57' Chevrolet's still moves the heart of many. It could be a 57 Cameo Pickup restored to its original splendor. You may find them restored with the latest and the best of what's new like disk brakes and crate motors with hundreds of horse power. Custom paint jobs to die for are the order for the day.
The beginning of the true American Hot Rod era the icon of the 50's was and still is the cars and trucks built in 1957. Visit any classic car show and you are sure to find one of these classics customized and restored to better than new condition. Ridding in and driving one of these classics is like a dream.
You could buy a 57 Chevrolet in one of three official trim packages available in the day. The standard base trim package was the 150 model. In the next level trim package known as a mid range package with up-graded interior was just a bit nicer and less of the utility grade. The top of the line trim package was the well known Bel-air. There were a few special trim packages produced known as the Delray that came in some of the two door sedans. The short production run limited edition station wagon two door was called the Nomad with Bel-air trim. Collectors desire more so today than back in the 50s because of the fact that is only had two doors instead of four. One other limited model the EL Morocco known as the baby Cadillac was a hand built version that are very rare today.
The popularity of the 57 Chevy's had a lot to do with Chevrolet's new V8 introduced in 1955. It was touted as having 1 horse power per cubic inch for the 283. This gave a big boost to the start of American motorsports history. The Chevy's of the day entering the start of the true muscle car history were always first at the drag strips and number one in circle racing. The small block 283 V8 was and still is today a power package the just could not be beat.
It is kind of funny that Chevrolet was dreaming of some brand new car design for 1957. But what we ended up with was the same thing as the 1955 version but with a few simple changes produced the true classic icon we all know and still love today. The changes were simple with the addition of the famous tailfins and some reshaping of the windshield. The air ducts were also moved to the headlight pods and the look was very distinctive. The look even back in 57 was classic indeed and loved the world over.
The 57 design got the wider front grille and they opted for fourteen inch wheels over the larger fifteen inch wheels to give the new model a wider look and lower stance. The 1957 Bel-air could be purchased with and anodized gold trim for the script and grille which produced a very ritzy look.
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