My friend and I were wondering what a new 57' Chevy 270 powered 2 dr Bel Air hard top would have cost in 57' I was thinking 1,800 to 2,000 bucks ? DND
Bel Air Series - V82454 1037D 2 dr Hardtop Coupe - 6P $2,399 options...probably a couple hundred for the hipo motor
That $2400 will about 21,000 thousand in today's money. A hell of a deal. Now watch someone say: "I was only making 50 cent a hour, on my paper route!"
not much different from what new Chevys cost, if you could get them without all the standard stuff that was optional back then (or not available). Although the ability to only get a high perf engine, no other options, is something you can't really do today.
For comparison, a base model 210 2 door sedan with a straight 6 and nothin' else would have been $2122. So a Bel Air at $2399 was about 10% more. Of course, now I'm mentally checking off my order sheet. Black 210, 283/283 fuelie, HD 3 speed (no 4 speeds factory installed in passenger cars till '59), 4.11 Positraction rear, Wonderbar to bring in the Wolfman, and an outside mirror. Remove the poverty caps in the dealer's lot and leave 'em off. Done.
Dad was in the market for a new car in '57, so he looked at a Belair hardtop which cost approx. $2400. Now, the best part of the story is that he thought we needed more room, so we traveled a couple of towns over to look at a Nomad! Nope, Pop said, too much money ( l believe a couple hundred more)! He ended up with a Belair hardtop, 283 2bbl, auto, black with a white top and ww tires. Not two shabby for a second choice and, probably the best car he ever had. I still miss that car, even got to drive a couple of times ( illegally).
I would go with a Belair 2dr sedan, black. . . Nevermind, I have that already! Sent from my SM-G900V using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Bel Air hardtop $2400 210 2 door sedan $2100 pickup truck $1400. This is why there was a brief vogue for custom pickups in the mid fifties, you could buy pickup truck with V8 and stick shift even if you could not afford a new car. Ed Roth was one who bought a basic Ford pickup in 1956 for this reason. Notice that it was the cheapest model with no chrome on the window frames, grille or bumper. But he dolled it up with paint, hubcaps, and tonneau cover. A few of these showed up in car magazines in the late fifties, the fad blew over quickly because in a couple of years you could buy a used car with OHV V8 if you couldn't afford a new one.
Personal opinion here but I think the '57 Chevy's were the cream of the crop when it comes to the '55-'57 GM's,but the Nomad to me is the best looking '57. HRP
I know you guys are talking about what a '57 chevy cost new here but this thread reminded me what my grandpa used to say over and over again. his first car was a used model t that cost them $17.00. Yes seventeen dollars because they couldn't afford a used model a that was priced at $25.00. Even at $17, they had to finance it at $1 a month payments. Not sure what year this was though. Another story he kept telling over and over again was working for the county highway department and making $5.00 a week.
The last old car on my list, first car, 1964, 57 210 2 door, intend to make a 57 my next and last old car. Have had the good fortune to have some great rides and am winding down now and my late model OT rides are getting used more every summer. Short Story, 1960, I'm 12, neighbor's son gets out of service and buys a 57 BelAir 2 door hardtop, turquoise/white top, V8 auto, took me cruising with him and his sweety, also he purchased a Harley Dressor w/ shift on gas tank, again, took me cruising when sweety had to work, aside from my Dad/Mom, growing up around racing, that man influenced my life greatly, had cycles for 36 years, car crazy always. Have searched for him, no luck, would like to Thank !!! him for his kindness. Point of story, Be Nice To Everyone, you never know how much you can positive influence someone's life.
I am not sure that nice is the key. be available. I am not nice by nature, I didn't grow up around men who were nice by nature. But they were available, if you needed help or had a question they were there. I think that we miss it. We are too busy to lend a hand when someone asks. Getting back the '57 Chevy question, they were within the reach of most blue collar workers. If you had credit and a job you could have one. If you were a sacker at a grocery store not so much but that was not a career that was something that high school kids did after school and on weekends.
Thanks guys for the numbers, this is my 57' I bought in late 59' 270 momo bored a 1/8 to 301 for a good street racer and I don't remember what I paid for it. Sold it in late 60' to start building my 37' gasser
A quick question for you and it is just a question, OK? When you say 270 do you mean 283? Or is there some other motor that I am not aware of?
