Bonnie and Clyde Car Displayed in Culpeper

Author: Donnie Johnston

Photo Credit: Library of Congress

Source: Donnie Johnston’s Culpeper: A 20th Century History, Stories, Facts, Legends, Folklore

One of the most celebrated artifacts of the 1930s gangster era in America appeared in Culpeper on May 20, 1940. The bullet-riddled “Death-Car” of famed outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker sat on display at the Virginia Motor Company on Cameron Street for eight hours that Monday.

Bonnie and Clyde robbed banks throughout the Midwest in the 1930s and had survived numerous shootouts with local police. Finally, however, the famous duo was ambushed by FBI agents on an isolated stretch of highway and killed in a hail of bullets. This Death Car was on a nationwide tour as park of President Franklin Roosevelt’s fight against crime.

Nationally known lecturer C. Wile Stanley and National Anti-crime Association member Everett Fillingham gave brief talks regarding the notorious gangsters and answered questions for the audience.