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Obituary for Fred Simeone, keeper of legendary racing cars

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Created on June 29, 2022

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Martin Schröder

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Martin Schröder

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Archiv Martin Schröder

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Martin Schröder

38

Archiv Martin Schröder

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Fred A. Simeone in his library - Impressions from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

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BMW 328 (1937) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Legendary pre-war sports car

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BMW 328 (1937) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Chassis 85158 was owned by Schröder&Weise until 1979.

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BMW 328 (1937) in Fred A. Simeone's collection - The Munich car in 1985 in the new garage and behind a Bugatti Type 35.

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BMW 328 (1937) in unrestored original condition

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BMW 328 (1937) - At the start of the support race of the German Grand Prix on July 24, 1938 at the Nürburgring.

Bild von Partner Porsche AMAG Mai Foto-Galerie 2026

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Mercedes-Benz Type S (1927) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - This example was driven by Otto Merz to first place in the Nürburgring opening race on June 19, 1927.

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Mercedes-Benz Type S (1927) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Dr. Ferdinand Porsche worked at Daimler from 1923 to 1928 as Chief Designer and Member of the Board of Management and developed the Type S.

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Mercedes-Benz Type S (1927) in Fred A. Simeone's collection - The "sports car" 1985 in the Simeone collection, behind which other gems can be vaguely recognized.

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Mercedes-Benz Type S (1927) in Fred A. Simeone's collection - In this year, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft merged with Benz Cie. The car shown here is the last surviving "sports car".

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Mercedes-Benz Type S (1927) in Fred A. Simeone's collection - Heavy equipment in the cockpit and a 6.8-liter inline six-cylinder engine under the long hood.

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Mercedes-Benz Type S (1927) - Merz' car with the number 1 is waiting to start behind two Hanomag 2/10 hp "Kommissbrot".

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Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé (1964) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The streamlined V8 coupé secured the world championship title for GT cars with a displacement of over 2 liters in 1965.

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Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé (1964) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The 4.7-liter engine is fed by four Weber carburetors.

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Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé (1964) at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The very first car on the National Historic Vehicle Register

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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spyder (1933) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The car with the only existing Castagna bodywork ever once belonged to the cartoonist Charles Addams.

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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spyder (1933) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The in-line eight-cylinder engine with Roots supercharger catapulted this 8C to 135 miles per hour (217 km/h) at Brooklands.

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Squire Roadster (1933) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The prototype is one of three Squires with Vanden Plas bodies and one of seven in total. It is powered by a DOHC four-cylinder engine with a supercharger, which was allegedly built by David Brown.

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Squire Roadster (1933) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - In a test, Phil Hill gave the Squire a better rating than the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 and the Bugatti Type 55.

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MG K3 Magnette (1934) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - This internationally most successful MG came fourth in the 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans and won the 1.1-liter class.

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MG K3 Magnette (1934) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The supercharged 1.1-liter in-line six-cylinder engine and the compact chassis enabled two K3s to achieve a one-two victory in their class at the 1934 Mille Miglia.

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Bugatti Type 57 G "Tank" (1936) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - This last surviving tank set several speed records and won the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist at the wheel.

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Delahaye 135S/175S (1936) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Eugene Chaboud and Charles Pozzi competed in the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans with the modified 135S/175S, but retired after an engine fire. The Delahaye competed one last time at the Sarthe in 1951.

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Delahaye 135S/175S (1936) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Originally owned by Pierre Louis Dreyfus, the body is unrestored and was placed on the chassis in 1948. The 175S engine was installed in the same year.

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Peugeot 402 Darl'mat Le Mans (1938) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - One of three with aluminum body, additional headlights and Cotal pre-selector gearbox

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Peugeot 402 Darl'mat Le Mans (1938) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout and the designer Georges Paulin created the elegant roadster dress.

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Peugeot 402 Darl'mat Le Mans (1938) - Reproduction of a photo from back then

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Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B MM (1938) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The duos Biondetti/Stefani and Pintacuda/Mambelli clinched a superior one-two victory in the Mille Miglia of that year with the 8C 2900, ahead of Dusio/Boninsegni in the 8C 2300A.

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Cunningham C-4R (1952) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Finished third overall in the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans and won the 5-to-8-liter displacement class

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Aston Martin DBR1 (1958) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - After winning the Sports Car World Championship in 1959, Aston Martin withdrew from it, but DBR1/3 continued to be used by private teams.

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Aston Martin DBR1 (1958) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham won the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1958 with this car. Jim Clark was at the wheel of the Aston in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1960 and 1961.

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Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (1958) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The first Testa Rossa delivered to customers failed to finish third in the 1958 12 Hours of Sebring. At the wheel at the time was Richie Ginther.

