I did preface my choke comments with “street tuned”. Do “race“motors have a use for a choke? Not for the most part. The fact is that with these motors, set up as they were originally or with some mild performance add-ons and in most locations in North America, if tuned/jetted correctly for peak performance at full operating temperature, will be very cold blooded without a functioning choke. Even today, every new “performance” aftermarket carburetor on the market designed for a “street” application, has a choke that works. What’s the down side of a correctly functioning choke system on a correctly tuned street motor? Can you enrich your carb settings to improve cold running without a choke? Sure, but now you’ve de-tuned your warm running performance/efficiently.
For “restoration correct” these cars had functional chokes. When these cars were new they were designed as daily drivers and were expected to be able to start cold and be driven immediately with decent drivability through warm up day in and day out. That is the function of the choke.