I'm asking only about "Pharoahs" / Notice spelling I'm NOT asking about the Pharaohs Two separate groups. Who belongs to PHAROAHS on HAMB
My dad was a Pharoah out of the California East San Francisco Bay around Fremont, Newark, Hayward area in the late 50’s early 60’s time frame. I haven't talked with my dad about his Pharoah days in quite a while, but I believe the club was relatively short lived (like only a few years) and that they only had a handful of members (like under 10 or so). He still has about a 1/2 dozen or so aluminum plaques in their original unopened wrappers. My Dad's Pharoahs club used the Glass Slipper (very popular enclosed drag car) as its symbol.
Yeah.. I am a Pharoah.. Easiest way to join is to look at Facebook. I belong to the Ohio Chapter, but there is a main page.. scroll through and you will see a guy named Wyatt Bowman.. He can set you up.. old school.. have to mail in the money..
I thought I read someplace that the Pharoahs haven't taken a new member since the '70s and their youngest current member is in his 60s. Maybe that's a different group though? Not sure.
Pharoahs Tennessee Chapter checking in. We are alive & well and growing every day. As others have said, contact Wyatt Bowman through the Pharoahs International or Pharoahs Modesto facebook page for info.
Pharoahs have chapters all over the world now. There is chapters in most states and provinces across North America. Most have their own Facebook pages that you can find information on.
Years ago there was a “ Pharaoh” driving a Liquid Propane “ tanker for the company I worked for . He noticed I was riding an old Harley handed me a business card , “ You have helped by The Rooster . PHARAOHS MC sanctioned by Hells Angles MC “. I have no idea where he was from , but was a great guy , came to work everyday and I never had one issue with him . He told me “ you have my card , you ever need help , you are among friends , call me “
What is the buy in on this club deal? someone I know that is a FB person told me once, I think it was 65 dollars for a lifetime membership? And that there were something like 50,000 members worldwide. Do the math on this, someone is getting rich off this made up club using a misspelling of the orig club... more than 3 MILLION dollars.....
The club is the original from From Modesto and was started in 1948. Gene Winfield is a founding member and is still a member today.
My wife and I belong to one of the Michigan chapters. We enjoy the Friday night cruises all summer long.
I have a feeling that it is the MLM scheme of car clubs. Kind of like Avon or those basket parties some women participate in. MLM = multi level marketing.
Sad to see all the negativity. I started a Pharoahs chapter two years ago and have had a great response from our local car community. The one time lifetime membership fee includes your drag plate, key chain, and decals. They leave the local swag up to the chapters and your not forced to buy anything through them. Our town only had two clubs, before ours and people were looking for another club that might be a better fit. There is no down side to being a member and your not a pawn as some suggest. If the head office takes a small cut, so be it. They are supplying all the lifetime swag out of the $65 lifetime (no yearly dues) fee. We are all enjoying meeting new people and cruising together and doing shows. We are always welcomed where ever we go and usually get preferential group parking at events. What’s not to like?
I am the Vice President of Headquarters and the Historian of the one and only Original Pharoahs Car Club that officially began in Modesto, California 1948. I'm also Assistant to the amazing Gene Winfield and am currently writing his official biography. There's a lot of misinformation here about the Pharoahs. Some of it is because of Clubs that came after trying to immulate the Original Pharoahs and some of it appears to be people sounding off nonsense who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about. The Pharoahs is one of the oldest and one of the largest Car Clubs in existence. The focus of the Club is to have fun. If you are interested in the facts feel free to contact Pharoahs President Wyatt Bowman at 209 358 5535. Or myself at 606 383 1800. Debbie Jones-Theisen Vice President Headquarters
I don't have a dog in this fight... And know nothing about it... But I did just get an email from a guy that seems to have his shit together: I was just made aware of a conversation taking place on your site, regarding our club, suggesting we are fake, a scam, and have an abnormal spelling and various other issues Here’s the facts The Pharoahs Car Club is the oldest and largest car club in the world. Established in 1948 by vets having returned from the war. We are currently approximately 20,000 members. We do have a substantial Facebook presence as many of our chapters, have their own face book page. We do generally allow anyone to join our Facebook pages so that they can become more familiar with who we are and what we are about. Joining one of our Facebook pages Does NOT make them a member of the club. It simply makes them a member of the page. Most of our chapters and pages make membership application forms readily available, often on the Facebook pages. Until recently, a lifetime membership in the USA was in fact $65usd. But, due to ever increasing costs, we have raised this fee. Members are provided with several items, including our cast drag plate, key fob, stickers etc. our spelling, was established by those early veterans, and is the original club spelling. The movie ‘American Graffiti’ spelling ‘pharaohs’ was specifically altered so as to not infringe on our copyrights. The “Faros”, was the group of high school students that desired to join the real Pharoahs back at that time, and were denied, this they formed their own “faros” club and still exist today. Bo Hopkins, the actor portraying the leader of the Pharaohs in the movie, later monopolized on the name and notoriety created by the movie, and has created a club using the movie spelling of the name. I can not speak to the requirements or activities of either the “Faros” or the “Pharaohs”, however, WE, are the original club, based in Modesto California, are overseen by Wyatt Bowman, who purchased all rights and materials if the club many years ago, when it was close to ceasing operations, and has built it up, over many years, to what it is today. Wyatt, was also a radio announcer, whom “Wolfman Jack” was a friend and mentor of, and is retired from law enforcement. Many of our members, are current, or previous ‘first responders’, such as military, police, fire, ems etc. while promoting and supporting automotive enthusiasts is what our members participate in, we fund raise and donate back to various charities, with the primary recipients being various first responder organizations. Many of our members are world famous themselves, such as Gene Winfield, world famous customized, who was a founding member of the club, and its first Vice President. Suffice to say, there will always be those that misunderstand, or intentionally spread misinformation, as well as those attempting to reap benefit by selling unauthorized products with our copywriter name and logo, which we constantly do battle with, and yes, even the occasional malicious attack by ‘ex’ members that have been removed from our ranks for unbecoming conduct or bringing disrepute to our club in some way. I trust you will share this with your followers to ensure accurate information is on your pages Sincerely; Tom Mackie Adjutant President, Canada Pharoahs Car Club
I never really thought about how the word is correctly spelled but my Bible spells it Pharaoh. One of the old car clubs in town was the Guvnors. Are there more strange spelled car clubs out there?
Wyatt's a friend of mine, he's into motorcycles, Kustoms, etc. Lives 2 miles from me, and Yeah, I'm a Pharoah... It's 'Every young man's dream to become a Pharoah.' Yeah, there's an initiation... A&W in Modesto, every Fri. or Sat. nite some new member gets a rope tied around his waist and is 'dragged' (running) behind Wyatt's black '40 Coupe thru the drive-around of the A&W. Not 'real fast', but you better keep up. (that '40 has a strong mill!)
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