Is it possible to go to a car show and not see a ’57 Chev? Probably not. Is it possible to be offered a ’57 Chev for $500 (in 2002) and not buy it? If you’re reading this already, I’m going to assume that you would also answer no. Of course I didn’t need another car; I was a student that had two other running cars but I quickly snapped it up. I even semi-legitimately put it on the road long enough to realize that it really shouldn’t be on the road, which didn’t take long.
So how did this car find me? The cook from the pizza place I delivered for, had a friend who had just turned 16. For his birthday his estranged deadbeat father showed up at the door with a tow truck dragging his prized ’57 Chev. Here you go son, a classic car! See ya later! This did not go over well with the son or his mother. It had no keys, didn’t run and looked terrible. The son knew nothing of cars and had no interest in fixing it. On top of that, the trailer park in which they lived had a strict no derelict vehicle policy. I know; that’s pretty funny.
They had to get rid of this car quick, so I had a quick look and was off to the bank to make it mine before someone else beat me to it. Fortunately ownership papers came with the car so they were signed over and a tow truck came to pick it up pronto.
This car really had a lot to say about its past owner; he seemed to suffer from poor decision-making skills. Exhibit A is the interior. The above picture does not do it justice. The velvet, while gaudy ,was funny enough for me to overlook, but the dashboard paint job was not. He had gobbed on the paint with a paintbrush without bothering to do any masking. I can still remember sitting in the driver’s seat and staring with incredulity at the giant paint drips that adorned the steering wheel. Even the turn signal indicators were partially painted over.
Exhibit B was under the hood. Mr. Absentee Father had decided to paint absolutely everything under the hood silver. No need to remove wires, hoses or dirt; let alone mask anything. Anything you see in this photo that isn’t silver I replaced or in the case of the spark plug wires, I flipped them over. Other interesting modifications included the hack job installation of a newer style radiator as well as a newer Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission that did not match the shift pattern on the column shifter.
You might be able to guess what happened the first time I got this thing running and went for a drive. A stock ’57 Chev’s Powerglide shift pattern is P N D L R, as opposed to the modern P R N D L in the TH400. The old shifter was sloppily mated to the newer tranny. Once running, I put it into Drive, not noticing it was where Neutral should be. I was driving along, testing the steering and brakes as one is wont to do while piloting a scary old car. Once I was satisfied that the car would go where I pointed it and (mostly) stop itself, I decided it was time to drop it into low and give it some gas to see what kind of power it had. I should mention I was doing this while going a least 30 km/h. What followed was a very loud bang and the engine stalling. I had put it in Reverse, not Low! Lesson learned; fortunately I didn’t break anything.
This car had been sitting for at about a decade but it started right up once I tied the fuel line into a jerry can. The motor was a ’69 Chev 350 4 barrel and it sounded great with headers and dual cherry bomb mufflers. Pretty powerful too. Once it was running I treated it to all new fuel lines, a cleaned tank, new oil and filter and a coolant flush. I also tossed the rotted tires that came with it and threw on the chrome rims from my brother’s old Camaro. That was the extent of the work I did to it aside from a lot cleaning. The brakes were shoddy at best due to their rustiness and not all the wiring worked. Also, it had a bad case of Flintstone floors but the rubber floor mats covered that well. Overall it was remarkably un-rusty for a Manitoba car that was 45 years old.
By now you’ve likely noticed the “Antique Auto” license plates I procured for my car. While at a car show I had heard a rumour that you could insure a car as an antique if it was at least 30 years old without requiring the hated safety inspection. Turns out that was true, but the catch was that you could only drive to car shows, parades or to a repair shop. I figured that would work for me as summer Sunday nights in Winnipeg consisted of driving to the different car shows that were strewn across the city, usually followed by street racing on the outskirts of town. I had no plans to race this thing but I figured an antique registration was a nice loophole to get this thing on the road fast.
Now that I had my plates and cheap insurance, I took it for a few rips around the block and it ran well. I was in the process of moving, so its first big test was driving about 10 km over to the new place. I didn’t want to take any chances so I made sure to take the side streets. My legal rationale for this drive was that I was in fact driving it to a repair shop, as my new house had a garage in which I would repair it. I’m not sure that would have held up in court. Anyway, I was driving down a side street when someone backed out of their driveway without seeing this beast burble down the road. I hit the brakes and the pedal went right to the floor. Not a good feeling. I quickly started pumping the brakes which had some effect. Fortunately the car saw me (and maybe the terrified look on my face) and got out of the way.
As you can guess I never did take this car out for a Sunday night cruise to the car shows: it really wasn’t worth the potential liability. Even if it was safe, it would be unwise to drive such an old car that had been sitting so long and expect it not to leave me stranded on the side of the road. I hated to admit it, but there were really valid reasons to have automotive safety inspections. The Chevy needed to be restored and fully gone over if it was to be driven on the road and I was in no position to do so.
