History 1957 Chevy 2 Door Wagon Government Car?

That MIL tag might be a MIL-Spec tag, meaning "military specification" with a contract number on it; i.e. 56-XYZ-1001, stating under what contract the vehicle fell under at purchase. This information is a part of the nomenclature tag that is generally riveted to the dashboard. Plus, it would have a vehicle ID number, more like a "license" number than anything, that identifies the specific vehicle, that is/was painted on the front doors and on the tailgate/trunklid of that vehicle. An example of that would be "56-1001" stating the vehicle is a 1956 whatever, and it's the 1001st vehicle in that sequence. Note that the fiscal year is used, so if the vehicle was contracted in 1955, and delivered in 1956, it could be a 1955 vehicle delivered in the 1956 fiscal year, starting October of any given year. Neither of these is, nor does it replace, a VIN tag. ALL vehicles have a VIN number of some sort, and whatever number the gov't agency ***igns that vehicle, it does not supplant or replace the VIN that was given to that vehicle by the manufacturer. I've owned enough gov't surplus cars and trucks to know this, plus 20 years active duty and being around said vehicles.

 

>>>>>,I'm sorry ,,i shoulda been more specific ,,I only have experience with the '55 2 door I bought in Alaska ,,and the '55 Delivery my friend has here ,,i'm sure '56's &'57's coulda been different ,,things changed from year to year and branches of the Military ,,,IE; Air Force Staff Cars vs Army Staff Cars,,,
Some of the cars and trucks we had at Elmindorf AFB ,Anchorage ,Alaska were purchased from the local dealer,,not direct from the factory ,,the Army did things different ,,plus we had a Navy/Marine Corp base there too ,,
lotsa vehicles too account for ,,,

 

There were "Window Deliveries" built in 55-60. They are SUPER RARE because most of them were special ordered for "Forest Dept", Flowerists, and for a few other govt dept.s. The 1271 is a giveaway as would the VIN #

all Deliveries VIN from 55-57 started with D55, D56, or D57. If that wagon has a VIN number like these then it is 100% a delivery.

 

Looks pretty nice.

What did your customer want done to it when he brought it in? Did he know how rare it is?

Just because it is so rare, does that equate into dollars? Granted it's a tri-five, but still. It's not like its a nomad or a convertible.

 

Here is the real deal, car was from North Dakota, I have original paper work from the first guy that owned it from the US forest service, it still has original green in the spare tire well, no clock no radio 6 banger 3 speed 1 piece tailgate no back seat, it is a sedan delivery with windows that's it!!! I hate the wheels too, the wife drives this one, she likes them and so does my KID!!! it has STEELIES with the stock 150 hub caps when I drive it, it is 1 of 92

 

I had one of these when I was in th USAF in the mid 70's, it was a beer hauler in Ogden Utah, got it for $600, put a 283 & a glide in it at the base hobby shop, then sold it to a buddy to get a 39 Chevy sedan

 

maybe it's a area 51 car.......

 

I owned a (1271) sedan delivery with windows I bought about 1980. The guy I bought it from, got it from the original owner (US Navy) in 1960 or 1961. He painted it about 1967 and told me that was the only thing he had ever done was paint it. He crashed the car in the late 60's and sold the motor. Underneath the orange paint was Navy gray. It sat in his backyard until I bought it. The paint code was "SPL". This was an early serial number car (288). 6 cylinder 3 speed. Had a heater but was radio delete.

I think it was some kind of a 'radio' car as it had holes in the top of the front fenders and a couple in the roof for antennas?. Also had lots of extra wiring and you could see where equipment was mounted under the dash and on the floor hump. It also had way more than a normal amount of undercoating underneath the car, I mean thick. There was also a doubled layer of sound deadening mat under the carpet.

I find it really odd that it had 1956 deluxe green bench seat interior including the door panels with armrests and a back seat. The 'door' panels in the back seat were color matching but plain jane. The was no extra holes in the floor where other seats were ever mounted.

 

The sedan deliveries came with the option of bucket seats. The driver side has seat tracks, while the p*** side flips forward. The p*** side was optional. I`ve only seen 5 sets(2 of which I`ve recovered). A 55 and A 58, The 58 is an old Coca-Cola delivery. He is going to keep it stock, Anybody have pictures of what the paint scheme looks like, He kind of has an idea.

 

Nice car - do you have any more pics of the black/red 150 sedan in the background?

 

Thanks for all the help and info. I can't get my camera to focus on the VIN tag, try again tomorrow. Keep in mind, this car has been around a bit. It's been repainted inside and out, and the red someone spotted on the dash end is red primer, not a red paint job. The underside of the hood is original black paint,and for sure it did not have holes filled where the Chevrolet script was. The current owner said the previous owner put the 2 tone trim divider on the car and added the 2 tone paint outside as well as the dash paint. The cowl tag indicates it was ordered all black, inside and out. So, maybe it was a funeral/flower car? Did any government agencies order black cars for any purpose? It does have the double stamped VIN tag with a letter/number combination above the VIN number. Would that have happened on a civilian ordered model? Someone mentioned wheels, it has rallys on it right now with stock caps and the spare is gone so no help there. More info when I get it, it's a neat car no matter who ordered it new.

 

About 15 years ago I looked a windowed '58 Chevy delivery. It was way too rusty for me but it was really cool.

