V Drive-In
The V Drive-In in Vestal, New York, opened on August 18, 1958, on the Vestal Parkway just outside Binghamton. Its first bill was 3:10 to Yuma and Woman of the River, with color cartoons. It had one screen and room for 610 cars. Its tower carried a large V at the top, above the words DRIVE IN THEATRE. No source explains the name, though the town is the obvious guess.
The layout was its own. Cars came in right under the screen on their way to the rows, and a playground sat on an embankment in front of it until the equipment was removed by the 1980s. A local commenter recalls a V-shaped ticket booth that ended up as a car dealer's office on the Parkway.
CinemaNational operated it at one time, and USA Cinemas was its last operator. The V closed on September 7, 1987, with Can't Buy Me Love and Outrageous Fortune. The tower stood empty for a few years until it was torn down around 1991 for a shopping development. Stores and a movie theater now stand on the land.
