This is an important bulletin! FLASH! After not seeing a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere in who knows how long, this investigator has now spotted a SECOND one on eBay in addition to the one reported to you on December the 3rd, 2020. The so-called “CC Effect” has struck again! Please stay tuned to this frequency for more details . . .
Yes, I’m making a big deal out of this because just when I thought that nearly all of these ephemeral ’57 Plymouth sedans had vanished from the scene decades ago, this one appears, located in The Villages, Florida. And it’s in such splendid condition too!
The listing claims this is a total restoration, with over $67,000 invested, including $12,000 in chrome! Starting bid is $49,800.
Imagine trying to explain to this guy that the creampuff ’57 Plymouth he has on his lot would be worth $49,000 in the year 2021 A.D.!
This car is done up like the red and white ’58 Belvedere hardtop in the 1978 movie Christine (note the license plate). I’m not sure these are the car’s original colors, but I think it looks dynamite!
Check out this cockpit. Lots of gold and chrome–pure jazz!
In fact, I never knew how upscale these Belvederes were, what with that gold mylar trim and patterned fabric–everything color coordinated! It looks so, dare I say, well made! Such a shame so few are still with us.
Note to insiders: I have not been able to find any ’57 Plymouth existing today that has the open grille slots as seen in this ad. If you find one, please contact this station immediately!
Well, you might have to be a millionaire today to plunk down ~$50,000 in cash to own this mint ’57 Plymouth . . . and still meet your other financial obligations like mortgage payments, health insurance, property taxes, food . . . all that pesky stuff. But hey, hard assets might be a good investment right now . . .
A fine example. My father and a ‘57 Belvedere 4 door hardtop and it was indeed a beautiful car. Torqueflite, power steering and brakes. Caused quite a stir when new. Yes, suddenly it was 1960.
Then in three years when the real 1960 arrived, it all began to go sour. Things just started falling off. Door handles, various knobs, emergency brake handle. Lights would intermittently go out. Then overheating became a problem. By 1963 it was tired and finished. Traded on a ‘63 Olds 88, a far more solid and reliable car. Dad never considered a Chrysler product again.
That is a beautiful car! I remember how big an impact it made when new. The 1957 Fords looked fresh but parked next to these. 1957 Chevrolet? Gimmicky, overornamented, stodgy, upright body compared to the Ford and especially Plymouth. I cannot say our 1957 Chevrolet was durable, either. The Six punched out valve spring caps three times and then a valve spring. One door rusted out…in CALIFORNIA! It had squeaks, clunks and rattles that wouldn’t quit. At under 40,000 miles, it was shot.
And Plymouth redid the 1960 model to look more or less like the 1957 model then some joked “suddenly it’s 1957” and checked Dodge who have a nice attractive full-size Dart…
Based on what I’ve read about these cars, it’s surprising that it took until 1960 for all of this to happen.
Nice car, but auction ended with zero bids.
Not a great investment to put that much money into a 4 door post.
I agree. A beautiful restoration, but too bad it’s not a four-door hardtop.
I can only guess that it was in pretty good shape to begin with.
Re the message below the advertisement—didn’t last week’s ’57 have the valence panel?
Oddly enough, one for sale on eBay right now for not-crazy money: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-Plymouth-Lower-Grill-Valence-Thank-You/333774927729?hash=item4db6893771:g:YXsAAOSwO7NffAJn
Wow! What a nice car! Wow! Who would invest that kind of money in a Belvedere 4 door sedan! I knew that Forward Look prices have gone crazy in the last 40 years, but apparently not this crazy.
I was about to remark how strange that such a high-option car had the 2 speed PowerFlite. But then I looked at some brochures and the 4-button control is the only one they show, so did the 57 Plymouth only get a 4-button control no matter which automatic was chosen? The 58 brochure shows a 5-button control for the Torqueflite.
From all the stories I hear (now and in the 70s) I am sure glad Chrysler had a couple of extra years to work on these cars before my 59 was built. And that underhood picture reminds me of what a royal pain it was to have a leaking brake wheel cylinder when checking the master cylinder required blindly removing the bolt-on lid that was directly under the bellows-type power brake booster.
There’s nothing such as a Torqueflite with 4-button control. Four buttons = Powerflite; five buttons = Torqueflite. There’s a 5-button ’57 Plymouth dashboard shown in this thread.
Thanks, you confirm my original thought before I started second guessing myself. How odd that the brochures all show the cheaper option.
It’s a bit odd to spend all that money on a loving restoration and not get a vintage air conditioner compressor, too. Maybe I’m the only one who would care, though.
Maybe the air conditioner was a later aftermarket add-on?
This reminds me of Jay Leno’s quote when he restored his Corvair Rampside. “Buy it for $600, put $50,000 into it and sell it for $12,500”.
