ABOUT THE MARCONI
Our mission is to help raise awareness for at-risk children in Orange County.
The Marconi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that donates a portion of net proceeds from hosted events to local children’s charities.
The Marconi Automotive Museum & Foundation for Kids is dedicated to being an integral part of growth in Southern California. We host two annual fundraisers a year where we split the net proceeds with another at-risk children’s charity and organize food, toy, and back to school drives which benefit additional charities throughout Orange County.
Our Story
In the late 1950’s Dick Marconi moved to California from Gary, Indiana. All he had was his wife, an 18-month-old son, and $500 in his pocket. Armed with an MBA he went on to build the world’s largest manufacturing company of custom-made vitamins, weight loss products, and food supplements.
During his successful career, he began collecting an impressive automotive collection of high-performance street and race cars, and in 1994 he donated his multi-million dollar car collection and the building that housed it to found the Marconi Automotive Museum & Foundation for Kids.
Today, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the goal of raising one million dollars annually for various at-risk children’s charities by using the automotive museum as a special event venue and tourist attraction for automotive enthusiasts. Dick’s dream is to leave a lasting legacy of the importance of giving back to our communities and his family who continues to preserve his dreams and goals for the museum and foundation.
Dick Marconi, Founder
Dick is an automotive enthusiast, philanthropist, former SCCA race car driver who participated in the Long Beach Grand Prix and became the oldest driver to ever qualify and finished in 8th place, as well as a talented artist who spends his free time in his personal studio painting and creating art. It’s not uncommon for Dick to pop into the museum and give unsuspecting visitors a tour.
