ok, i have been on the quest for a 57' post pretty much since I sold mine. I have a very nice/very clean low mileage 64' chevy belair... factory V8 327 4spd car... with some very cool options... The car is nice, I have a friend who is a heavy chevy guy, has tons of cars, knowledge, connections ect.. he has an original 1957 chevy 2 door post 265v8 powerglide 210 delray coupe... all original numbers car, from california.. The car has been in upstate since mid 80's being stored and occasionally started and rolled around. The car need help... the lower quarters have a few small spots, a small spot in the rockers and in the bottom corners of the front fenders.. the floor looks mint, body braces and floor supports are mint, the trunk is mint.. besides that the paint is original... black. All the trim on the sides is good, the bumpers are gonna need rechrome.. the motor is suppose to be good, just has to be soaked.. to ensure the rings aren't frozen.. trans is fine.. The interior is shot but the seats are both there and the dash is untouched.. All in all its a complete car but will basically need to be completely gone through. What do you guy's/gals think its worth? keep in mind it needs a resto.
I'd start at 5 grand, if you're buying...around here that'd buy you a decent rust-free four door '57 Chevy...if you're trading that '64, I'd go straight across...but then again, you're on the other side of the country and that's just my opinion. R-
If it is a two door post, its gonna get a little more than 5k. If the body is decent besides minor bubbling you are gonna spend around 10-11k for a car like that around here. I was shopping for a post before I got mine and the lowest post car I found that ran and drove was 10k. Granted, that was in 2007 and vintage car prices have taken a nose dive since then. POZ
That's the truth. I bought a very rust free two door sedan 2 years ago. The engine smoked, the transmission slipped, and only one brake worked. I payed north of 10G's for it, planning on a tear down and a rebuild. I have a good friend that has been trying to sell a pretty decent 63 two door hard top for a couple of years. no play. If you could trade straight across that would be a good trade, around here anyway. things may be different in NY.
If you're still looking, I'd keep looking till I found a hardtop. Either way you're in for a full resto.
Consider, what it is you really desire......is it a stock original type car (265 engine/trans, etc.), or do you intend to make it more of a Hot Rod? If you won't be content with the stock drivetrain, it has now become a liability, rather than an ***et. Sure, you can get some bucks for them, but you still have to deal with them. ***ess what dollar figure it will require to make the changes you will require-body repair, paint, drivetrain, plating, interior, etc. then you know what will make sense to pay for that particular 57' versus maybe a considerably higher priced, but more what you really want 57', if the seller won't sell for that price, your search will continue....there are a lot of them still around. Your 64' has a value, that you can sell independently, sometimes trades just don't make sense.
10 grand for a two door post...Damn...the value of a '57 Chevy has certainly skyrocketed...I don't understand why, they are almost 1-800 cars now. I used to own 30 of them all at one time...however this was back in the early '70's...let me show you an excerpt of my upcoming GoodGuy's column en***led "Bangin' the Gears", this one should appear in the January issue: I’d picked this one up in the early 1970’s. It was a gorgeous ’57 210 with Bel Air trim on it…it was also one of the many '57 Chevys that I bought in the early 70’s. This yellow “vehicle,” for want of a better word, definitely had a mean streak...that car literally hated me from the day I took it home...but I think I only paid $400.00 for it After I’d sold my ‘64 Impala (that car liked me), I started buying up ’57 Chevys...loved ‘em…I lived in Commerce City (a suburb of Denver) and the ‘city fathers’ didn’t mind a back yard full of “old” cars. Back then, you could buy all the ‘57’s you wanted for around $75.00 -- $150.00 (two-doors/four-doors/cheap wagons) and/or no more than $500.00 for Bel Air hardtops and decent two-doors, some high end wagons and maybe a Nomad if you were lucky…I eventually owned 30 1957 Chevys…all at once, plus a ton of parts I’d removed from other ‘57’s that had been wrecked and/or parted out…and I stored all of those ‘removed’ parts atop my flat-roofed two car garage. R-
A 64 belair - 2 door sedan? originally equipped with a 327/4-speed must be rare, but is it as desireable as a 57? How sellable is it, especially at this point in the economy. Is your friend willing/interested in a trade? Do you like it more than a 57? Do you WANT a 57? As for value, the hardtops MAY be woth more money at the end of the rainbow, but I know there are lots of guys that will pay as much or more for a sedan-it has become a matter of personal taste, I think. Whatever work the car needs sounds easy, and an engine/trans swap IS as easy as 1-800.... I would be all over the that 57,(Del Rays are not that common, either) like a dog on a bone. But that's just me.
Around here 64s and 57s are equally desireable. Since you gave details on your car, it sounds like a trade. I'd want a big pile of cash in the 57's glovebox.
A truly rust-free never repaired car in upstate New York is going to bring a premium over the usual rusty **** we normally run into. $10K doesn't sound unreasonable to me.
Your right Studedude, they have gone way up. I've wanted a 57 since grade school, but, they where always way to high priced. So in '06 i bit the bullet. It was alot more than i wanted to spend, but, they aren't getting any cheaper. In 1987 i was in high school. A friend of mines mother was trying to sell a 210 two door sedan, running and driving, for $900. She ended up "selling" it to her nephew on contract. He never paid, she didn't care. I traded for a 55 two door sedan in about 90 or 91. He wanted $3500 to start with came all the way down to $1100. I trade an 86 Honda Nighthawk for it even and drove it home. i gave $650 for the motorcycle. things have definatly changed, and i don't see it going back anytime soon. Thats how i reasoned myself into paying so much for mine. I haven't regreted it abit. I love the car.
yes, it was gonna be a trade of his car and cash for my car... like i said the guy is a dealer and knows what my car is worth, given how clean it actually is. I'm waiting.. he and i are both on the fence. money for him, and another project for me...
Be careful not to pay dealer prices. He might think it is worth 15k or more. If your heart is set on a 57 shop around. If I were you I wouldn't worry so much on whether or not you got the best possible deal, just make sure YOU think you got a good deal on it. Facts are facts... It is a 57 Chevy and somebody will buy it even if it is a little high. I think it was Barnum that said, "There is a ****er for every saddle". 57 saddles are just a little easier to fill. POZ
You say (265v8 powerglide 210 delray coupe... all original numbers car) In 57 didn't all cars come with the 283 V8?
You could still get a 265 in '57 but I was always under the impression that the 265 could only be ordered with a stick trans in '57. Something there does seem off. A '57 Chevy 4 door sedan can become a 2 door sedan with the right parts and some welding skills. It's been done quite a few times, some good write ups here on the HAMB of the process, can be had a LOT cheaper than $10K.
i've never heard or a 265 57 either (not to say they never happend) but either way unless it's a fuel injected or a dual quad car number matching really doesn't mean much to the value. IMO
the 265 was an option.. they came a weird blue/green color...chartuse(spelling is wrong). the car is original.. The guy who has it got it from the original owner, plus i trust the guy.. and we were planning on running the number in the next step of the deal.. but i think we are on hold at the moment. He's finishing the resto on another one of his cars and needs to hold things up. But he also offerd the car if mine sells before he's ready. I'd be cool to get a late production number 56' 265 dual quad intake for it..... maybe some 4:11's... time will tell.
if its as rust free as you say,,, id jump all over the 57... are you gonna get enough boot to get the 57 on the road???
Ive got a late fifties, early sixtie's dual quad aluminum intake manifold for a corvette? Interested?