I have a 57 country sedan. She's a rebuildable core at this point. Wisconsiners would consider it rust free. Just a little in the floor corners and lower front fenders. 312 Thunderbird special with a "birdcage" 4bbl. Factory clock,padded dash,class 3 trailer hitch with trailer brake,badge on passenger door saying "Air Conditioned for Ford by Select Aire" with vents at the windshield base. 55k original miles and I just picked up a 1960 alumalite camper to tow with it. Probably start a build thread early next year. I'm not gonna go overboard with the gettit running/restore/rebuild. Prolly just getter safe for the charming wife and long rides.
There is a red/white '57 Fairline 500 2dr sedan at my dad's shop that is just sitting in the weather. The car is fairly solid but needs rockers and quarters. The original interior was nice until someone broke the vent window, and now it's starting to go downhill pretty fast. It's a 312 with 4bbl and 3 on the tree.
I still have the '57 Ranchero I drove in High school. I am going to get it back on the road this year. CBB
57 Ford 300... black and bad....Now that's what I am talking bout..... ... none of that poodle skirt,fuzzy dice bullshit....
My daily driver. 3 57/58 Ranchero I've had, love-em. For you guys wanting a black sedan there was a nice one here for sale, 292 with a 5 speed I believe. Looks just like the above ones. The guy is generally awful proud of his stuff ($$$) but who knows, maybe I'm just cheap. PM me if you want the info on it.
The 57 is one of my favorites ! My cousin had one when i was younger and he would beat the living piss out of that car and it never let us sitting on the side of the road . That was one of the styles that had that look of speed and power , well at least to me it did . When I was looking for an older Ford a few years ago there was anything around my area so I ended up with another favorite . I bought a 55 Ford . I would still love to find a nice 57 because I have a nice 460 with C6 that would love to sit inside ! RetroJim
The only new car my Dad ever bought was a black '57 hardtop. He was working at White Sands proving grounds in Alamagordo, NM. One of the big dogs at the base ordered it for his wife and when it came in she decided she didn't want a black one. So Dad bought it. 312, 3 speed. He put skirts on it and had it nosed and decked. There is a 2 door sedan for sale on a lot in Madill, OK. Don't know any details on it. Looks to have some body damage behind the drivers door but not real bad.
They're actually a bear to fit big motors in. The upper control arms tuck in real close so as to create issues with engine width and exhaust routing. Don't ask me how I know
Dang, Jeff. I like '57 Fords, too! There are two guys near me that have '57 Fairlane 500 Coupes. I just drool when I see them. I followed one guy around one day to try to see where he lived but finally gave up. He was enjoying his cruise and I was beginning to feel like a stalker.
The 57 Ford 300 is my favorite Ford. I like the sparse trim and the spartan simplicity. I would like to have one solid black or maybe black and gold. One day I might have one if I ever finish my 62.
Yea, it was PDQ. I guess the statute of limitations is up on it, so here's the story. A buddy of mine owned the car back in the mid 60's. When he bought it, it had a 390/3 speed swapped in. He knew a guy who had the 63 1/2 Galaxie. His friend couldn't make the payments on the Galaxie, so the bank was gonna repo the car. You can guess the rest. The Galaxie got repoed with the 390/3 speed in it. I ended up with the car (but not the engine/transmission) and I'm letting it age under a shed until it's a genuine barn find. (G) Larry T
Love a '57 Ford. Maybe better than a '57 Chevy. Less common. Here's a couple off the net. Opposite ends of the spectrum. White cruiser and black gasser. Cool.
Well, you've got lots of options, and like anything it depends on how much you want to spend, how much you want to crack into the car, and what your desired use/end result is. I had a 272 Y block in mine, and though they are obviously a good choice for many reasons, Y blocks do have their drawbacks (I'm not going to get into it here, there are several threads relating to the topic already on the HAMB). Pretty much all Ford motors work well. SBF is a great fit, so the 289/302 is fantastic choice if performance and value are on the top of your list. The FE Ford (352/390/427) will fit well too. Remember that 58 Fords had the 352 from the factory, and 57s have the same chassis, so the FE is an easy swap. I believe the Merc 410 is also an FE, and is wicked cool, though pretty rare. Also, and I'm just saying, the SBC is an easy swap into one with a Chevy II front sump oil pan. I personally went with a Chrysler power plant in the way of '65 383 B motor. What that engine provided was exactly what I was looking for performance wise, but also had the reliability, strength, etc that I demanded. The swap was a real nightmare though, and after a long time of tweaking, I finally ironed out the issues and had a real nice setup that has lasted me many trouble-free years of enjoyment. I could do the same swap again easily and would be more than happy to guide anyone through it. Bottom line, watch out for excessively wide motors, keep starter location in mind for steering box clearance, and if you're using the stock suspension, use a front sump oil pan.
I've had fourteen 57's (Fairlane, Retractable, Business Coupe, two Ranchero's, and rest have been wagons)... if you are going for looks almost anything can be upgraded and modified to be a great preformer... but, the born to rust 57's were a solid performing -well handeling car from the factory... first year for wrap around frame (replacing ladder bar style) and a suspension that stock car drivers dominated the track with in the 57-64 useage of that frame... simple modifications like cutting 3/4 of a station wagon coil and granada brakes lowers the front and handles great... they ran 289's in 64 so a small block Ford is a factory setup and by fliping the motor mounts any FE series will bolt in since it was factory 58 thru 64 as well... if you want more cubes the 429/460 will fit with the bigest problem being the radiator which can be custom made or use 6 cyl radiator side mounts and use V8 tanks in a simple rebuild... there is a reason why they sold over 120,000 wagons which brought Ford sales higher than Chevy that year - they made a better wagon than any of the competetors... now the down side - first year for compund curves and they were clueless about the moisture traps they created... they were rusting going out the door... which is the reason alot of the became scrap... the good news is that most of the panels are available in repro... leaving the fenders as the biggest prolem although patch panel are available for them too... A point of interest for anyone thinking about chopping a Ranchero... I bought a chopped 57 Ranchero that used to belong Butch's Rod Shop and when I compared the winshield highth to my wagon it looked like I had a difficult task ahead in replacing the windshield then I took a measurement off of a Retractable and found the opening was the same... very slick idea... chopped top and OEM curved windshield! and by the side windows it is a 2.5 to 3" chop
It get's a little weirder. The R code engine eventually ended up with a guy I knew in a neighboring town. Doug was a collector and had more cars than you could shake a stick at. He died a while ago and they sold all of his cars. The engine was sold in a package deal with a 63 1/2 Galaxie that had (you guessed it) a 390/3 speed in it. But it was a different car that came from the factory with the 390/3 speed od transmission.
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