Veteran HAMBers please chime in……. ’57 Chevy Convertible in 1957-1959

Here is a another pic of my 57. Enjoy.Tom (Tired Old Man)

 

If I had a ´57 cvt I would have gone for a convertible version of the Sam Hollingsworth ´57 Nomad. I admit that this car is built later, but the Skylark wires and the great paint would have made it stunning in 57-58 as well.

 

I hope you mean Sam, I don't think they ran 22" billet wheels in the 50's.

You've got one of the hardest cars ever created to personalize without screwing it up. Subtle changes look great like mild dechroming, buick grill, custom paint, lowering (mostly the back), and chrome reverse wheels or something, just don't go too major.
When I was a kid, this was my dream car, but because they're so nice stock, I no longer want one.

 

*LOL* The record player got me!! I was thinking 8 track but I guess I didn't go back far enough...Great ideas on the other stuff though!!!

 

I totally agree, and THAT'S why I'm having such a hard time with this one.

 

Thanks for the pics Tom!!! Looks awesome!!!

 

THIS is a paint job I could go for!!! I would do this with the Lancer hub caps & www..... I'm getting really cool ideas....

 

I REALLY want a '51 Merc, but I'm not complaining *LOL* This was/is one of my dream cars, just didn't think I was going to have such a hard time with a look that I wanted. My initial thought was to chop the top *LOL*........Not to worry, that brain fart went away.....*LOL*

 

This is mine, has whitewalls with black steel wheels now. Some trim is deleted, rockets filled, lowered, vintage Cal Customs grille.

 

If I'm not mistaken, this '58 was customized when the car was new.
It pretty much exemplifies the "cost no object" approach to engine detailing of the era.

 

57 Desoto Sportsman side trim
56 Buick taillights

 

O.K. now we're cookin' !!! Someone told me about upholstery in the engine compartment....Not to practical, I may go for a body color engine compartment or maybe white....Thanks for the pic, gives me a few ideas

 

The really wild, goofy stuff mentioned in some of the earlier posts didn't begin until around '61-'62.

Most '57 Chevys got nosed and decked, heavily lowered, fitted with Lancers and long lakes pipes in '57-'59. Surprisingly, even though the interiors were still new, many got filled with white tuck 'n' roll.

They were called "street cars" then, owned primarily by guys in their late teens and early '20s. The trend started in "Kustomland", as defined by Thom Taylor in his great book about the photos of Jim Potter taken during the exact period you describe.

Tasteful and graceful, these mildly modified near-new hardtops were state-of-the-art among the custom car set. Performance equipment was minimal, just three deuces in most cases, because these cars were cruisers, and speed was not a factor in their popularity.

Watson-style paintwork was very popular on the West Coast during this time period, while bolt-on skirts and continental kits were popular on the East Coast. Most cars were daily driven and kept practical because they were the only wheels the guys owned.

By 1962 good taste had been abandoned in search of show points.

Too bad.

To your benefit, these were also the golden years of the "little book", textbook-size car mags which could be read in class hidden from view of the teacher.

Lots of examples of '57 Chevys in them if you're willing to do your homework. If you're fussy about authenticity, spend lots of time paying attention to this historical source rather than the opinions of people who weren't even born then.

Sounds like a great project. Good luck!



(The thumbnail below, lifted from Mo's post, is a very good example of a modern-built "clone" of a typical '57 Chevy from SoCal in '57-'59.)

 

I always liked the Tunneau cover over the back seat with the top down look.

 

a pic from one of those "little books"

 

This is what I needed (or should I say "wanted") to hear!!! I didn't want to modify my car too much beyond the way it came out of the factory, but I just can't leave well enough alone.....I may just take the basic looks of the era, but I'm a stickler for safety, so won't do the chromed original single master cylinder and drum brakes (I'll be able to hide the discs brakes behind the wheels anyway) *LOL* This is great!!! I'm getting some awesome ideas!!! I tried to search the internet before this, but it never really gave me the "insight" I get from here.....I should have done this earlier, it would have saved me hours of internet searching.

Keep the info/pics coming!!!.....

Question: If I wanted to take it one notch above a "daily driver", do you know if they painted the engine compartments white??

 

Generally, no. That was a '60s thing for the most part, when lots of really impractical things were done for "flash value" and to gather extra show points.

But it was a West Coast fad during the period you seek to emulate to paint the chassis white. Never made much sense to me, but it was fairly common in SoCal for a while.

Customs of the era did display more than the average amount of chrome, however, when the owner could afford to do so. Engine compartments were the first place, followed by interior garnish moldings.

The other common "next steps" would be a custom grille, modified headlights and custom tail lights. These were often added one at a time as the owner could afford.

Your best bet, as I mentioned earlier, is to invest in as many '57 to '59 "little books" as you can afford. Car Craft, Rod & Custom and Custom Cars are probably the best as they were based on the West Coast.

At the time, custom trends originated on the West Coast and moved eastward, so even though East Coast magazines did exist, they generally showed watered-down versions of the pure West Coast trends.

Mixing eras is also a big mistake, in my humble opinion, and should be avoided at all cost. If you are using 1957 -1959 as your "era", don't use later trends even though this was often done as cars got updated as the years went by.

The truly great cars - the ones which have stuck in my memory all these years - were almost always the first version, the most pure to the time period in which they were first built.

Just my $.02

 

O.K. so I've found some of the "little books" that a friend of mine had stashed. One little problem....no color... I've got a little stack of different little books from 1956-1959.

Check out this cool article found in the June '56 "Rodding and Re-styling"...dual superchargers w/trips!!!

 

This was an early version of my '57
chevy as it looked in 1962

 

Okay, you win! That is awesome!

I usually look the other way when a red '57 BelAir hardtop comes along, but WOW!!

 

needle nose bubble skirts a go go!

 

Sorry for the late response and thanks for the pics!!! I'm leaning towards a look like yours, just trying to figure out a color. Also looking at using some kind of skirt on mine....

If anyone else has pics, I'm still looking for ideas

 

Here's one owned since new, customized all along.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?ln=977&aid=223