Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum Explained

Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum
Map Type:USA Pennsylvania#USA
Map Size:250
Coordinates:39.9109°N -75.2266°W
Location:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Type:Automobile museum
Key Holdings:1964 Shelby Daytona Coupe
1966 Ford GT40 Mk II
1970 Porsche 917LH
1936 Bugatti Type 57G Tank
1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B MM
1958 Aston Martin DBR1
1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
1956 Jaguar D-Type
1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza
Collection Size:70+ cars
Founder:Frederick A. Simeone
Curator:Kevin Kelly
Owner:Frederick A. Simeone MD Foundation, Inc.
Parking:On site (no charge)

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is an automotive museum located at 6825 Norwitch Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] The museum's collection consists of approximately 75 racing sports cars and has been assembled over more than 50 years by Frederick A. Simeone, a retired neurosurgeon and native of Philadelphia.Frederick Simeone has been ranked the #1 car collector by the Classic Car Trust Registry.[2]

History

Frederick Simeone's father was a general practitioner who ran his medical practice out of a rowhouse in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.[3] When his father died in 1972, Simeone was left with $8,000 and 4 cars which were stored in a garage on Clearfield Street.[4] [5] He grew this collection over the next four decades, and in 2008 he donated the entire collection of cars to the museum's foundation,[6] which now owns the titles to the cars.[5] From 1982 until the museum's opening in June 2008, the cars were stored in a garage near 8th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia.[5] [7] [8]

Dr. Simeone passed away at the age of 86 on June 11, 2022.

Criteria for inclusion

The museum has several criteria for inclusion into the collection:[9]

  1. The car must be a sports car with headlights and fenders.
  2. The car must have a history of road racing (not solely racing on a track).
  3. The car must be considered significant, or "winners" associated with superior racing performance.
  4. Important components, such as the chassis, engine, and body, must be original to the car.

Demonstration Days program

The museum conducts a Demonstration Days program twice per month, where several cars are moved to the 3-acre parking lot behind the museum. The program consists of a themed educational presentation followed by a driving demonstration where the cars are operated by the museum curator.[9] Upon conclusion of the Demonstration Days program, museum guests are permitted to inspect and photograph the cars.

Library

The museum has a library containing a collection of automotive literature, documents and sales brochures dating back to 1892.[10] The collection was formerly held in boxes in a building in Center City Philadelphia, and was moved into the museum's newly constructed library in 2013. Due to the fragility of the materials, the library and collection are not open to the public.[1]

Exhibits and collection

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum consists of 21 exhibits and 70 cars in the permanent collection. The cars are arranged chronologically and in diorama vignettes.[9] Several motor racing venues are represented as exhibits, including Le Mans, Nürburgring, Sebring, Bonneville, Watkins Glen, Brooklands, Mille Miglia and Targa Florio.[7] [11] [12] The museum's collection has been called "one of the finest collections of rare and important racing sports cars in the world".[4] Nearly every car in the collection has its original body.[13] Most of the cars are currently in drivable condition. The museum uses aviation gasoline in the car since it is more stable than regularly available gasoline, and it still contains some lead. Lead is essential as an anti-knock compound in order to operate these older engines.[14]

List of exhibits and cars:

Exhibit name Car(s) in exhibit
Endurance Trial
Pre World War I Racing
Automobile Racing Club of America
  • 1927 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model
  • 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS
Watkins Glen
Timed Trials
  • 1931 Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged Tourer
Hillclimb
Match Race
  • 1928 Stutz BB Black Hawk Speedster
Targa Florio
Mille Miglia
  • 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A
  • 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza
Rifornimento
Sporty Cars
History of NASCAR
Sebring
Rally Racing
Le Mans
America's 1st International Win
America at Le Mans
  • 1927 Stutz Black Hawk
  • 1929 Stutz Supercharged Le Mans
  • 1929 duPont Le Mans Speedster
  • 1966 Ford GT40 MK II
  • 1967 Ford MK IV
Winner's Circle
  • 1927 Mercedes Benz S-Type Sportwagen
  • 1936 Bugatti Type 57G Tank
  • 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B MM Spyder
  • 1952 Cunningham C-4R Roadster
  • 1958 Aston Martin DBR1

