May Meeting: Sports Cars & Cocktails at the Simeone Auto Museum

Dr. Frederick Simeone says he started thinking about cars as historical artifacts after making house calls with his father, a general practitioner. “We would go to junkyards together and then read about what made each car we saw important.” His point is that “cars are not always just hobby things. They are representative of certain times and places in history.”

Housed in a 100,000-square-foot former engine remanufacturing plant near the Philadelphia International Airport, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum includes sports cars from the first international road races of the 1900s to competitors from the 1970s. Named Museum of the Year in 2011 by the International Historic Motoring Awards, it displays its vehicles in dioramas, like those at a natural history museum, and on Demonstration Days, Simeone and his curators drive the cars on a three-acre lot behind the museum. Simeone wants visitors to understand the historical meaning of each of the sixty-five autos. Each is an original, not a copy or replica. None have have had parts replaced. He sees the cars as works of art, all originals and representative of their eras. “Cars are emotional items and, I feel, really worth studying as history.”

Space is limited, so please register early for this entertaining and educational evening, which will include a cocktail reception with full bar and heavy appetizers, as described in the menu. You’ll want to bring a guest to this special event, which qualifies for 2 hours credit toward ASA reaccreditation.