If you know racing, then you know Mario Andretti. Andretti was the only race car driver ever to win all professional race car events: the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, and the Formula One Driver’s Championship.
On November 12th, he was honored for his incredible achievements at the location of a brand new race-car museum in Philadelphia. On the that same day Andretti also was awarded the first ever “Spirit of Competition” award, which included a plaque adorned with a complete replica of a competition driving license of Andretti’s ultimate idol, Alberto Ascari.
The museum, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, features an extreme collection of rare automobile racing paraphernalia that had a severe impact on the history of racing. The museum also houses over 60 of the most important race cars in racing history in the entire world. It officially opened in June 2008, but the museum owners hope this particular event will bring more fans flocking to view the collection of displays.
As a tribute to Andretti, an old 1948 Hudson was painted to look like Andretti’s first American race car and was put on exhibit. The Hudson is outlined in a bright, fire engine red and is adorned with a white racing stripe and Andretti’s first racing number in bold white, the number 7.
The actual ceremony was presented by former Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil, who also brought along an older sprint racing car that had been driven by his father years prior in certain Northern California races.
In addition to the Andretti race car model, another automotive was put on display at the same time- a racing auto built by a group of Philadelphia students for the Automotive X-Prize competition. The competition was held in February of 2008. Sponsored by Progressive auto insurance, the competition is dedicated to the production of a new energy efficient automobile.
Everyone should tip their hats in tribute to the great Mario Andretti and pay a visit at some point in time to the very interesting Philadelphia museum.