 

Sedan deliveries could be had WITH or WITHOUT windows. The lack of a back seat defines a sedan delivery, in either case. They had none. If a back seat exists and the car has windows, it is a station wagon. Also, where the rear seat would've been, those windows are stationary on a windowed sedan delivery. On a wagon, they would either slide back or roll down, depending on the model.

Like several have said, with only 92 built and perhaps 10% of those are on the road still, it's a rare puppy, no matter what.

 

Yeoman did not start till 58.

 

The orange one I posted had a back seat and stationary windows. I wasn't at the factory when it was built so the back seat could have been added later. If it was added, somebody matched the front perfectly. I doubt the interior of the car was ever messed with though.

Hard to 'set in stone' exactly what any of the old cars were equipped with unless some highly detailed production figures were kept or they have a build sheet.

I know someone with factory 'Heather' paint (a lavender 1962 Cadillac color) on his '62 Corvette. Was it a factory option... No... unless you bought a fleet (10? or more) which is what a Kansas Kiwanis chapter ordered in late 1961. There's still a few of those left undiscovered.

I'm just saying it wasn't hard to get a special order back then, especially if 'Uncle Bob' owned a dealership. Something I've noticed over the years, it seems 50's and 60's cars manufactured in the first month or two of production are more apt to have unusual features or options. Probably the special order cars, that were ordered way ahead of the release date.

 

Cool car! Looks identical to the wagon in the pic that Mazooma posted...

 

check your facts! wagons had 2 piece tailgates and sedan delivery had 1 piece liftgate. another unique piece to the sedan delivery is the "lift gate" supports, they look similar to the wagon ones but are different and do not interchange. on one of my previous posts i figured it being a floral delivery but with rear seat i'm leaning towards funeral flower car.

 

Here you go, plus 1 new of sedan delivery

 

A 'VD******x' (v8) or a 'D******x' (6cyl) VIN defines a sedan delivery (note the 'D' in the first or second position).

An 'A' in either of those positions is a 150 series car.
A 'B' in either of those positions is a 210 series car.
A 'C' in either of those positions is a Belair series car.

If the car has a 'D' in the vin in the first or second position it's a sedan delivery. However the rear seat got there is immaterial. Also, the sedan deliveries were marketed in the truck line/information that's why you won't/don't find anything on them in the car literature.

Here is the link to the original specs in the Danchuk catalog which can be used to decode the VIN tag and cowl tag information: http://www.danchuk.com/images/Downloads/Catalog/Original_Specifications.pdf

Scott/Gotta56forme

 

Rudeebaker..You tree'd me. I remember seeing that wagon in the movie and was thinkinmg WTF is that. As soon as I saw this thread I thought of that flick

 

Love the sedan, and your car, too. The sedan is almost identical to my own, except mine is white where his is red. And mine is more dirt track oriented vs. the dragster look (in the tire dept).

 

If you'd bothered to read my posts, you'd seen where I mention the liftgate as part of the delivery, as well. Read all of the posts, then post. Check your facts, as you said. Some of you guys are making this topic rocket science, when it's not.

 

I speak of how any sedan delivery is defined, period. I could care less about the code, even though the Chevy code specifies it. Like a convertible is defined as a car with a retractable fabric or solid top, a sedan delivery is as I mentioned earlier. Again, over the past 50+ years, anyone could've added (or removed) a rear seat, though a car without one originally would be relatively easy to spot.

 

Don't let the mild-mannered look of the black and red sedan fool you. It is one vicious SOB with a full-out BBC and Richmond 6 spd. I rode in it once.........and that was enough.
Craig, I still like the look of the mags........vs. caps.

 

Cool!!, The Black Widow look is KILLER, I decided one day I would try the red and I think it turned out pretty good, goes good with the 600hp bbc, Richmond 6 speed and the 9" inch Ford, and the open DUMPS!!

 

Try switching your camera to "macro" mode, if it has one. I forget that occasionally on my own camera.

Fleet cars for the original Men In Black, but you didn't hear that from me!

 

Cool car no matter what it is/was.

 

Almost beating a dead horse, but here is the VIN with the extra stamping on it. Mean anything to anyone? Thanks Claymart, forgot about Macro....

 

When a new model first goes into production, I think it was pretty common for the manufacturers to start the lines off slowly and build vehicles with a very limited number of variations. Maybe just one or two paint colors, linited body styles, one style of interior, one engine and transmission combo, limited optional equipment, etc.

Once the early production bugs were sorted out, the line speeds increased and more body style variations, engine and trans types, molding packages and optional equipment were introduced into production. Not surprisingly, a lot of the early production builds ended up as fleet sales, lease cars, rental fleets and in government motor pools.

 

Hey mudflap, how long have you had that wagon? I saw it for sale about what- 4, 5 years ago? It caught my eye before we came across this one. The forest service wagons came both ways didn't they(with and without rear seat)? My old mans' buddy has a black 2dr wagon, rear seat delete, 1 pc. gate. It's rough but unrestored original, I'll dig some pictures out and put them up tomorrow. Really dig the cleaner look of the 1 piece tailgate. The rear seat delete has different bracing for supporting the wooden plank vs. for a seat frame. IIRC, they deemed it to be a salesman's wagon, but could've been most likely a forest service wagon. They were used by the civilian working man too though, weren't they?
Love the bare bones look- ours will be plain jane, radio and clock delete.