History Stainless steel fender skirts

Hi guys, does anyone know any history or significance to stainless fender skirts?!
I searched the web for info on these things and didn't find many answers.
I know they looked great on cars that had them in the rocker trim (ie 1959 fords), but I've seen stainless skirts for other cars that don't have lower fender or rocker trim. An example of this is my 65 bonneville. I have lower rocker trim but the skirts are above that and match the paint. I recently saw some stainless skirts for my car and that's when I started wondering.
I think they are bad *** looking and unique, but anyone got any good ideas or answers?
Thanks in advance

 

I remember my dad buy a white 1962 Ford Galaxie and it had the stainless fender skirts,,I'm not sure if they were factory or aftermarket. HRP

 

Foxcraft made some skirts in stainless, basically copies of their painted ones. My guess is they were popular because you didn't have to paint them to match. Plus, some people love everything chrome or shiny.

I only like them when they match a wide stainless quarter panel molding, like a '59 Ford or a '60 Plymouth Fury.

 

That makes sense. I agree the 60 ply looked great with them.
Anyone else?

 

I have a set for my 60 Buick Invicta convertible...

 

I had a set on my '59 Skyliner Retractable, and they were gorgeous…

 

They seemed to be very popular in the South, for whatever reason.

 

Yep, Foxcraft and also they were a little thinner gauge material I believe than the regular steel ones.

 

Stainless is so much harder than mild steel, that was probably so they could stamp them out on the same dies.

 

Didn't Cadillac have some as well? Like the 57 or 58?

 

They were popular with those with the same line of thinking as the HOG bike brigade has with their "customizing" now days in that the more shiny stuff you could load on a car the more you had "customized" it.

I remember the Foxcraft adds and adds from JC Whitney for them and remember seeing some cars with them on them around here.

 

My '61 Cad has them. All '61's did.

 

also with the rear end jacked up, seen a lot of Starliners and Galaxies like that, Martinsville Virgina . Taylorsville, N.C.

 

Didn't know that caddy had em past the late 50's. nice!!
I picked up a pair for my Pontiac but I'm not going to run them because they wouldn't look right. They are defiantly better painted. But I've never seen them for 65-66 bonnevilles so I am just adding to the parts collection

 

.................Ha, That's so true, Cory. That was a big thing back then, especially in the South. I guess they wanted to look like "haulers" or maybe they really were! Anyways as a 10-11 yr. old kid in East Tennessee, I thought they looked pretty cool at the time.

 

can anyone id these fender skirts stainless steel thanks

 

They look like 1959 Chevy.
Had SS Skirts on my 1955 Pontiac - Love them!!

 

Here they are on my 55

 

NICE!!
I would imagine that Cal Custom, Barris etc. back in the day started selling SS skirts and Detroit picked up on this.