Too bad they weren’t 2-door V8s; the Army would have gotten much more for them when it came time to sell them.
Vintage Photo: A Battalion Of ’57 Chevys For The Troops
– Posted on December 15, 2023
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I wonder why no hubcaps?
Because they were in the trunk during shipping, like most cars back then.
Hubcap theft used to be a real thing.
The trim rings were stolen off my Vega GT in about 1980 😢
There’s an old saying in the military… “Remember, all your equipment was manufactured by the lowest bidder.”
There is an amusing episode of “Inside the Chieftain’s Hatch” on YouTube about these Army cars:
John, you beat me to it. At least the Chev was easier for the 6’5 ” Colonel Moran to exit than a pre war French tank.
My book source states that exactly 52,226 4-door Chevy 150s were built in 1957 (compared with 70,774 2-doors). That’s a lot of cars!
What percentage of these low-line 150s went to government/fleet use, and what percentage went to general consumers?
I’m guessing number of these gov’t/fleet jobs that have survived to the present day is nil to nonexistent.
I would venture a guess that 90% of 150 4-door sedans went to police/taxi/fleet buyers.
For the period during which Chevrolet offered 3 trim levels of full-size cars, let’s say 1953-1970, the price difference between a 150 and a 210 (or a Biscayne and a Bel Air) was at most a couple weeks’ wages for the average person, and you got quite a bit more “stuff” for that money.
Part of my father’s job in the 60s and 70s involved ordering cars for the team of traveling sales reps that he managed. Yet even though my father was extremely value conscious (read: “cheap”) he refused to order Biscaynes for his reps – they all got Bel Airs.
A good way to make your company’s product seem superior to the competition, having your reps drive chromier cars. That would probably make for happier reps too.
Very neat! The photo is at the La Pallice port in La Rochelle, France, and the large building in the background is an interesting WWII relic. It’s the land-side of a “U-Boat Bunker” built by the occupying Germans during WWII. It was built to withstand intense bombing, which it did. Despite some fairly heavy direct Allied bombing, the structure not only survived, but is still in use. (Seems that the French Navy has used the structure for some sort of storage until fairly recently).
Here’s a recent StreetView shot, so the structure is still intact. Link is below:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7P5Xpi4Bok1f1YYHA
Aha! Thanks once again for the ID. I didn’t really look closely at the buildings; it doesn’t look very much like the US back there.
This was prior to de Gaulle kicking the US military out of France in the mid 60’s. Guess the inventory of Chevys were moved to Germany.
This is at a harbor in France, and these were undoubtedly heading largely to Germany. I doubt the US had any significant Army bases in France at the time.
What an eye opener! Seeing these 1957 cars like this really points out how clunky and tacked-on those 1957 styling updates look. It is still an OK looking car, and there is so much wonderful about them, but compared to their more beautiful older sisters, the 1957 Chevrolet is kind of a dog. These low budget Chevys reveal the overall proportions of this car, and not in a good way. I better understand why the ones we see are slathered with twin colors and broken up visually, hiding these flaws.
I also better understand how the 1957 Plymouth, Dodge, Ford and Mercury were popular, with the Ford actually outselling Chevy that year.
I totally agree. Once I got to know more about the shoebox Chevies I developed a strong preference for the ‘55.
As a child of the 1970s, I get thoughts of Evel Knievel. 🙂
These must have come with the 3 speed manual. Back then most everybody knew how to (or had to learn) how to drive one.
Automatics, V8s, full wheel covers and whitewall tires cost money, you know. Gotta keep the bid as low as possible.
And now, if you could even get it – a manual transmission could end up being considered an option, and cost more.
Nice .
-Nate
While serving in an Army Ordnance Supply unit on Okinawa between ‘56 thru ‘58, we received two shipments of Chevy model 210 sedans. Ninety six ‘56 models and one hundred ninety six ‘57 models.
They were kept in our Ordnance Supply vehicle park in the Machinato area awaiting distribution around the island to replace the well used ‘51 Chevys. We had a ball driving them from the port in Naha.
Interesting story Ken! That’s a lot of ’56 and ’57 Chevys. And thank you for your service.