Events

Demonstration Days

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is one of the few places where you can not only see rare and beautiful sports racing cars, you can see and hear them run!

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum will hold a series of “Demonstration Days,” at 12 Noon on the fourth Saturday of each month. Each Demonstration Day will have a theme and will feature two or more racing sports cars from the Museum’s collection.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 2010 DEMONSTRATION DAYS SCHEDULE.

Admission to the Demonstration Days, held on the three-acre lot in back of the Museum, is included as part of the regular admission price. The Museum is located at 6825 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia, Pa., 19153, directly in back of the Airport Automall and five minutes off Interstate 95.

Each Demo Day will start with Dr. Simeone and Museum Curator Kevin Kelly talking about the history and mechanics of each car. We’ll open up the hoods and let you see the engines. Then, we’ll drive the cars on our 3 acre lot in back of the Museum.

Note: All events are held on the 4th Saturday of each month at 12 Noon, weather permitting. Please check our Web site for any changes.

Cars and dates are subject to change.

Past Events

Janet Guthrie Receives Award From Simeone Museum

Over 125 attendees witnessed pioneering racecar driver Janet Guthrie - the first woman to compete at the Indianapolis 500 and in NASCAR - receive the second annual “Spirit Of Competition” Award from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, on December 2, 2009. Presenting the award was David Donohue, winner of this year’s Daytona 24-Hour endurance race, and son of the late Mark Donohue. Guthrie joins Mario Andretti, last year’s honoree, in being a “Spirit of Competition” Award recipient.

For more about this special night, click here.

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Record Crowd Sees “Peoples Choice” Cars Run

A crowd exceeding 400 had the opportunity to see some of the most famous American racing sports cars of November Demo the 1950s and 1960s run on our back lot on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 28th. The driving event featured our 1964 Cobra Daytona Coupe and the Ford GT40 MkII, the winners in our November “Election” for the cars people would most like to see (and hear!) run. Making an unannounced appearance was our 1953 Cunnningham C4R, the third-place vote getter.

The 1966 Ford GT40 MKII was one of the last of this model built and raced at the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race.

The Cobra Daytona Coupe is one of the rarest sports racing cars in the world. It is the first of the six Coupes to be built and was the first one to race, at the Daytona Continental, and the last to race, at Bonneville where it set 23 land speed records.

The Cunningham was one of the most dominate racing sports cars of the early 1950s, winning many races in this country. Our car won its class at the 1954 Le Mans.

Santa Brings Stutz Sleigh To Museum

Santa

Saturday, December 5th, saw the first snow in Philadelphia this year and, appropriately, also an early sighting of Santa right here at the Simeone Museum. St. Nick (Cappello) came riding in a red 1916 Stutz Bearcat to let the kids tell him what they’d like to find under the tree Christmas morning.

After participating in a scavenger hunt to identify details on various cars in the collection, the children were entertained by Luigi Borda and his “Philly Phiat,” as he read from several of his books.

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Friends Of The American Cancer Society Honor Dr. Simeone

The Friends of the American Cancer Society hosted the 9th annual Party with a Purpose Gala and honored Dr. Simeone with the 2009 Humanitarian Award at the event. The Party With A Purpose featured fine food, cocktails, entertainment, raffles and live and silent auctions to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer. The Friends reported that this year’s event was the most successful in their history.

Event proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society’s mission of creating a world with more birthdays and saving more lives, with a special focus on lung cancer and the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge.

Bentley Boys (And Girls) Come From Down Under To Visit Museum

We get many visitors who have traveled long distances to visit the Museum, but few who come half way around the world - with their vintage Bentleys! Trevor and Judy Eastwood( 1925 3/4.5 Bentley), and Peter Graham and Jenny Lebens (1927 4.5 Bentley) brought their classics over from Australia to participate in the Bentley Drivers Club tour of Alaska and then the States. They had put the Museum on their itinerary as they headed to Maryland, for the third St. Michaels Concours d’Elegance. We wish them well on the final leg of their adventure!

Mother Nature Can’t Rain On This Parade

Despite a damp track and threats of a downpour, our Mille Miglia Demonstration Day was able to proceed as scheduled, much to the appreciation of the 300+ spectators, some of whom had traveled as far as Washington, D.C. The reason for their anticipation was obvious: where else can you see three 1930s Alfa Romeos that each participated in the Mille Miglia - two of them finishing second? To keep the cars and spectators) as dry as possible, the cars were kept inside for Dr. Simeone’s summary of the history and technical details of each car. Then, the cars were taken out individually for a run on the back lot, avoiding any large puddles. Back inside, our crew of volunteers went to work with towels to dry off both the bodies and undercarriages. The cars were left in the Cafe area with the hoods open so the visitors could appreciate the beauty of Alfa’s technologically advanced engines.

Italy Beats England In Demonstration Run - Or Did They?

A beautiful Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, driven by Fred “Ritchie Ginther” Simeone narrowly beat out the crisp- Ferrari, Aston martin sounding Aston Martin DBR1 driven by Kevin “Stirling Moss” Kelly at the September 26th Driving Demonstration Day. While the win was declared by race stewards to be legitimate and no protest was filed, Kelly appeared to slow for no apparent reason in the final turn, allowing Simeone to win.

“I must have missed a shift, or something,” commented Kelly after the demonstration. He said the fact that Simeone was his boss had no bearing on the results.

Kelly also had only this terse comment about Simeone’s cutting across the course at one point: “That’s racing.”

An enthusiastic crowd of over 300 attended the event and cheered both drivers at the conclusion of the run. Ferrari

If you have video or photos of this, or other, Demonstration Days please link them to our Facebook page. We’d love to see them.

Please join us on October 31st for the Mille Miglia Day featuring two Alfa Romeos that both finished second in that famous race.

We will also be sending an email survey shotly asking you to vote for the two cars you would like to see in a special November “election” demonstration day. If you are not already on our email list, scroll down to the bottom of this page for an easy-to-use sign-up form.

Classic Motorcycle Show Concludes Successful Run

The first Classic Motorcycle Show ends its month-long run this week. Many of the 36 bikes on display will be going to Radnor for the Concours on Sept. 13.

We would like to thank all of the bike owners for lending us their treasures for the month of August, and especially Harlan Hadley, Mike Casale and John Lawless for helping make the show happen.

We also want to thank media sponsors, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News for their support, and Hagerty Insurance, Carlino’s Catering and Victory Brewing Co. for helping us put on the “Kick-start” Preview Party.

We hope to make the Classic Motorcycle show an annual August event. Mark your calendar for next year!