Starter
Words Harry Hurst
LAST JUNE, DR FRED SIMEONE, founder of the Philadelphia museum that bears his name, passed away. As with any such great institution with valuable historic collections, concerns have been expressed about its future. Did Dr Simeone provide for the continuation of its mission? Will his legacy be preserved? Harry Hurst, Simeone director of programs, sat down with executive director Kevin Kelly to discuss the future of this important museum.
the research library, Guston Lowe is in charge of the gift shop and Ron Fanelli keeps care of the facility. Few people knew that Fred was ill for the final year and was not strong enough to even come to the museum. Before that, he’d hardly missed a day. But his absence allowed the team to run the day-to-day aspects on our own, with him only a phone call away. That ‘rehearsal’ made the transition somewhat easier. What about the finances? The foundation has an endowment, and is financially stable. Again, it falls back to Fred. We joke that he built the museum with the Craigslist Construction Company. He wasn’t born into money, he worked for everything he had and he paid for all of the museum renovations out of his own pocket. That frugality extended into its operation, and we work here to try to do our share. The operating budget is very low in comparison with other museums’; we do a lot with a small staff. The money from the gift shop, front desk and events combines so that we run a financially stable enterprise. That also allows us to weather economic storms as they arise. When we had to close to the public during Covid, we were still able to keep all the staff on the payroll.
First, tell us what has happened since Dr Simeone passed away. Well, it’s been a very hectic time. You can’t completely prepare for such a transition, but Fred did his best to put everything in order. Over the years he’d made his wishes clear on how he wanted the museum to carry on. He knew he wasn’t going to live forever – and he knew he wasn’t taking the collection with him. He thought it should be in a trust. He was acutely aware of what had happened to Reno’s Harrah Collection after Bill Harrah didn’t address it in his will – much of it was sold. All of the assets of the Simeone, the cars and the library, have been transferred to the Foundation over the years. The Foundation now runs the museum via a small board, many of whose members have been on it for decades. Fred’s daughter Christina is one. She has extensive non-profit experience and understands Fred’s desire to keep the museum going. And the day-to-day operation? I’m executive director, and Amanda Jimenez – who was with Fred before the museum, as his medical practice’s office manager – is administrative director. We also have Chris Webb handling operations and William Murphy doing our communications including digital. Ryan Bollinger runs
The Simeone after Fred Preservation, education and research – how the famous automotive museum will stay true to its late founder’s legacy
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Magneto
Photography Michael Furman, Andrew M Taylor
When you talk about keeping Fred’s legacy going, what do you mean? There are three major elements: preservation, education and research. We’ll continue to preserve the cars we have, as well as any additions. It’s important that they all run – that is the heart of our popular Demo Days. The Simeone is, to our knowledge, the only place in the world where cars with this history and importance can be seen running regularly. These days are also educational, since we preface each event with a
historical lecture on the cars. Each Demo Day has a theme, such as Le Mans or 75 Years of Ferrari. So, in addition to having the thrill of seeing and hearing these magnificent cars run, everyone learns something new. We also feel it is important to educate the ‘hobby’ on Dr Simeone’s philosophy of preservation. It doesn’t mean vintage cars should never be restored. It does mean significant models should be preserved as historical artefacts. Owners should consider themselves as stewards, and treat their cars responsibly. Dr Simeone spelled out his thoughts in The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles, which has just been reissued in paperback. Fred said certain cars of significant historic value shouldn’t be raced. Yes, he felt strongly that it would be better to race replicas instead. Many people argue that they were raced and repaired in the day, so what’s the difference? Well, those repairs are part of their historic legacy. Damage done today eliminates some of that history, and it can’t be replaced. When Fred first showed his cars at the garage on Philadelphia’s 8th St, the emphasis was on teen-driver education. Will this be resumed? We will take education beyond just research and history. We want young people to grow their appreciation of cars, and also to understand driver safety. This was always an area of frustration for Fred, that there was not an accepted way to do this. So, yes, youth education is important. How will the Simeone’s huge research library of automotive literature be part of the museum? Collecting automotive sales literature is where Fred started his involvement with cars. You could say it was his
