7-12-08 Trip to Vintage car museum- Philly

[Mark Fox]

 Who is interested in going to the new vintage car museum opened by the Simeone foundation?   Maybe a quick stop at the Cracker Barrel in Plymouth meeting before heading down.

Motorsport Staff Vintage Motorsport Magazine   http://www.vintagemotorsport.com


06/17/2008 - 09:58 AM
Philadelphia, PA
 




The cars are displayed in dioramas that represent some of the famous race courses where they actually competed: Watkins Glen, Bonneville, Sebring, the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. (Photo: » More Photos
A museum containing a collection of some of the rarest and most significant racing sports cars in the world will open in Philadelphia on June 17, 2008. The Simeone Foundation Museum is the creation of neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Simeone, who began acquiring the cars in the collection five decades ago. Many of these cars are legendary for what they accomplished in racing history, said Simeone. We expect people from all over the world will come to see them. The cars are displayed in dioramas that represent some of the famous race courses where they actually competed: Watkins Glen, Bonneville, Sebring, the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. The Museum displays racing sports cars cars with fenders and headlights that could conceivably be driven on the street or in competition. Significant cars in the exhibit include the Hippie Porsche 917 (named for its psychedelic paint scheme), a 1958 Aston Martin DBR1 that Stirling Moss drove to victory, a Cobra Daytona Coupe that had been lost for 30 years until Simeone helped in its recovery, a Le Mans-winning Bugatti, and a 1938 Alfa Romeo, winner of the Mille Miglia. The museum is different from most other automotive collections in that the cars are used to tell a story that competition and racing improves the breed. Like Philadelphias famed Barnes Foundation collection of paintings, the Simeone Foundation exhibition is a personal collection, driven by a singular vision and specific ideas about how the collection should be arranged and exhibited. The central theme of the Simeone Foundation collection is the spirit of competition.


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There are few examples of the effects of competition as dramatic and beautiful as the evolution of the racing sports car, explains Simeone. Our collection begins with a car from 1909 and continues to the mid-1970s. You can see the remarkable technological improvements in the span of just seven decades that came from competition. The collection is housed in a 75,000 square foot building, five minutes off Interstate 95, an easy days drive for more than 20 percent of the nations population. Famous marques like Ferrari, Jaguar, Bentley, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and Porsche are some of the automobiles represented in the collection. Many important American race cars are also displayed, including historic NASCAR racers. The Simeone Foundation Museum is a 501c(3) non-profit dedicated to showcasing the spirit of competition as the stimulus to technological evolution in better and safer automotive design and driving techniques. The Museum is located at 6825-31 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia. Pa., 19153. For more information on the museum, call 215-365-SAFE (7233), or visit the Museums Web site at: http://www.simeonemuseum.org. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students. Children under 8 are admitted free. For more vintage news and events visit www.vintagemotorsport.com
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[RSAmerica1]

I'd be interested - sounds like a nice collection down there.

[Mark Fox]

  Nice collection of cars. Several pre WW I and II cars.  We had the entire place to ourselves.  I will later post some of the more interesting ones we saw. 

[Mark Fox]

 A must do stop. We had the entire place almost to our selves, there were 2 other people we saw and they were NJ PCA members. Favorite cars included the 1903 American Underslung,  1937 BMW 328 "all original and 1938 328 restored.  1926 Bugatti type 35, 1975 Alfa33 TT 12, 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa, 1958 Aston Martin DBR 1, 1933 Squire Roadster, 1956 Jaguar D-type, 1966 Ford GT-40 and the 19709 Porsche 917 LH.

It took me 5 minutes to get a shot of me with my 4 month old grandson because he wouldn't stop looking at the 917. hock: