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Some Like It Hot, I Like It Red: 1957 Chevy 210

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“Some like it hot, I like it Red,” at least that’s what Sammy Hagar said in his 1977 hit song. Take a look at this red ’57 and see if it’s a hit with you.

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It appears for sale here on craigslist in Canton, Ohio. The asking price is $12,900. As we all know, fifty-seven Chevys are never hard to find, but I found this one attractive as a car that could possibly be driven and enjoyed right away, and is a nice occasional contrast to the many rusty, dusty project cars I’ve covered so often in the past.

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But don’t worry. This one is no trailer queen either, and as good as it looks, it still has plenty of room for improvement.

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There is a lot of ‘good’ here to start out with. The car is said to run and drive well, and the drive train is the tried-and-true Chevy 350 with an Edelbrock intake and carburetor, followed up by a manual 4-speed Muncie transmission.

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The seller says the water pump, battery, alternator, starter, pulleys, wheel cylinders, brake pads, brake hardware, brake lines,  and master cylinder have all been replaced recently. I didn’t hear anything about disc brakes in that description, so that would be a possible upgrade I would consider early on.

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The interior is dated, but I’d “roll it as-is,” to borrow a phrase from a recent comment posted by one of our many fine readers.

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Certainly plenty of room for improvement in the trunk also, but looking inside and not being able to see the driveway below is always a good start.

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The seller says the car has rust in the body mounts and floors, and filler in some of the exterior panels. He also says extra body panels, fenders and a door are included. I appreciate those extra parts, but this is where I have to put my foot down. I don’t see this as a looming restoration project. I have to ask: Since when did every classic car have to receive a museum quality frame-off rotisserie restoration? Can’t some of them just be driven and enjoyed as they are now? This one looks like it could.

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There is plenty of room for improvement and upgrade, without having the body off of the frame for five years. I’d get rid of the mismatched, out of style wheels. Flex radiator hoses have always been a pet-peeve of mine, so that would go immediately. But I would expect to drive, use and enjoy this car the first day I owned it. How about you?

Comments

  1. Avatar RoughDiamond

    My favorite car of all time. This is IMO a bargain as is where is. Was a little envious of the classmate in high school who drove a blue one that had a similar drivetrain to school everyday and parked it inside the gate in the teacher’s parking lot. It got stolen during school and was later found in the woods in a rural area stripped and burned. I really did feel sorry of the guy.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar RoughDiamond

    My favorite car of all time. This is IMO a bargain as is where is. Was a little envious of the classmate in high school who drove a blue one to school every day that had a similar drivetrain and parked it inside the gate in the teacher’s parking lot. It got stolen during school and was later found in the woods in a rural area stripped and burned. I really did feel sorry of the guy.

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  3. Avatar redwagon

    wow. it happened to that poor guy twice.

    (sorry could not resist.)

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    • Avatar Doug S

      lol

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      • Avatar leiniedude Member

        lol 2

        Like 0
  4. Avatar jim unsicker

    how do i get your listings back in english instead of what i believe to be chinese?

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Barzini

    I really like the post cars, particularly the 1957 Chevy. And I also like the driver quality cars with all their quirks. This looks to be a good find.

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  6. Avatar grant

    What’s a “burrito” interior?

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  7. Avatar JW

    Buy it and drive it while making any upgrades later. No need to worry about door dings or any of that crapola !!!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Rocco

    It’s listed as a 210, but appears to be a Bel Air. Am I missing something hear? I thought 210’s were a little above a 150. 150, 210, Bel Air respectfully. Someone educate me, please.

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    • Avatar JW454

      Rocco,

      This car is a 210 with BelAir trim added. The dash and side trim are very easy to install and many owners like the look so they put it on their cars. Notice there is no Stainless steel trim surrounding the side windows. There’s only a strip along the bottom of them which indicates 210. No trim around the windows at all indicates 150. Of course it’s been 59 years since the general added this one to the street so quite a bit could be changed in that time. Case in point, the front fenders should 3 slashes of aluminum trim at the leading edge by the headlamp of each fender. They seem to have gone missing or the front fenders have been replaced with 150 fenders that did not include the added trim.

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      • Avatar Rocco

        JW454;
        Thanks, I really appreciate it. I knew something was wrong, but couldn’t figure it out.
        The guys on this site are great.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Al8apex

        Also noted that this appears to still have the original hood and deck lid and based on the single emblem it was originally a 6 cylinder car. The V8 cars had two sets of holes so the “Chevrolet” emblem could be above either a silver (265) or a gold (283) “V”

        It also appears that someone swapped the “V” in the trunk lid for the “Chevrolet” emblem

        Brakes have been upgraded to a dual system too

        No big deal, it was done a lot “in the day”

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  9. Avatar hhaleblian

    snore

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  10. Avatar mike young

    Exactly… All that.. Stock color would be nice to aim for next time around. Interior kit… And stock lookin’ steering wheel (they make one that’s a hair smaller as I recall…but with no power steering… Stock is fine)
    So tired of the 350… 327: better. And a 283 would be fine as well….

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  11. Avatar AMC STEVE

    Nice little hot rod

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  12. Avatar Real Rey

    Nice 57. I would only install matching wheels and tidy up the trunk and leave the rest as is. A+

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  13. Avatar Wayne

    3 gold louvres on front guards were bel air only. Gold V on bonnet and boot are bel air only NOT 283

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  14. Avatar Ron (Florida)

    I’d change the wheels out and drive it as is for a while, I like this car and would buy it right now if I had $12k to throw down on it.

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  15. Avatar Doug Towsley

    As long as you dont need the bling bling latest roller skate wheels made to try and look retro all while maintaining a 1 inch sidewall, Old School Wheels are affordable on CL and swap meets. Which is the type of wheels this car needs anyway. We picked up a nice set of Centerline style with the 5 vent holes for my wifes Chevelle on CL. Gotten some others too. I have a set of old school coke bottle wheels the chroms going bad on. Sandblasted and powder coating them along with Stainless lug nuts and spinners and Bobs a close relative. Using those on the rat rod 39 Coupe.
    —————————–
    This car itself is an iconic style, and seems like a bargain to me from what I can see. Maybe boring to some, but you cant get anymore American Hot rod than this. One warning though, Ive driven a few of these and a number of friends have had them as well. They LOOK cool, but holy cow! An International Harvester School bus could take this thing in the twisties. Long term ownership will either have you looking elsewhere or penciling out a suspension upgrade and amenities like Power steering . Just sayin’!

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  16. Avatar Mike

    It would be a fair weather driver, because the heater has not been reconnected when the motor was switched out. Of course I have not seen many people that restore a car with this upgrade that would worry about it, they would only drive in in the fair weather.
    Just Saying.

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  17. Avatar Metalted

    Rite on Marty , I couldn’t agree more.
    Not every car HAS to be restored to perfect condition!!
    Use it as it was intended for and enjoy it.
    👍

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Don

    Not a bad car at a pretty fair price…I say “buy it and drive it”…less the wheels…Chevy ralleys will work as a low-cost swap.

    Like 0

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