This Iconic 1957 Chevrolet Corvette has been parked since 1974. Looking the car over shows what looks to be a remarkably original 57. This Vette has the hardtop and it features a 4 speed gear box. Having the 4 speed gearbox is a plus and it would be cool to leave as is and put some numbers on it to replicate a factory built racer. The seller is looking to trade it, and is in search of many different iconic muscle cars. Find it here on craigslist out of San Francisco, California.
The engine bay looks original with minimal wear and surface rust. The 283 cubic inch engine is present, although its condition is currently unknown. The 283 was known for producing 1 horsepower per a cubic inch, indicating 283 hp. Hopefully the engine is not locked up and could possibly be brought back to life, or at the least be rebuilt. There is also no indication as to whether this is a matching numbers Corvette. But it looks Barn fresh so we can hope.
The interior of this corvette looks good aside from the carpet being removed. The dash looks unblemished, almost as if the cockpit became a bit of a time capsule. The steering wheel looks undamaged aside from some minor rust on the hub. The 4 speed shift lever and its mini console with shift pattern are present and shiny. We are assuming someone along the line decided to remove the carpet due to potential mold issues. We can’t think of any other logical reasoning to remove it.
This Corvette has potential, we would love more information on this Vette to better understand what we are looking at. The overall patina of the car is nice, there is no major damage apparent from the photographs. The car appears to have been stored indoors, as there is a fine layer of dust on the car in a couple of the photos. The hard top looks to be in good shape as well, and appears to feature all of its hardware and seals.
We would love to see this Corvette be revived and preserved in its current condition assuming it is as original as it looks. There would be nothing more fun that than rowing the gears in this great American classic. What would you do with this Corvette? Preserve it? Resto-mod it to look like a factory racer? Restore it? Tell us what you think would be best for this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette.
It certainly does look nice and a great candidate for complete restoration to showroom condition. The idea of putting the racing number on it would ruin the looks of this classic, especially if you wanted to drive it on a regular basis. Why would you consider doing that?
Get it running a drive it while cleaning it up.
resto mod it? how dare you-!
If it is a survivor, then clean it up and drive it as is
The only thing I would change is the color of the fender ‘inset.’ I’d paint them red to match the interior
Cove is the term of the body side you are referring to.
Yes. Those that you said.
This one has a single carb so its output would be in the 240 range which wouldn’t be too shabby. Two 4bbls would hit 265 and FI would produce 283. Personally I prefer a single carb; much easier to keep the motor in tune, and it would have more than enough power to move that beast.
Nice ’57, but some of the cars he wants to trade it for are worth multiples of what this car is worth, so that’s not going to happen.
Some of the trades might work, so put it on a site that will give it national exposure and I’ll bet a few people will step up with some of the cars in his list.
Actually, Brian just did that for him. If it works, maybe Brian & Barn Finds should get a finder’s fee.
I think the chances of finding a supper bird are slim to none, tho.
Nice; here in the South you can get the “supper bird” at KFC! Unless he wants a Plymouth Super Bird now that is another story.
Not original shifter. 57-8 had no trigger lockout. A 4bbl 283 was 225hp (SAE gross, more like 170 net.)
Later 59-62 hub caps. (cooling slots)
These don’t weigh much, about 3000lb.
Does it have a soft top? Big deal!
Put some modern correct size RADIAL tires on it, do the best you can on the brakes. it will be a sweet driver. A bit of a RACING TRUCK, but they won races in the 50’s.
Al
Not worth very much, tho. Their bubble has burst. I’d say $30-35K, max.
Where are the emblems?
Also missing the exhaust outlets and the front license mount. So no way original paint. Should be a good driver’s car maybe $30-35k.
That “license plate mount” is actually the only front bumper this car ever came with. those things under the lights are just there to crack the fenders upon contact.
Al
Very cool car!!!
The only reason this person has mention all those cars to trade is that on a search the Vette will always appear. The add tells nothing. So I look at this seller as just flipping it.
Open hood shows turquoise original paint.
Good catch on the turquoise. That is called Cascade Green. A neat color. Tempting to make it that color if it was original. Still just making it a driver would be the cost effective thing to do. You could put $100k into it to make it have a retail value of $80k.
But it would seem to me a nice project car if you could get it less than $30k.
Al
Call it blasphemy, but I’d ditch the 283 & 4 speed into a corner & rest a LS1 & T56 in its place, along with a set of 4 wheel dos brakes to give it as much stop as go.
Contacted the seller as I live in the area.
Seller wants $33k for it cash. Anyone wanting me to go look at it for you let me know.
Seaknight, can you contact me, thank you
The ad says it’s a matching numbers car.
That steel wheel shown without the cover on is really rusty.
Makes me wonder just what the frame looks like?