Philadelphia, Pa., April 23, 2009 –Discovery’s HD Theater series, Chasing Classic Cars, was in Philadelphia on April 22 and 23 filming at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. Host Wayne Carini brought his personal 1927 Bentley from Connecticut to participate against the Museum’s 1930 “Blower” Bentley. In the segment, to air this Fall, Carini drives the Museum’s Bentley against his car, driven by Museum Executive Director Dr. Fred Simeone.

Carini and Simeone were also filmed driving the Museum’s classic D-Type and C-Type racing Jaguars from the 1950s. On-site were Series Producer Hannah Lintner, and Series Creator/Director of Photography Jim Astrausky of Essex Television Group, Old Lyme, Conn.

Chasing Classic Cars follows Ferrari expert and master car restorer, Wayne Carini, as he takes viewers on his personal mission to uncover the world’s most rare and exotic cars. Filmed entirely in high definition this full throttle, twelve part, half-hour series gives you a true insider’s look at the elite club of car restorers and collectors as Carini buys, restores and sells vintage rides, and the owners of the most exclusive and secret garages open up their doors only to Carini.

Season One of the series currently airs Tuesdays at 10:00 and 10:30 PM, exclusively on HD Theater. Season Two is currently slated to premiere in October, 2009.

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum contains over 60 of the rarest and most significant racing sports cars in the world, and opened to the public last June. The central theme of the Simeone Foundation collection is “the spirit of competition.”

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.

About Essex Television Group:
Essex Television Group’s award winning, all-HD broadcast division specializes in creating vivid adventure and personality driven documentary programming. Their series and specials have covered the legendary Baja 1000 off road race, post Katrina New Orleans and the war torn countries of Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan. Current programming includes the twelve part, automotive series Chasing Classic Cars, starring master car restorer and Ferrari expert Wayne Carini airing on Discovery HD Theater and seasons one and two of Dr. Danger on MOJO HD. Their work can also be found on the Travel Channel, Discovery’s Military, Health and International channels, HDNet and PBS. Executive Producers for Essex Television Group are Jim Astrausky and Dan Carey. Senior Producer is Hannah Lintner.
http://www.essextelevision.com

About HD Theater:
The first 24-hour high-definition network to broadcast all of its content in brilliant 1080i and 5.1 digital surround sound, HD Theater offers compelling, real-world content in virtually all categories of entertainment from across Discovery’s family of networks. HD Theater showcases programming about adventure, nature, wildlife, history, travel, science and technology, world culture and more — all designed to provide viewers with the highest-quality television experience available. http://dhd.discovery.com/