Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is an automotive museum located at 6825 Norwitch Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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.

History

Frederick Simeone's father was a general practitioner who ran his medical practice out of a rowhouse in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. When his father died in 1972, Simeone was left with $8,000 and 4 cars which were stored in a garage on Clearfield Street. He grew this collection over the next four decades, and in 2008 he donated the entire collection of cars to the museum's foundation, which now owns the titles to the cars. From 1982 until the museum's opening in June 2008, the cars were stored in a garage near 8th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia.
Dr. Simeone died at the age of 86 on June 11, 2022.

Criteria for inclusion

The museum has several criteria for inclusion into the collection:

The car must be a sports car with headlights and fenders.
The car must have a history of road racing.
The car must be considered significant, or "winners" associated with superior racing performance.
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. 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. 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.

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. Several motor racing venues are represented as exhibits, including Le Mans, Nürburgring, Sebring, Bonneville, Watkins Glen, Brooklands, Mille Miglia and Targa Florio. The museum's collection has been called "one of the finest collections of rare and important racing sports cars in the world". Nearly every car in the collection has its original body. 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.
List of exhibits and cars:

Exhibit name	Car in exhibit
Endurance Trial	1909 American Underslung Traveler
Pre World War I Racing	1912 National Model 40 Semi-Racing Roadster 1916 Stutz Series 4C Bearcat 1913 Mercer Raceabout Series 35J
Automobile Racing Club of America	1927 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS
Watkins Glen	1950 Allard J2 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
Bonneville Salt Flats	1937 Supercharged Cord 812 1954 Austin-Healey 100-4 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
Brooklands Track	1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Mille Miglia Spyder 1925 Alfa Romeo RLSS
Timed Trials	1931 Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged Tourer
Hillclimb	1921 Vauxhall 30/98E Velox Tourer
Nürburgring	1937 BMW 328 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe
Match Race	1928 Stutz BB Black Hawk Speedster
Targa Florio	1926 Bugatti Type 35 1975 Alfa Romeo 33 TT 12
Mille Miglia	1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza
Rifornimento	1924 Lancia Lambda Third Series Tourer
Sporty Cars	1912 Hudson Mile-a-Minute Roadster 1916 Oakland Speedster 1922 Paige 6-66 Daytona Speedster 1926 Kissel 8-75 Speedster 1929 duPont Model G Speedster 1928 Auburn 8-88 Boat Tail Speedster 1933 Auburn V12 12-165 Speedster 1935 Auburn 851 Boat Tail Speedster 1933 Squire Roadster 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Brixia 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Replica Body 1966 Chevrolet Corvette 427 Roadster 1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo
History of NASCAR	1938 Ford Coupe Louise Smith Replica 1953 Hudson Hornet Twin H-Power 1970 Plymouth Superbird 1998 Ford Thunderbird NASCAR 2002 NASCAR Dyno Mule
Sebring	1953 Jaguar C-Type 1956 Jaguar D-Type
Rally Racing	1938 Jaguar SS-100 3.5L 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupe
Le Mans	1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans 1934 MG K3 Magnette 1936 Aston Martin LeMans 1938 Peugeot 402 Darl'Mat Racer 1936/48 Delahaye 135S 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Spyder 1956 Maserati 300S 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Interim Berlinetta 1970 Porsche 917 LH
America's 1st International Win	1921 Duesenberg 183 Grand Prix Race Car
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

The Spirit of Competition - Coachbuilt Press, 2009

The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles - Coachbuilt Press, 2012

Awards won

2019 #1 Ranking of the Top 100 Classic Car Collectors

2017 International Historic Motoring Awards "Museum or Collection of the Year"

2014 International Historic Motoring Awards "Car of the Year" - 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

2014 Historic Vehicle Association: 1st automobile added to National Historic Vehicle Register - 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

2012 International Historic Motoring Awards "Publication of the Year" - The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles

2011 International Historic Motoring Awards "Museum of the Year"

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.
Past recipients of the award include: