The Honorable Michael A. Nutter, mayor of the City of Philadelphia, will be dedicating the new Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – containing a collection 
of some of the rarest and most significant racing sports cars in the world – on November 12, 2008, from 6PM to 9PM. In addition to the dedication, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum will also be presenting its first annual “Spirit of Competition” award to Mario Andretti, considered by many to be the greatest racecar driver of all time.
The event is open to the public and tickets, which cost $175 per person, are available at the door or by calling (215) 365-7233. The Museum is located at 6825-31 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia. Pa., 19153.
“We are honored to have Mayor Nutter dedicating this new addition to the Philadelphia museum community,” said Dr. Frederick Simeone, who acquired the sixty-plus cars in the Museum over a half century of collecting. “Plus, having Mario Andretti here to receive our first award will make this evening very special.”
The Simeone Foundation Museum, which has been open to the public since June, 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 Philadelphia’s 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.”
Mario Andretti is often referred to as the greatest racecar driver of all time, having proven himself a winner at all levels of competition. Born in Italy, he came to America at an early age where he and his twin brother Aldo made a name for themselves on Pennsylvania dirt tracks. Since then he has won almost every type of race there is, and is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), the Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Drivers Championship (1978). Retiring after the 1994 racing season, Andretti continues to hold the all-time Indy car record for poles won (67), race starts (407), and laps led (7,587) and is second all-time in Indy car victories (52). In 2000, Andretti was named the “Driver of the Century” by both the Associated Press and Racer magazine.
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation whose mission is to educate the public on the beneficial effects of the “spirit of competition.” Encompassing many of the most significant racing sports cars ever built, the exhibition shows the dramatic technological evolution that has resulted from seven decades of competition, leading to better automotive design and safer 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 Museum’s Web site at: http://www.simeonemuseum.org. The Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students. Children under 8 are admitted free.
[Source: Simeone Foundation]
[...] admin wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptNutter, mayor of the City of Philadelphia, will be dedicating the new Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – containing a collection of some of the rarest and most significant racing sports cars in the world – on November 12, 2008, … [...]