History did any of you older guys remember how cool ,57 Chevys were in the '60s?

Man, I never thought I'd live to see the day when mor-doors were cool and Camaros weren't...Its like some of these guys are looking at our history through Alices looking gl***...

 

57's way cool, we use to ride around all night...can't believe I am still alive. 57 Bel-Air, 4 door (no window frame, just wide open), 283, glide and smooth. Don't know where we were, didn't know where we'd been, but we were THERE!

 

They are still cool! Here is ours which we have owned since 1973.

 

What's lurking under the hood? [emoji6]


What'cha got in there, kid?

 

Injected 210^ Love it!

 

Dude, another great thread. All their blood pressures went down, no one is arguing about tires or paint, all warm and fuzzy inside talking about the chevies they had when they were kids. Are you sure you aren't studying to be a social worker?

Did you buy any car? I miss your car hunting posts.

 

It's a clone but it is a 283, duntov cam, fuelie.

 

^^^^^^That is Sweet^^^

 

I almost bought a black 2-door hardtop in 1973. Under the hood there was a lot of chrome but the engine was locked up. It had a lace pattern painted on the hood and chrome reverse wheels. They were asking $150 for it. I didn't have the money and I figured the only way I could raise that much was to sell my running pink and white 55 Ford, I still have the Ford sitting in a shed at my Mom's where it's been since 1974.

 

I thought i saw a fuel injected engine in there. Thats rad!


What'cha got in there, kid?

 

The 57 is what started my interest in cars when I was 12 way back in '72. My folks grew up with the fin cars and never understood why I would be interested in them. They were considered old fashioned ugly and most all were rusting hulks on the road. Back then they were just old cars, that kids drove.
Mom had a cousin that bought a 57 brand new, and dad had this slide of it. I could not believe a 57 was in our family!
Fast forward to the mid 80's and while at a family re-union I finally got to meet cousin Jimmy and got to ask him about the 57. He was "oh that POS? I had so much damn trouble with that car, burned oil since day one!" He said he was happy to trade it in a few years later. At the time I was devastated.. An unhappy original 57 chevy owner?
They were just cars, same as any pos that rolls into the new car dealer bays I work at.

 

hello,
my best friend from hs had a white 57 chevy bel air hard top. we put in a 4 speed with a floor shifter, two 4 barrels to replace the stock carb, new wires, distributor, headers, stronger clutch, and 4:11 positraction. sometimes we messed around and raised the front end to make it look like a drag car, other times, we clamped the springs and lowered it somewhat. the ride was ****, but it sure looked mean. finally, we lowered it the correct way and it had a mean lowered stance. the motor was pretty strong, the car was fast, and it was a cool cruiser on the streets. it took some time for him to learn to speed shift on the floor, when he was used to the column shifter. the problem was that he liked the column shifter better on dates at the drive in movies. he was a character...
thanks,
jnaki

 

History has shown. Anything that a young guy likes, and was popular in his high school years will demand big money 30-50 years later. The Import/tuner (rice burner) craze of the early 2000's which is dead now, and the mini truck craze, which is also dead now...... so Honda Civics and S10's. Try finding a rust free 96 Honda Civic NOW...imagine in 40 years when that guy just retired with gobs of money, who watched the movie fast and furious during his sophmore year of high school.... you all will say "F(*&(* Honda Civics!, those cars are JUNK"....well that's what they said about 32 Fords during the s**** drive of WWII....

 

Don't be jealous, we also had a very unpopular police action, polio and the aftermath of it, scarlet fever, measles, mumps, chicken pox, rioting, above ground nuclear testing, the iron curtain . . .

The '50s and '60s were not all fun and games.

But yes the car culture was cool on steroids.

 

Had a few myself. Were cool cars . Got back from Viet-nam Got a 67 chevelle convert SS396 hard to beat. If i rember it was $2,300 new

 

I bought my first 57 Chev. in late 61. They were very popular in the L.A. area then. One night while cruising Hollywood Bl. we got the idea to get all 57's to cruise together so each one we seen we drafted them to come along. I don't remember how many we finally had but it was impressive. I must admit that when they came out new I was very disappointed in the looks but eventually grew to like them. The 57 Ford was and is one of the ugliest cars Ford made, next to the 58 and 59 that is.

 

Everywhere I go in my 57, people tell me about how they had one or their parents had one and how cool it was. So to answer the original question, yes, I think people knew these cars were special.

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In the 60's I had two 55's, a 56', and a 57 Chevy. I have very fond memories of them all, but the 1957 Nomad was the favorite. As many of us did, I sold them all by the end of the 60's........but, after all these years, I just had to get another one!!

 

^^^Beautiful^^^

 

Even Uncle Sam appreciated '57 Chevs. This pic is from a motor pool in Germany, wonder how many are still around over there?

 

Wow! That's a lot of staff cars.

 

I wonder if those lowly 4dr 150's (likely 6cyls?) came with their dog dish hubcaps or not?

 

Hub caps were an option that you paid extra for, as were radios, heaters, ash trays, cig lighters.

Most cars came equipped, but they were an option.

 

When I flunked out of Bloomfield NJ College Jan of 1968 I bought a 1957 Chevy 2 door post car ($60.00) with a smashed drivers tail fin, pounded it out good enough to get the taillight and chrome on and drove it until I went in the US Navy June of '68, cool car, 283 2 bbl power glide with a steering wheel the size of a gray hound Bus! sold it for $75... would love to have it back

 

I would say the standard cap is the poverty cap and full wheel covers were optional.

 

Nope all hub caps were optional. That was pretty standard across the board even into the '60s.

Notice the cars in the motor pool? Those are no frills '57 Chevies. They didn't have a grease monkey take all of them off.

 

Well said!!!

 

LOL I thought that K-9 was a WWII era Hostel.

@ $700.00 a pop for toilets someone made a killing on those old Chebbys.

 

******
I think you are thinking of the K-Y Hotel in Bangkok