I could definitely see why these cars enjoy their stellar reputation and classic status. They are great cars in a just right size. I could really see myself fixing it up and enjoying it. I also knew what they went for once restored (I know 4 doors are worth less) and could see making a decent profit off of it. But it was not to be; I was going into my third year of university, had no spare time, and needed tuition money. I put it up for sale for $1500 and had lots of interest but no bites. After about a month and with a tuition deadline looming, I sold it for $1000 to someone who intended on a full restoration. This is one of those cars I wish I had kept, but I’m also practical enough to know that it would have never worked. You can’t keep them all.
Nice story. Think what the car would sell for today even in that condition?.
For once her in the UK we have more classic car friendly rules than North America.
No MOT (our annual safety inspection) pre 1960 reg date and no road tax pre 1975! Government research found that collecter cars make up less than 1% of the cars on the road and over maintained by their owners. Not many people use them as daily drivers.
Well to be honest, classic car license plate laws are dictated by each state in the USA. Each state has its own rules about how old a car must be to be considered historic. in my state it is a car that is 20 years or older but the next state over it is 25 years or older.
In my state a car that is going to be registered as an everyday driver type car will get a initial inspection for safety. It goes by years of the car.(for instance a 1960 Chevy will not get a safety inspection for a modern car because some things on a 2000+ car will not be there on a 1960 car. There is no emissions test for a pre 1977 vehicle in my state
As for historic plates, like Nelson James’s Providence , my state requires Historic tagged cars to be only for occasional use etc but in practice there are many folks that make the historic tagged cars a daily driver. but that still is a low number of folks that are abusing this. Cops don’t care as long as the car has proper insurance and all safety stuff works(aka all lights) The numbers are low because not many folks would be willing to make a 1970’s-1980’s car a daily driver. But that number is changing as the years pass. In a few months 1996 vehicles will be 20 years old and thus we have hit the “modern era” for historic cars with ODBII, advanced front and side airbags, ABS and traction control. So the standards may change in the near future.
So prices for 20 year old cars could go up then?.
In 1971, I was in the Navy and attending Aviation Electronics School in Memphis, Tn. One afternoon, after classes, a few of us got to talking with our instructor about cars when he let it slip he had a couple of old Chevys at his house. After a short drive we pulled up to a house with FOUR 1957 Chevys clustered around it. The WORST looking of the 4 was miles ahead of the car pictured here. And while my instructor had no Bel Air hardtops, he did have a nice wagon AND a sedan delivery and a 150 2 door sedan.
In 1973, a Chevy dealer here in north Florida had an ad in the local ‘paper: for sale, a 1966 Corvette convertible…..price, $2500.
It was a very beautiful looking car and ran decently, too. With little to no haggling the price dropped a few hundred dollars. The “catch”? When I lifted the hood I could see that this car had been “hit” fairly hard in the left front quarter. The outside of the car was near perfect but a large chunk of the inner fender and the left side hood prop mechanism was missing. Someone had done the cheapest possible repair on that car.
If your instructors name was Frazier, he was the source of my 57 Belair 210. The year is right and he was an instructor in airdale electronics. Mine is a two door wagon and no longer in good shape. It was my DD sporadically until 2007. Yes I know a Belair and a 210 are two different models but you could get a 210 with Belair trim and that’s how it’s listed on the title from way back when.
Author is right. Mine doesn’t belong on the street but just like my excess of Donkeys I just cannot make myself get rid of it. I’m not a packrat but those two things have me where it hurts.
Two door wagons are both extremely cool and extremely rare. So I can understand the rationale for keeping that one!
It reminds me of a 55 Chevy convertible that I bought for $50 back in 1976. A previous owner has spray painted the entire interior white. Nothing but the cluster had been masked, so the inside kinda looked like a big unpainted model car. I spent a couple of years undoing the damage and ended up with a fun summer cruiser til I sold it a few years later, for a bit more than what I had paid.
That “Free David Milgard” sticker is a nice touch! L0L!
Well done! I knew someone would catch that.
+1
Back in 1960, my dad’s 1957 Chevy Belair was just another 3-year old car. It would take many more years before the ’57 Chevy would become an icon, although ours had too many doors. I remember my dad being quite pleased with the trade-in value of his ’57 when he purchased its replacement, a ’64 Impala.
Here’s a seven year old me posing behind the Belair in 1960.
This pic reminds me that the fuel filler was hidden behind the flip-out door located just above the tailight, in the left hand side fin. Back in the 50’s, many GM cars had cleverly hidden fuel fillers.
If I remember correctly, most Chevy owners didn’t order velvet for the seats of their cars. Comfort is important, but so is durability.
You’d get 10k minimum for that here those that dont actually remember them love em.
