Legendary Philadelphia car collector and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Simeone has died at the age of 86, a spokesperson for the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum confirmed.
“Late last evening, as the first rays of light began to appear on the Mulsanne Straight, we lost our hero and champion, Dr. Frederick Simeone,” the spokesperson wrote Sunday. “Mere words cannot convey our overwhelming grief and sadness, nor can they express what this great man meant to so many people.”
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Simeone was the chief of neurosurgery at Pennsylvania Hospital for 25 years until he retired in 2008. He was also the author and editor of several papers and medical books.
After his retirement, Simeone launched the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in 2008. Simeone’s father, who was also a doctor, left him with a collection of four cars stored in a garage on Clearfield Street in Philadelphia after his death in 1972. Simeone then expanded his father’s classic car collection over the next few decades and then donated the entire collection to the museum’s foundation.
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Simeone’s collection drew major recognition and was considered by many experts to be the best in the world.
