In 1957 a handful of guys from Baltimore, Maryland put together a car club called The Karb Kings. Back then a "car club" meant a group of friends that hung out and worked on their cars together. Those guys drove both kustom cars and "stockers". For the uninitiated, stockers are cars as they came from the show room floor with no special modifications. KUSTOMS on the other hand, were cars made from daydreams-- modified to look and perform how the owner thought the car should have been built to being with. Examples of popular customizations were things like lowering the stance, changing wheel/tire combinations, hopping-up engines, chopping the roof, frenching head lights, wild custom paints jobs, etc. The Karb Kings were informal, but there was one very important rule: the guy with the fastest car got to be President. In 1961 the fastest car belonged to Bill "Whitey" Sneed who was one of the founders of the original Karb Kings. Over the years, Karb Kings members drifted apart and the club slid into neutral until 1995. That's when Tim Sneed, Bill's son, decided to revive the former club and return to the old traditions. Today the cars are still traditional-style hot rods and kustoms and are still worked on and owned by club members. The Karb Kings promote the cars & the culture that goes with them. What that means is that Karb Kings members are out enjoying their cars and not just parking them at shows and finding the nearest lawn chair. They DO NOT trailer their cars, they DRIVE them! The Karb Kings don't care if you have a shiny paint job or no paint at all. They don't care if your car has 2 or 4 doors and certainly do not care if you are male or female as long as you own your car and it is younger than 1970. Of course, the ability to wrench is a big plus as they love it when members can help members. In general they all share the same passion for hot-rodding and having a good time doing what they love. Some of The Karb Kings have already been called "rowdy and loud". They can handle that, but they can not handle cry-babies, bitchin, trophy chasers or people who think they have the "best" car because they spent the most money on it. Any idiot can build a car with a MasterCard, but the soul of a car can only come from the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into building it yourself. With these basic ideals and the growing popularity of this kulture, other chapters of the Karb Kings were formed.
In 2004, Jay Padgett went to the Karb Kings MD annual car show they host called the Mobtown Greaseball, his first "kulture" experience with cars, rockabilly music and pin ups. He had found a home in the people and kulture so decided that he needed to fill the lack of this kulture in his hometown of Fredericksburg, VA. So in 2006 he met Tim Sneed, the president of the Karb Kings MD, son of founder"Whitey" Sneed, and the Karb Kings VA was formed with Jay being president of the VA chapter ever since. The club has been steadily growing with members from all parts of central VA and are always looking for others who share in the kulture ideas. The members go to weekly cruise nights and car shows, on top of hosting other events like the Rockabilly Riot and their annual car show, the Rockabilly Hot Rod Rumble, which is in it's 5th year and growing bigger every year. The show features national and local rockabilly bands, pinup contest, vendors, swap meet, pinstripers, and of course the cars. Any car, truck or bike pre-1972 can register to win kustom made trophies. Not only is there a great time to be had that day, they also host a pre-party the night before show and an after party the evening of the show itself. Not only is there fun to be had, they are giving back to the community. The profits that the club makes are put to a good use. A donation of a classic car that needs restoration is given to a local school shop program to keep the kulture alive and well.
So if you like classic cars of all kinds, rockabilly music, or the pinup culture, keep checking back to this page for updates about car shows, cruise nights, and future events from the Karb Kings VA.
In 2004, Jay Padgett went to the Karb Kings MD annual car show they host called the Mobtown Greaseball, his first "kulture" experience with cars, rockabilly music and pin ups. He had found a home in the people and kulture so decided that he needed to fill the lack of this kulture in his hometown of Fredericksburg, VA. So in 2006 he met Tim Sneed, the president of the Karb Kings MD, son of founder"Whitey" Sneed, and the Karb Kings VA was formed with Jay being president of the VA chapter ever since. The club has been steadily growing with members from all parts of central VA and are always looking for others who share in the kulture ideas. The members go to weekly cruise nights and car shows, on top of hosting other events like the Rockabilly Riot and their annual car show, the Rockabilly Hot Rod Rumble, which is in it's 5th year and growing bigger every year. The show features national and local rockabilly bands, pinup contest, vendors, swap meet, pinstripers, and of course the cars. Any car, truck or bike pre-1972 can register to win kustom made trophies. Not only is there a great time to be had that day, they also host a pre-party the night before show and an after party the evening of the show itself. Not only is there fun to be had, they are giving back to the community. The profits that the club makes are put to a good use. A donation of a classic car that needs restoration is given to a local school shop program to keep the kulture alive and well.
So if you like classic cars of all kinds, rockabilly music, or the pinup culture, keep checking back to this page for updates about car shows, cruise nights, and future events from the Karb Kings VA.