One of the original 1955 Famous 40s jackets.
Like
all cities across America in the mid 50s, Charleston had it's
share of guys who got together and cruised the Drive-Ins and just drove
around to different cities together for the love of it. While we
had many car clubs over the years, some official and some not,
this focus is on "The Famous 40s" .... a typical group whom you
might have seen driving through the Parkett and later Shoneys when the
name changed. On their local route also was Ho-Do's,
Phillips, Tip Top, A&W, and many more.
Anytime you have four black cars all the same model and year,
you're bound to draw attention. And draw attention they did: Three of
the cars were invited by Ford to appear in a new car show in New York
City as a Hot Rod display set against the new cars of that year.
These cars also appeared in the Civic Center's annual car show of
the day. (not like the new car shows they have now) The
guys would often drive to Huntington for shows and cruising.
Considering the roads of the day, and that fact that two of these
cars were from Beckley ( Charlie's and Suts) and one was from
Fayetteville (Stans) that was a lot of driving without the benefit of
Interstates.
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