Why is this priceless historic Porsche 917-04, the classic "Hippie" liveried long tail, anywhere near a graffiti covered wall?
Andrew Henderson of Speed Captured Motorsport Photography explains:
"The car is owned by Dr. Frederick Simeone and is displayed in his Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia, PA.
A few times a year Dr. Simeone picks one or two cars from his collection and starts them and runs them on the paved lot behind the museum. He does not vintage race any of his cars so they are not driven in anger. This particular event was special because Vic Elford was there and gave a talk about his career before jumping in the 917 (and the 962 in my other shot) for a quick spin.
Car was purchased by Vasek Polak from Porsche in 1975. It is a bit confusing as some stories say that Vasek bought the chassis and built a 917 from his parts inventory other stories say that this is the only complete 917 L ever sold by Porsche. When Vasek Polak died the car was sold to Symbolic Motors and later bought by Dr. Simeone I believe at Christie's auction in Pebble Beach in 1998.
There is more confusion as to the authenticity of the car and which chassis number it really is but I'm not going into that here."
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It's an awesome museum, I highly recommend it to anyone in the Philadelphia area.
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