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Ford GT40 Mk II (1966) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - The Mark II entered by Alan Mann Racing and driven by John Whitmore and Frank Gardner failed to finish the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with clutch damage.

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Ford GT40 Mk IV (1967) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Denis Hulme and Lloyd Ruby retired in this GT40 on the 86th lap of the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. The long-tail GT40s were capable of speeds of up to 360 km/h in this race.

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Porsche 917 Longtail (1970) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen drove the Martini-917 to second place overall in the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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Porsche 917 Langheck (1970) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Thanks to the aerodynamic bodywork, the Hunaudières were capable of over 385 km/h. The lap average was just under 250 km/h.

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Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT 12 (1975) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Won seven out of eight races and won the 1975 World Sports Car Championship

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Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT 12 (1975) in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum - Powered by a three-liter, 550 hp twelve-cylinder boxer engine

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These information boards provide lots of interesting facts about the exciting exhibits. - Impressions from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

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Insight into Fred A. Simeone's extensive library - Impressions from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

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Insight into Fred A. Simeone's extensive library - Impressions from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

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The Fiat 600 is used as a driving school model. - Impressions from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

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This is how technology is vividly explained. - Impressions from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

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The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles ed. Simeone Automotive Foundation ISNB 978-0988273306 available from Amazon

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BMW 328 (1937) im Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – Chassis 85158 befand sich bis 1979 im Besitz von Schröder&Weise.

BMW 328 (1937) in Fred A. Simeones Sammlung – Der Münchner 1985 in der neuen Garage und hinter einem Bugatti Type 35.

BMW 328 (1937) - unrestaurierter Originalzustand, seit 1986 im Simeone Automotive Museum

BMW 328 (1937) – Am Start beim Rahmenrennen des Grossen Preises von Deutschland am 24. Juli 1938 auf dem Nürburgring.

Mercedes-Benz Typ S (1927) im Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – Dieses Exemplar wurde von Otto Merz auf den ersten Platz des Nürburgring-Eröffnungsrennens am 19. Juni 1927 gefahren.

Mercedes-Benz Typ S (1927) im Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – Dr. Ferdinand Porsche arbeitete von 1923 bis 1928 als Leitender Konstrukteur und Vorstandsmitglied bei Daimler und entwickelte den Typ S.

Summary

With Fred A. Someone, born on June 8, 1936 and died on June 11, 2022, the classic car and motorsport scene lost an important figure. His extensive and unique collection of classic sports and racing cars is on display to the public at the Simone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, thus passing on the fascination for historic vehicles. This retrospective of a long-standing friendship is complemented by photographs from Fred A. Simeone's collection.

This article contains the following chapters

The life's work

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

I got to know Fred Simeone in the early seventies through his library. That was the time when the specialist bookshop Schröder&Weise, which he had heard about, was founded. Back then - long before the Internet - communication was by personal recommendation, telephone and letter. In 1979, both the first fax machines and an unrestored BMW 328, which Simeone was interested in, were available at Schröder&Weise. So the photos were faxed over and the car was sold to the American's collection, which already existed at the time. In 1985, preparations were made for my first trip to the USA and I was looking for an appropriate gift for someone who already "had everything". Well, I knew that there was also a Mercedes-Benz Type S in the collection. So I called the Mercedes Archive - then headed by Max Gerrit von Pein - and asked for a copy of the commission book for the Type S with the commission number 33679. This came quickly by fax and the contents of this commission sheet made Fred Simeone very happy and significantly increased the value of the car. Now it was certain that he owned the Type S in which Otto Merz had won the inaugural race at the Nürburgring on June 19, 1927.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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Images of this article

BMW 328 (1937) im Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – Chassis 85158 befand sich bis 1979 im Besitz von Schröder&Weise.

BMW 328 (1937) in Fred A. Simeones Sammlung – Der Münchner 1985 in der neuen Garage und hinter einem Bugatti Type 35.

BMW 328 (1937) - unrestaurierter Originalzustand, seit 1986 im Simeone Automotive Museum

BMW 328 (1937) – Am Start beim Rahmenrennen des Grossen Preises von Deutschland am 24. Juli 1938 auf dem Nürburgring.

Mercedes-Benz Typ S (1927) im Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – Dieses Exemplar wurde von Otto Merz auf den ersten Platz des Nürburgring-Eröffnungsrennens am 19. Juni 1927 gefahren.

Mercedes-Benz Typ S (1927) im Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum – Dr. Ferdinand Porsche arbeitete von 1923 bis 1928 als Leitender Konstrukteur und Vorstandsmitglied bei Daimler und entwickelte den Typ S.

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