I got an idea that MOMO is SoCal for mouse motor. I have been rolling it around in my head and while fuzzy it seems I have heard the term. And like @slowmotion says the 270 is probably an HP number, I seldom (never?) here them called out that way but it makes sense.
if any of us would buy a new 57 it would have the 283, and the HP number is the only thing that might be different. So of course he's gonna refer to it as a 270
A lot depends on the options. My dad bought a new 57 Bel Air, loaded up, ps,pb,wonder bar radio,whitewalls ,full hubcaps,power pak, etc. He paid 3650. for it. A friend bought a new 59 Bel Air, 290 horse, fuelie,4 speed, and positraction. Cost him 3975. So, not all cars were cheap, even back then.
Yeah, I'd go with a White, 150 2 door sedan, 270 / 283, 3 speed, 3:70 Posi, with a pushbutton radio and deluxe heater. Oh, and tinted glass and blackwalls. Wouldn't need anything else.
Any of us would refer to people like you and I. I have grown to believe that we are the exception to the rule on this site. 235s seem to be the motor of choice for soooooo damned many, its a shame. I have only been on this planet since the middle of that decade but I only remember them being called out by induction and cubic inches. Not to say that HP rating is wrong or that the logic is bad, it just took a while to figure it out for me today and I still needed a little help.
I bought a used '57 150 model two door in late 1960 for 785 dollars and traded in a '50 Studebaker Starlight coop...I was earning $17.50, take home a week, working part time...I paid back my Dad weekly, the insurance on the car and still had money left over for drag racing bets on Friday and Saturday nite, cruising in our small Iowa town and 15.4 cent a gallon gas... You can read about that car in my first two books: "Bangin' Gears & Bustin' Heads" and "Fast Cars, 4-speeds and Fist-fights", available on Amazon....!!! R-
my 57 in 66 sold it in 72 for 500 bucks still regret that.......car that carried my first born home from hosp.
That is probably close to what they were selling for any place that I lived in '72 the 500-800 dollar range.
Yep PB bay area 1972 I was second owner, it still had 180 comp in all 8 and used 20wt oil with 40 lbs pressure ran like a top still miss it even if it had valve covers!......... car times and values sure have changed........
Considering that the 1955 median income for a family in the USA was $100 per week, it was a big deal to buy a new Chevy. It was half a years salary. In 1955-57 when you found a penny on the sidewalk you picked it up. http://yesiamcheap.com/cost-of-living-1950-compared-to-2011/
I still pick up pennies. LOL When we bought our country house I turned in over a thousand dollars in pennies to the bank to help finance the house. It is funny, I was looking at numbers the other day, the income to be considered to be middle class these days is over 100K. That puts me right on the lower edge of poverty. If I wanted to own a new chevy I would. The wife bought her first new car this century, it is a chevy.
All of us guys hanging At Bob's just used the ' 270 term ' for the engines that we all had in our Chevys That was the HP for the factory 2 quads and the Duntov cam package that we all used, worked very well right off the showroom floor Ran 90-92 mph stock, a little tune and glass packs and 95 or so , pretty darn good for those days Since they were a 283 based engine and a few like mine were bored 1/8 over for the 301, then only guy I knew ran a 1/2 stroker crank for his 352 because they cost a ton back then I really liked that ribed side panel that really made the car along with the bullets on the hood DND
D.N.D. Boy you are bringing out some mixed emotions here and sounds like I have plenty of company. Bought this in 1970 while still in high school, not sure for how much, but these $500 quotes sound familiar. Being the budding hot rodder that I was; it was imperative that my car have all the things that was being touted as "gotta haves" in all the magazines. This should sound real familiar to most of you. First was replace the Fenton shifted 3 speed with a Hurst "C" shifted B/W T-10. Next was a set of Cragars that local funny car ace Kenney Goodell got for me at cost ($70), Cragar was one of his sponsors. Appliance headers and Purple Hornies were followed by a 600 Holley on an alumium adapter. Homemade Lakewood style slapper bars were followed by broken axles and spider gears, gotta have 4.11's now, check. THE next "gotta have" was a homemade fiberglass Jenkins "Grump Lump" style hood scoop. Can't forget the prerequisite 8 track tape deck either. Finally the yellow/white repaint because there was an original one around that really flipped my trigger. Gotta have flames, check, then a set of Fuely emblems and flags. Now here is the part that makes me think the purchase price was $500, that is exactly what I sold it for after spending who knows how much money on it. Thanks for the memories D.N.D.
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