. And I need to go the gym more.

“The Petersen is an incredible institution. Attendance is way up; store sales are up; our special events are up; everything is up double digits. I am absolutely leaving on a good note. But I must say, what I am going to miss the most is the staff. These are the most talented group of professionals I've ever had the chance to work with.

“This is an incredible institution and it will continue to great things,” he said.

Buddy Pepp.

Karges comes to the Petersen from Venchurs Inc., where he was vice president of sales and marketing for the Michigan-based OEM supplier. As the former vice president of sales and marketing for Roush Performance, Karges helped grow the company into the largest specialty high-performance car brand in the world. As owner of Karges Sport, he was involved in motorsports marketing and ran his own team. Karges also previously held marketing management positions at Disneyland, SeaWorld and Marine World.

“As a lifelong automotive design enthusiast and someone who spent his formative years at tracks like Riverside and Laguna Seca, the opportunity to take the reins at the Petersen—arguably one of the premier automotive museums in the world—is a humbling and thrilling prospect,” Karges said. “I look forward to working with the museum's incredibly talented staff of curators, historians and restoration experts, as well as with the knowledgeable and enthusiastic board, to come up with innovative and interactive ways to share Robert E. Petersen's legacy and world's love affair with the automobile.”

Karges will begin representing the Petersen Automotive Museum during the Monterey, Calif., auto week in August.

By Roger Hart