My second car was a 57 Chevy post with factory three on the tree. I sold my first car, a 31 Ford sedan, to get it. Should have kept both of them! It was 1964 and being in high school what the heck did I know??? My 57 was black and I put a Hurst floor shifter in it and tube grill I picked up second hand. Baby moons (still have them) from Massys in Oklahoma City on black wheels. Cruzed around at night and listened to Wolf Man Jack - he was still in down Tex/Mex then.
My mundane '57 210 post certainly would never equate to this, but I wished that I had it back when I saw this beauty. Black, silver/black interior, three on the tree coupled to a fire breathing(?) six, AM, bias blackwalls and dog dish caps, paint rubbed through to the primer on the hood.............. Unfortunately,my brother totaled it one night.......sigh.
So far no one has mentioned the Henry Gregor Felson novel "Crash Club" where the antagonist drives a black 57 Bel Air hardtop with Fuel Injection and a continental kit with an appropriate Latin inscription.
My 1st race car was a 56, why a 56 well I bought it from a car thief no title, no front clip no motor no seats etc. A real "car" was out of my price range. I rounded up the missing parts from a local wrecking yard and built a 30 over 265. (I still have the tranny) It was fairly sucessful for a "race car" built by a 16 year old kid. I was a full time student who did odd jobs during school and full time construction work in the summers. I never ever considered anything but a 55 or 56 "Cheby". Fords were slow and a 57 Chevy was completely out of my league...
I bought my '57 BelAir Tudor post sedan in '65 after finishing my first year of college. I took the 327 and three speed out of my Model A hot rod, added convertible front springs, station wagon rears, new big and little black walls, black wheels, and baby moons. Before school started it has a new paint job and a recovered front seat bottom with new original fabric. I had a great little sleeper and a lot of fun for the next few years. But by early '73 life had changed, I really needed a washer and dryer for diapers, etc., and it was gone for only $200. I miss that car.
Larry's car is clean and beautiful in color or B & W. It's a timeless look, the custom mods and the body style. My .02.
I picked up a 57 in the 60's for $75.00. It was a 4dr.hardtop white paint. No were near as nice as his car. But it brings back memories. I would like to have a 57 like this one.
As a kid in High School ('62 - '66) in Southern California, the tri five Chevys were very popular. There were several at my alma mater, Charter Oak High School. Some had the gasser look and some had more of a '50s look. One of my best friends had a solid white '57 2dr hardtop, much like the one that you posted. This to me, is the proper way to customize a tri five. Less is more! A beautiful example of a classic, thanks for posting. Here's another one that I think is "just right"!
I have to agree with you completely Ryan. I see that car almost every weekend at a local parking lot cruise here in mesa, and every time no fail I stop to admire the simple beauty and the owners use of restraint.
This silver/blue hardtop looks pretty sweet as well. The car that Ryan started this off with looks like the after, mine looks like the before. Same yellow and white hardtop, but stone stock. Dad loved it for having never been "screwed with" (he was a restorer) so I haven't had it in my to change it yet.
Nice post, and killer 57!! I've had my 57 2 door ht for 27 years now.....was my first car. Its gone through about 5 style changes over those years, and was planning on another one this coming summer, very similar to that car. Its timeless, clean and the perfect example of stylish simplicity. Tony
At one time I was pretty much completely bored with '57 Chevys. At that time it seemed that all of the '57s I saw were either pastel colored, restored stockers or bright red streetrods (poodle skirt or gold chain crowds). I first saw Larry's car when I moved to Phoenix almost 20 years ago. It reminded me that '57s could still be cool as hell and it instantly became one of my all time favorite machines. I now own two '57 Chevys, a business coupe (proper old gasser) and sedan delivery (gasser style street machine). Though mine are done in a different style, if Larry's car hadn't reminded me of how bitchin' a '57 could be all those years ago, I probably never would have even considered owning one.
Other then a 55 Nomad,I really like the styling of 57. My Dad needed a new wagon in early 1955,so off we went to the Chevy dealer,but they didn't have the lower $ wagon he was hopping for,did make him a smoking deel on a Nomad,red n cream! That was to me a super cool wagon yet it leaked oil n smoked for real,tell dealer after trying to fit it manytimes,they did finiely put a newer V8 283 in to it that was a pretty good motor vs V8 265 shit. I watched as Chevy tryed hard to run with the older Y-block Fords in NASCAR,by 1958 they did win some races. SBC V8 was not a hit with me tell after that. I built my first hotrod with a Ford Y-block V8 and some of my first racecars,but then raced SBC in my racecars for over 40+ years.
Anyone knows it should be hyphenated; it makes it longer. Now back to regularly scheduled programming..... I could never figure out the allure of a '57 Chev. A bridge too far as far as I'm concerned. '55's were raw and not bad with the Ferrari grille. '56's were a nice evolution but the '57's are strange. Dad's car with rear fenders that look like they were just tacked on and a front grille and bumper that seems to add a thousand pounds, not light and agile as the rear fenders try to suggest. The '58's were very nice. But if the '57 Chevys are so iconic how come Ford outsold them handily the same year? The featured car is better than some but .....
That car is somewhat of a cliche', but even though a cliche' denotes something that is overused, its because so many people love that look. That car looks like many I have seen in the past but it still is beautiful. Sometimes you just can't make perfection any better. You can do some restyling on these trifives, but if you change too much you lose the simple beauty of the car. Most look the best with just a clean up of the trim. I have had 55s and 57s and now have a 56 Chevy with a lot of the obligatory changes. They are a lot like Corvettes in that once you have one, you always seem to get another, they get into your blood.
Great car and a great story. I love when hot rods become family cars, and even more when it happens the other way around.
I get to a lot of shows for work. A great benefit of my job - and a bit of a curse too. Because I'm working while at the shows, I don't get a ton of time to check out the actual show as much as I'd like. I see so many cars over the course of a year that even the nice ones have to be pretty special to stand out to me. When I saw this 57 at Goodguys Scottsdale a couple months ago, it caught my eye. It definitely had "it."
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