Publications

Awards won

Spirit of Competition Award

The "Spirit of Competition" is the theme of the museum and the title of an annual award given a person from the world of motorsports.[22]

Past recipients of the award include:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Davis. Kathleen. The Spirit of Competition Drives Simeone Museum to Recognition. The Hunt. 30 July 2012 . 8 March 2015. 2.
  2. Web site: Fritz . Kaiser . The 2019 Ranking of the top 100 classic car collectors . Classic Car Trust . Classic Car Trust . 7 August 2019.
  3. Web site: Carey. Art. Phila. car collector publishes book. Philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 8 March 2015. 4.
  4. Web site: Carey. Art. Here's art at its raciest. Philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 8 March 2015. 3.
  5. Web site: Kenny. William. Kenzo native's museum displays his need for speed. www.bsmphilly.com. Northeast Times. 7 March 2015. 8.
  6. News: Osborne. Donald. Bringing Life to Museums' Collections. The New York Times. 22 November 2013 . 7 March 2015. 11.
  7. Web site: Matheson. Kathy. Philly race car museum is pit stop for auto fans. USAtoday.com. USA Today. 9 March 2015. 23.
  8. Web site: Van Allen. Peter. The vaunted car museum you've never heard of (photo gallery) (Video). www.bizjournals.com. Philadelphia Business Journal. 7 March 2015. 16.
  9. Web site: Bingaman. Brian. Philadelphia's Simeone Museum celebrates auto racing history and competition. www.thereporteronline.com. August 2014 . The Reporter Pennsylvania. 7 March 2015. 10.
  10. Web site: Strauss. Robert. Dr. Frederick Simeone's Most Coveted Cars. Phillystylemag.com. Philadelphia Style. 8 March 2015. 5.
  11. Web site: Ewing. Steven J.. Autoblog tours the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia. Autoblog.com. Autoblog. 9 March 2015. 21.
  12. Web site: Racing car museum opens in Philadelphia. usatoday.com. USA Today. 9 March 2015. 22.
  13. Web site: Donnelly. Jim. Doctor of Correctness. Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car. 8 March 2015. 1.
  14. News: Caldwell. Dave. Museum's Gems Go for a Spin. The New York Times. 19 November 2009 . 7 March 2015. 9.
  15. News: Robinson. Aaron. To Preserve and Protest. The New York Times. 15 August 2014 . 8 March 2015. 17.
  16. Web site: Fritz . Kaiser . Founder . The Classic Car Trust . The Classic Car Trust.
  17. Web site: 2017 Winners . www.historicmotoringawards.co.uk . Historic Motoring Awards.
  18. Web site: Edsall. Larry. Another accolade for Simeone museum's Daytona coupe. Classiccars.com. 8 March 2015. 7.
  19. News: Preston. Benjamin. Shelby Cobra Coupe Becomes the First Federally Registered Historic Car. The New York Times. 11 February 2014 . 7 March 2015. 15.
  20. Web site: Previous winners. historicmotoringawards.com. Octane Magazine. 8 March 2015. 6.
  21. Web site: Simeone Foundation Named Automotive Museum of the Year. The New York Times. 17 November 2011 . 7 March 2015. 13.
  22. Web site: Scanlan. Dan. Shifting Gears: Weekly digest of news and notes. Jacksonville.com. The Florida Times-Union. 9 March 2015. 19.
  23. Web site: Lingeman. Jake. Spirit of Competition award given to Sam Posey by Simeone Museum. Autoweek.com. 24 October 2012 . Autoweek. 9 March 2015. 20.
  24. Web site: Donnelly. Jim. Bobby Rahal to receive Simeone Spirit of Competition Award. blog.hemmings.com. Hemmings Motor News. 9 March 2015. 18.
  25. Web site: Donnelly. Jim. David Hobbs to be honored with Simeone Foundation's "Spirit of Competition" award. Hemmings Daily. American City Business Journals. 13 November 2016.
  26. Web site: Strohl. Daniel. Peter Brock to receive Simeone's Spirit of Competition Award. Hemmings Daily. American City Business Journals. 13 November 2016.
  27. Web site: Derek Bell honored with 2017 Simeone Spirit of Competition Award. www.hemmings.com. 2018-10-17.
  28. Web site: 2018 Spirit of Competition Award. www.simeonemuseum.org. 2018-10-17.

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