Features The Perfect Cliché...

Holy mackerel.

I envision my '57 wagon styled very similarly some day.

Thanks Ryan- that is a beautiful car.

 

Hey cool! I had a tiny something to do with this one! Tom P.M.ed me and asked if I could help him find a phone number... and here it is!

The hook on this car for me too is the stance... That slightly lower in front, later custom stance. It wouldn't work any other way!

 

That car reminds me of friends car circa 1965, same model, but in a nice orange that really worked, Hurst three speed floor shifter, power pack 283, interior had been redone to replace the tired fabric in a similar vinyl, a college student doesn't have a big budget. He graduated from college, thought the car wouldn't "look right" for a Civil Engineer and sold it taking his mothers well optioned 64 Ford hardtop. I haven't seen him since 1965 -- I wonder if he regrets his decision? Edit-----After writing this post I did a little sleuthing, after about a half an hour of digging around I found a couple of phone numbers for who I thought to be him, one was disconnected, the other was good. I reached a lady, she was a little "stand offish" initially, asking why I was calling etc, but once we got by that I found that he had passed away six months ago I did have a nice visit with her (and I hope her day was a little brighter after we talked) and did ask her if she remembered him talking about that 57 Chevy, she did remember and said he regretted selling everyone of his cars. I wish now that I would have called a year ago.

 

I think that hard-on should be hyphenated or maybe it's just me being cliche.

 

If you guys are like me you had a friend with a 57 Chevy that underwent mild custom trick,my pal Mike took the gun sites of the hood and rolled them like Larry' car and always talked about a different grill but that never happened and the car found a new home.

Here in the South as a teenager the most popular cars were the tri 5 Chevy's,they were everywhere.

Now ,I need to state up front I am not a Chevy guy but I have always had a soft spot for the 55 Chevy,give me a post model with minimal trim and toss that front bumper,add a strong sbc and a 4 speed and that would be my entry into the tri 5 years. HRP

 

Beautiful! And you have to admire a guy who can make a mild custom out of a 57, rather than hot rodding it.

 

When I was a kid, there was a black one in our small town with the same hood treatment & similar stance. How I pined for that thing....damn that just looks right!

 

Had a 57 BelAire when I started dating my wife if the late 60's and a 56 BelAire in the early 70's after we were married. She would like to have another 57 but don't know if I have it in me to build another car, working on one for the last few years and not getting very far. I've always wanted another 57 but never got around to getting one.

 

I thought about this a bit more since I posted.

Tri-fives are a bit newer than my brain processes. Having grown up in the "street rod" era, I kinda shut things off at about '48 for the most part. I have a few later dalliances, (Love my stupid early sixties Falcons!) but otherwise later stuff just doesn't jerk my chain.

But if some body said "You, Chip Quinn, MUST build a tri-five", it would probably be along the lines of a '56 2 dr sedan, low trim line, dark color and dropped a bit with chrome reverse or early sixties mags, a 2 four barrel 283, and a TREMEC hidden underneath with a handle that say says "Muncie" or "Hurst". Oh, and a pair of "Corvette" valve cover and steering wheel, Gotta have those!
As an alternate, I'd do the same with a '57 210 2dr., too, but the '56 gets me more.

But, tell my soul I have to build one of these as a custom... That would take some thought. 'Tell you what though, the results would be fairly close to this with maybe a set of Skylarks replacing the chrome reveses... Hell, that or a Nomad version of the same.

 

One of my best friends in high school in the early '80s had a '57 with a 327,power glide,and 60s vintage Cragars.Great stance and an ultimate chick getter.In the late 80s I was running a dealership and one of my vendors had a gorgeous white '57 convertible.It kept taking second place in the big national shows and after listening to advice from other people,he sold the white car and bought an identical black one.He massaged that car to perfection and after much work,he's at another show.He took second again and the worst part of all,he got beat by his old white convertible.I guess if there is a moral to this story,it's that if you like your car,it doesn't matter what other people think.

 

I have always loved `55-`57's; that one is about as cool as they get. In 1968, I "bought" a faded orange '57 h-top with a toasted 283 ;for $100.00 of my paper route earnings...guy sold it out from under me the next day. Oh well... picked one up in 1988; this one just might push me into getting her back out. 427,Muncie,real Americans,R&P, raspy primer...last ran in`02.

 

There is a fine line between cliche' and classic. It's easy to see where the tri-fives fall. I think some of the hate on these cars is simply a result of their perpetual popularity. Buick grilles simply kill in 57s, cleaning up some of the busyness. (Or is it busy-ness?). I hate to admit it, but I think Duntov was right about the 56 being the best looking of the three. And the black and white pics rule. Thanks.

