Mark Degroff is the owner and builder of that..Last time I spoke with him, it was getting a big FE and 4 speed...
I agree, $1,500.00 is a lot of money for just a fender! The last '57 Ford fender, used, and in good condition, was $75.00 and a '58 Ford hood was $100.00. The stuff is still out there in these small rural areas like the one we live in. Hell, a complete '57 Custom Coupe is selling for $1,500.00 and all the body work has been completed.
Thats a good price for a solid Custom Tudor. Those are my favorites, followed by the Custom 300 Tudor. I love the shorter wheelbase cars, better looking than the longer Fairlanes... I did buy a Custom Fordor last year for $400, got a bunch of good parts off it. Been kinda sorta looking for a decent Country Sedan (4 door wagon) to mess with, but not real seriously yet..
My first car (1978) was almost a '57 Ranchero. Almost because dad said it was a "gas hog." I love '57 Fords and like everyone else I would love to have a '57 300 sedan, stock. This Ranchero is right on, by the way.
My first car and it's a '57 Ford with a 352 Police Interceptor. And my last '57 Ford, kissed a telephone pole doing 75mph cutting the pole in 3 pieces pushing the motor and trans into the front seat. We figure the only thing that saved us was that the hood popped open kicking the pole upward and away and the speed.......... My grandpa bought it brand new and later sold it to me for $300. Didn't have it a week. Don't drink & drive!
Was the engine a 351 CID (Windsor small block or a Cleveland modified big block) or a 352 Police Interceptor?
Damn John, I should know better than lie to you, yep it was a 352, corrected my post...................
Did you know that the 352 was the pre-cursor to the 390 FE stuff? fyi. And "lie" is such a harsh word. I have a '60 Ford Fairlane 500 2-door Club Coupe, full dress Sheriff's Patrol Vehicle. It has a 292 CID and the typical engine for law enforcement was the 352 CID. The Fairlane only had 60,000 miles on it when I bought it so could not dump the 292 for a 352. Now, three years later, I have a Y-block expert building me a replacement 292, it is a really nice engine that just needs freshening up. I will put the origninal 292 away and save it for a rainy day.
What an awful thing to do to such a beautiful Fairlane 500! Damn! Are these both the same car? The B & W is of a Fairlane and the totalled is a Fairlane 500
The Custom and Custom 300 models, wagons and Rancheros in '57 and '58 rode on a 116-inch wheelbase. The Fairlane and Fairlane 500 had a 118-inch wheelbase. As for the '57 hitting a telephone pole at 75 m.p.h. I'd say that's "Built Ford Tough"
Remember the "cereal car" toys of the 50's? Lots of nice Fords came out of those cereal boxes and are now in collections and on ebay.
1957 was a banner year for Ford. One of the very few years that Ford outsold Chevy. Where did all the '57 Fords Go? In Canada we had '57 Meteors as well as Fords.They too are almost non existant. The 57 ford was a good looking car,the Y block,especialy the 312 was a real tire burner.I liked them,but very seldom see one at any shows here.I always wonder why. l
The '57 Fords were destroyed starting almost immediately in 1957 and then for 10 more years on the race tracks in both the US and Canada. They were perfect race cars right from the git-go. Wide and low stance made them perfect for the dirt tracks from Coast to Coast and all the Provinces across Canada. Then the '57 Chevs, actually 55 56 and 57, took off and put the '57 Fords out of the spot light - too bad! When I finished my '57 in 1992 it was very rare, both here in the Pacific Northwest and Central BC, to run across another '57 Ford at a car show. Just within the past 10 years we are seeing more of them, very happy about that!
I bought a 57 fender, NOS, out of Hemmings in 1986. It cost $600 then. Because they are such a complicated stamping, and that they rusted out so quickly in most of the states, they are sometimes pricey. I've sold 57 fenders for $300 a pair that needed every patch panel. A donor car with a nice front clip is like gold, and like mentioned earlier, sometimes cheaper. As to where they all went?....my dad raced stock cars back in the 60's in upstate NY, and he went thru nearly a dozen 57 & 58's. Seems they were pretty popular when it came to winning in an oval back then.
This is my brother so I will post some pics for him. I also have a couple. I have a 57 Ragtop and a 57 Ranch Wagon. I will post some pics of those later. Here is his F-code custom: Here is it on a mousepad from Y-blocks forever: Video of it racing at Tulsa speedway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9qTlsLoyRA&feature=channel Here is his last couple 312's: Here is my hardtop I just sold to buy a ragtop. It had a 428 CJ and C6 Kinda of a cool pic of my hardtop when it was used for a Culver's TV ad: Video of my hardtop racing at Tulsa Speedway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpcTQ9tLNi8&feature=channel
I know it is not a 57 Ford but I also need to post a pic my Dad's Edsel. This is the World's fasted Edsel and proved it several years in a row! I will attach the youtube video: If someone knows how to embed these videos, let me know... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8DKMBrvPcI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g4a3atNo6w&NR=1
Pat, you musta been crankin' that old Y to saw it in hapf that way, my gawd, lol. Good work, and the old Custom is still looking good as ever...JPotter
I love a 57 ford probably one of the best cars I have owned. I love them in wagons layed out on the ground.
Here's a few of one my old 57's. I dropped a 351 Cleveland in it, fun car. The white 57 ragtop is my dads'. We took that shot at Brooks BBQ in NY on the way back to Cleveland from the Road Agents show in CT a few years back.
Here's a shot of my first 57, a Custom 300 I bought from an old woman from Galipolis, Ohio back in 86. I was 15 years old. It had only 29k original miles on it, I drove it for years. I sold it to a guy from Maryland at Carlisle one year, never saw it again. The green wagon was my dad's back then. The Country Squire was a driving parts car, had a hot 312 Merc with green heads and a 4 speed toploader. It really flew for a big old wagon. I'm putting the 312 in our Model A, the wagon was too rusty to save.
Beautiful cars! Thank you for sharing! I have a Cleveland in my '57 and believe it to be one of Ford better V8's. I also have two more early Clevelands in storage to use in the future! V-2's with V-4 conversion intake manifolds. My wife had a '70 Boss 302 when we started the '57 and those m***ive V-4 heads were a little more radical then I wanted because we were building a driver
That Y block surprises me also. My Bro abused a blown one and never hurt it. Before modern day cams etc.
Does any one have a original powerr brake booster for a '57? I'm building a '58 and they uesd the same one. Also I have a friend is building a '57 with a 572 in it, very cool. thanks charlie hotroder69us@yahoo.com
'57 Custom, low rent grocery gitter, with 390 (0.30), C-6, mild cam, Get in, set down, hold-on and shut up. I HAVE HAD THIS CAR FOR 19 YEARS. It is FOR SALE Dan Rembert, SC dlmarx@bellsouth.net
Back in 1957 my brother-in-law bought a brand new '57 Chevy 2 door hardtop, took delivery at 9:00pm and put it into a phone pole at 1:00am the next morning. It sit in our back yard until the insurance problems were taken care of, looked alot like yours and oh ya! He was drinking too!!! He and my sister bought a '57 Ford after that.
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