In 1971, I bought a ’57 Chevy Bel Air 2 door hardtop, 32,000 original miles, 283 power pak, power steering, electric wipers from the original lady owner for $ 550.00 !! Had the plastic seat covers.She was selling it because she had been hit in the right front fender. Ran like a champ too. She sold me the Chevy and purchased a brand new Vega!
“I hated to admit it, but there were really valid reasons to have automotive safety inspections”
Your story proves the contrary.
You had a car that did not receive a safety inspection and you chose not to drive it on the roads in its current condition even though it was legal to do so.
What would have a safety inspection done for you? The answer is nothing…but take money out of your pocket for no benefit to your nor the public.
Re-read the story. You need to work on your reading comprehension skills.
If you think having cars on the road with defective brakes and lights that don’t work is a good idea, than I’m glad I don’t live anywhere near you.
I think John was trying to say that even though you could have legally driven the car because no inspection was required, you chose not to do so because the car had serious safety issues. Hence, you kept the car off the road.
Had you had a safety inspection done; the result would be the same….the car would be off the road.
If I’m not mistaken what you’re saying is that safety inspections are necessary because others may not freely choose (or even realize the necessity) to take their cars off the road when they become hazards to others.
“I think John was trying to say”
I wasn’t *trying* to say anything. I said it plainly in plain English. Nelson needs to work on his own comprehension skills.
The ’57 licence plate is on the wrong end of the car!
Great story! I live in Winnipeg, so it was neat to see the old style Manitoba plates that were on cars in the 70’s (early 80’s?).
Good to hear there’s fellow Winnipeggers on here.
The black and white ones on this car were the “Antique Auto” plates you had to apply for at the Department of Highways office on Portage Ave. Apparently that program has since changed (good) and you can now get Collector plates at regular MPI offices, provided you meet the requirements.
The old Manitoba black and white plates switched over sometime in the late 90’s shortly before I got on the road.
I’ve read CC for a while, and the stories are usually about cars somewhere else……so it’s nice to see that there’s some local ones here, too.
Nice story. I remember ’57’s being considered special, distinctive cars by the mid-60’s but it wasn’t until much later that “special” came to mean “overpriced”. Model A’s were already pretty old and not common on the streets by the mid-60’s and they were certainly considered classics by then, yet were still reasonably priced. But help me out here. Sparsely populated and mostly rural Manitoba requires safety inspections, but California – with a larger population than all of Canada, in an area 2/3 the size of Manitoba, thousands of miles of freeways, and many old cars still plying the roads – doesn’t. But cars back to 1976 require regular smog tests here.
Insightful observation, except for one common fallacy. Manitoba, and by extension Canada itself, is not mostly rural. It’s mostly urban. Almost all of the pop of Manitoba lives in Winnipeg. Canada is a nation of urban dwellers, not much outside the cities.
The most rural area is Saskatchewan, where in a province of just over 1 million, just under half live either in Saskatoon or Regina, with a smattering in the smaller cities.
Great story! I have always been a sucker for an old car that is like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree – “All it needs is a little love.” Well, yes, plus a ton of money and even more time. At least you got a good story out of it.
I would probably buy it with the intention of immediately flipping it. BTW, I knew at a glance that $500 was a good buy, in my non-expert eyes.
BTW, if this is the right place, I need advice- is $5,000 a reasonable asking price for a 1902 Rambler?
Better make damn sure that ‘ 1902 Rambler ‘ isn’t one of the many copies made for some Dealer event , I still see them around from time to time…
’57 Chevies are nice but have never been my cuppa tea .
Ca. doesn’t have salted roads and so little rust , the rust being the # 1 cause of safety failures found in inspections .
We do however , have lots and lots of junkers with bald tires , metal to metal brakes and unsafe suspensions lying our roads and causing collisions and killing innocents ~ not all who don’t get safety inspections take any sort of care of their vehicles .
I used to work with the L.A.P.D.’s post collision inspector and the things I’d see were pretty grim and stupid .
-Nate
If I had discovered a ’57 Chevy for sale for $550 that was complete, I, too, would have been unable to resist. And even though you didn’t have it for very long, it makes for a good story on the one hand, a very cool car in your list of “hey I used to own ______”, and you made money on the deal. Plus it sounds like it ended up with someone with the means to restore it, as opposed to being used for parts or scrapped.
that ” brake pedal hits the floor” moment is always a heart stopper. has happened to me twice. the particularly memorable moment was when me and the 64′ ford pickup were coming up to a T intersection and we ended up in a pasture surrounded by cows. no harm done except a torn up barb wire fence and a few scratches on the hood. but I don’t want to repeat it.
I was in your shoes once, Nelson. Only it was a ’71 Gremlin when the chance to own a ’57 150 2-door came along.
The Gremlin went instead of the ’57.