How I Made It: Buddy Pepp, head of the Petersen Automotive Museum

The gig: Executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Mid-Wilshire. Generally regarded as one of the top automotive museums in the United States, the institution weaves the history of car crazy Southern California into its exhibits.

Personal life: Married to his wife of 47 years, Arline Pepp. Three daughters, two sons-in-law and six grandchildren.

The path: Pepp, 70, headed several manufacturing companies and says he never imagined his career would land him in the top spot of a nonprofit museum.

“But I have always been passionate about cars, and this is a business. We have annual revenue of $5 million, a payroll of 55 employees and bills to pay,” Pepp said.

Childhood: “My youth was spent playing with automobiles in the lube rack and islands” of a Union Oil gas station near the Beverly Hills home where he was raised. “In those days there was such a thing as a ‘service station’ where you would pump the gas, clean the windshield, check the oil and fill the tires with air.”

Career: After graduating from Menlo College in Menlo Park, Calif., Pepp joined his family’s company, National Fire Hose Corp., in Compton as a mechanic and worked his way up to president. It was sold in 1990. Later he was involved with a company in Gardena that manufactured bumpers, fenders and protective equipment for pleasure boats. It sold in 2000. Pepp also started Titan Industries, a rubber hosing company in Southgate sold to industrial giant Parker Hannifin in 2008.

Museum days: After a brief retirement, Pepp was offered the post at the Petersen in June of last year. He had been a member of a major support group, the Checkered Flag 200, since its founding in 1994, had executive experience and was known to the board of directors.

“I always thought that I would be in an entrepreneurial money-making enterprise,” he said, “but this is the most emotionally rewarding experience I have had.”

Pepp said the job is unique. He gets to apply business skills learned from operating profitable companies to running an institution dedicated to educating people about cars — which are his great “hobby.”

Favorite exhibit: “We scoured the globe and brought together a collection of travel trailers that were unusual and nostalgic,” Pepp said. The exhibit told a story about how families once traveled and spent their leisure time together. “It really represented another era,” he said.

Pepp said the job is so fulfilling that he doesn’t contemplate retiring as long as he remains in good health.

Personal collection: Pepp has 14 cars squirreled away in Southern California and in a garage in Northern California where his daughters and grandchildren live.

Main ride: Audi S4 sedan.

Favorite car: A red 1974 Iso Grifo two-door Italian coupe powered by a Ford 351 V8 Cleveland engine. “I have owned it since 1981. Mine was the last built to U.S. specifications and is 406 of the 412 manufactured,” he said. “I drive it once maybe every 60 days.”

Business wisdom: While building and selling several profitable manufacturing companies, Pepp said he learned that competing against larger entities and big companies is not difficult as long as “the industry is not extremely capital intensive.” Once companies have to pour large amounts of money into research and development, equipment and facilities, “the larger well-financed companies usually have the upper hand.”

But where that’s not the case, the smaller business can be far more nimble and can satisfy its customers more easily than a large organization. “Where their reaction time was three days, ours was 30 minutes,” he said.

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com