 

I have had four 55's and one 56 ragtop. The 56 was my first car and the guy I bought it from was a jerk and really screwed up much of the car. It was pretty Bronze over Cream convert, but a mutt. Learned a lot about buying used cars and moved on. Next 55 2dr. Belair hardtop. 370 Pontiac motor. Fast car but I did not build it. Next was the best one I have ever had. It was a 55 belair 2dr. Post car. Car was driven to Port Chester New York by a college kid from Calif. When he got to NY he sold the car to Joe's used cars in Port Chester. I bought the car after driving by the lot. We went to Port Chester often since it was just over the CT. line and you could buy beer at 18 years old instead of 21 in CT. I paid 175. dollars for a rust free 55 stick six. Anyway I redid everything mechanical on that car. Vette mill 411's
but I left the car stock paint, interior, hubcaps etc. It was the best tri5 I have ever had. I could blow off GTO's It was a real fake out. Should have never sold it! The next two were everyday drivers a wagon and another 2dr.post that got hit head on one night on my way home from work. That is the only one I have photos of.

 

My LA friend back in the 60's had a root-beer brown 56 Belair post car, black tuck&roll (everyone had black interiors back then incase you wanted to paint the car ha ha ) and this car was dropped just right with chrome rims and it had a record player in it...wow we sure had fun cruising that car...

 

Cool - in High School had a nice '55 post Hot Rod, that a drunk totaled for me, and a '57 - no where near the quality of Larry's. still would like a '56

 

Some may have seen the 57 that Boyd Cottington did on American Hot Rod some years ago. I didn't like that car but Ryan's post does it for me.

 

Bet it ain't the first time you ever googled with one.................sorry, just couldn't help myself

 

Am I the only guy in the world that doesn't lust for a tri-five Chevrolet. They were around when I was a kid, but I never thought of them as special. 58s , to me were better, but it was 63 before Chev made a good looking car. jmho

 

Nice looking car, but then I got a soft spot for white over yellow '57 Chevys.

I was 14 or 15 when I decided I wanted a 55-57 Chevy for my first car. My Dad helped me purchase and repair a 1957 Belair sport coupe when I was in high school (see avatar) and I still own it today.

 

boy do i like this shot, the colors, lighting, angle and of course the car

 

Yessir, there are a shipload of tri-5's because they are such an outstanding design, every other body had to have one.

Thanks Ryan, for pointing that out and setting the record straight. And you are correct:

1. the grille is tits
2. the rake is perfect
3. Tom is one helluva photographer
4. Larry has one gorgeous car

 

The tri fives were and still are everywhere............
all my buddies in the mid-late 60s had them
so, I had to have them all. One at a time of course........
2 55s Hardtop and convert
1 56 Hardtop
1 57 Nomad
unfortunately, their all long gone now..........

 

Your grandkid is going to write a similar JJ post in 30 years about Deuces. No offense to Deuces or Tri-Fives... Anything can be run-of-the-mill, or cool and unique.

 

Or Fox-body Mustangs and G-bodies.

 

Love the white wheel wells!
Many years ago when I was a teenager my best friend Tom got a '57 Belair convertible for his 16th birthday, black, white top, red and silver interior.
The '57 was a 10 year old cream puff, always garaged and owned by an older lady neighbor of his.
The first thing he did was have dual exhaust put on it, then remove the hubcaps, and finally paint the front wheel wells white!
What a great car for a 16 year old in 1967!
He had it about 2 months and his older sister "borrowed it" one night, drove it off the road into the Housatonic river, it was a total loss
What a shame, and his sister only got wet!
KK

 

That's how I like to see the Tri-Five Chevys. They are like a naturally beautiful woman who doesn't need a ton of makeup to look good because they already have the "good look." I am a late baby boomer and I can remember a time (growing up in socal) where it seemed like everyone had a Tri-Five Chevy, and not just teenagers but the older people too (think greatest generation). If you didn't own one, you knew someone who did, a family member, a friend, a neighbor.
They were so popular that Chevy tried to recapture that magic with the introduction of the Chevelle in 1964. In my family alone, we had every style (and year) except for a convertible. The biggest mistake in my life was selling my 55 Nomad. I can go on and on about the Tri-Five Chevys but to cut it to the chase, they are a true American Icon. U.S.A-1

 

A stock looking tri five with only the hubcaps popped off and no added bells or whistles, catches my eye more these days.