Yup! Needs the V4 cast-iron compressor from Imperial. One may wish to crank up the torsion bars just a weence.
I am fairly sure (but not 100%) that by ’57 Chrysler’s compressor was the V2 they used a few versions of through ’79.
ENOUGH WITH THE BONER PILL ADS!
I’m sorry but we have no control over what ads are served to each reader.
So might you be saying that the ads are tailored made to the particular poster, 🙂
I hope I don’t offend any advertisers, but I’ve never noticed any ads on CC, and probably not any other site either. Gone “blind” to ’em?
Anyhow with a second look, here’s what they’re pushing:
Google serves me cancer meds 🙁 and spectacles
Google is pushing something called a LDV Maxus at me and no I dont actually want one though LDV pickups are not bad to drive if thats the sort of vehicle you need, why youd spend twice as much to drive a Ranger is beyond me, theres little difference as far as poor riding/handling pickups go
Our next-door neighbor back in the day, Mr. Cirbus, was a Plymouth man. He’d buy a new 4-door sedan every 2-3 years, at least until he retired. I remember a battleship gray 58 Belvedere, followed by a beige 61, and then a turquoise 64. He must not have had much trouble with his 58!
The movie Christine was actually released in 1983, the year depicted in it was 1978.
An acquaintance I knew in Wisconsin had one of the cars used in Christine. I don’t remember if he bought it or won it in some kind of raffle. I think about 25 Fury’s were purchased and “restored”. A number of them were non running static restorations which were destroyed in the making of the movie. A few survived of which he got one of. He was telling me the Fury’s in the movie were all painted “Toyota Red”. His car was a “10 footer”. The bodywork was not the best quality and it had seen abuse on set as well. The interior was not that great and it had a number of electrical issues as well, but this car was complete and a runner. I don’t know if he fixed it up or just flipped it. He was more inclined to resell cars. I haven’t seen him or the car in about 35 years so I’m not sure what happened to it.
Great memory. My next door neighbor had one. Only the colors were reversed. She had little kids. One day her son got his fingers caught between the front and rear door. Odd design. He survived, good as new though. Another neighbor of mine who lived several doors up the hill from me had a Plaza wagon that he bought new. Used it in his butcher shop business and traded it in 1961 for a Checker Marathon wagon. My well off cousin had a ’59 Sport Suburban with all the bells and whistles. Will never forget when he showed my father and I where the spare tire was. Nifty arrangement.
The restoration looks first class.
The chances of finding a buyer for such a sedan very slim. The seller (If the car ever sells) will probably lose a lot of money. Restoring any vehicle with the thought of making a profit is a long shot.
Oh, I reckon there’ll be a buyer sooner or later. Probably not a North American; I can see it going to Australia, Sweden, Germany, Japan, or elsewhere such.
New Zealand is littered with recent ex USA imports but usually not restored type cars originals are very popular but NA restorations pose significant issues for registration poor workmanship usually means the car has to be redone just to get the car on the road
Sadly I have to agree on some NA restoration quality. I will say it again – some. A mate bought a ’67 Chevy pickup from the US, and thought he’d drive it home from the docks on arrival, after all it was US-registered so no problem, right? An engineer’s inspection showed some states aren’t too picky about what they register. As a retired motor mechanic himself, he was horrified at some of the work. Took about a year of redoing in his spare time but now he can drive it anywhere.
Many US states and Canadian provinces have no vehicle inspections at all. A small number have quick-and-cursory inspections, either periodically or when the vehicle is registered. Very few have anything even approaching a thorough, rigourous inspection. Not the way it should be, but it is.
Swedes love Forward Look Mopars.
The front vent windows/pillar on these cars always looked odd to me with the narrow design of the top portion due to the wraparound windshield.
The hardtops and convertibles handled this aspect much better.
Relisted on eBay, better description and photography:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-Plymouth-Other/164685539873?hash=item265805ea21:g:YcEAAOSwguhgF30g
Original color was a two tone Beige. I know, as I am the guy who completely disassembled & painted her the all Fire Engine Red (including all the interior metal & front valance) in 1991 in NY State. Someone added the White 2 tone after I sold her. She also gained bumper wings then, But I am sure has lost them since to a Christine clone) She was then sold to the UK soon after, & has been at least in France & back to the UK – as I see her pop up 🙂 Would love to be in contact with the next owner, & glad to see she keeps improving! I have pics somewhere of her deep in my files. There is a video on My Youtube channel “vintagemachines” of her time with me. “Cheers – Bertha” 😀 Pictured is 57 I sold to Finland, & my currant 57 & 58..
Here is the 57 I sold to Finland a few years ago…
Wouldn’t be terribly difficult. $49,800 in 2021 dollars is about $5,100 in 1957 dollars, and that’s easy to explain versus the new-car price in 1957: “There are almost none left”.
Nice car – still 4 sale? Angus -303-3058599