With the arrival of the Tri-Five Chevies, a new body style was offered by the car maker, a 4-door hardtop called the Sport Sedan. It debuted in 1956 (not 1955) and was available in both 210 and Bel Air trim. It would become quite popular, accounting for more than 160,000 units in 1957 alone. This black ’57 Bel Air looks to be in survivor condition and comes with rare factory air conditioning, though some of it’s missing now. Located in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, this Chevy is available here on craigslist for $28,000 OBO. Once again T.J. comes through with another cool tip!
Automotive lore has it that the all-new 1958 Chevrolets were originally scheduled to be 1957 models, but various reasons led to delays. So, the 1957 Chevies would receive a facelift that included tailfins, a decision that proved popular with Chevy collectors over time. At first glance, this Bel Air looks to be a sharp original, but when you get close, you’ll find issues with the paint, especially the driver’s side front fender which is faded and not as shiny as the hood. This suggests an older partial repaint. There are no dents in the sheet metal and if there is any rust, it’s hiding well.
The interior might be the nicest part of the 75,000-mile car. The two-tone materials are factory, and besides a rub on one of the door panels, nothing seems ready for the to-do list. Air conditioning was a rarity on medium-priced cars in the 1950s and, unfortunately, not all the hardware is still present on this Chevy. The 283 cubic-inch, an extension of the 265, was new in 1957 and this car has the 2-barrel version with dual exhaust. It and the Powerglide automatic are said to be up to snuff.
An automobile this nice begs the question of whether you should leave well enough alone and enjoy this vehicle as-is. Or spring for a partial restoration that brings it up to show quality, at least at the local and regional level. I always thought the “spinner” wheel covers on these Chevies really set them off, and I wouldn’t add fender skirts as the seller suggests.
Beautiful car. Still a 4 door hardtop in my book despite the factory name and really looks good in black. Blows away all that BS about the 2 door cars looking better.
These are the only four doors, other than wagons, worth restoring imo. nice car
Maybe in wrong,but,I dont remember seeing the Chevrolet script on the front fenders….on other 57s
To Gary,
The gold Chevrolet “script” never came on the front fenders. The only “script” that was ever on the front fenders was the “Fuel Injection” script on the 210 and the Bel Air series, with the 283 engine and factory Fuel Injection.
Yes you are correct, I had 7– 57’s
all Bel-Airs 3– 2 door Ht and 3 Covertibles and 1 4 door Ht and none
ever had a script on the front fender except my
Red Covertible factory Fuile it has
The front fender flags on the side, I
still have that one today
If this were a 3 on the the tree, it would be rolling into my garage. This is a great color and really makes the argument that the 4 door version looks better balanced than the 2 door. The hardtop look is awesome with the windows down. It is nice to to have the option to buy these low mileage 57’s for this kind of price. Someone really loved this car. What a stunner.
Beautiful looking car, very rare body style. When I was much younger I had a book on the tri-fives. In it was a picture of what they said was the rarest ’57 of all, a 150 4 door hardtop. It appeared to be a factory photo, maybe it never made it into production, or nobody ever ordered one?
There were NO hts in the 150 line. 210s and BAs both had 2 & 4 dr hts.
This was my favorite car until I got my 65 Impala SS…. two of my all-time favorite cars, regardless of year, model, etc
What a Beautiful car , and what a shame its a 4 door !!! Would be worth twice the money if it was a two door !
I always preferred the 4 door hardtop over any 2 door (even the convertible…and I am a convertible guy).
This one really strikes a chord with me.
There was a woman in West Bend Wisconsin (a little town about a half hour northwest from Milwaukee, where I live) that bought one of these brand new. She owned it until she passed away roughly 3 years ago. I thought this might have been hers. She had the red and black interior.
I keep waiting for hers to pop up for sale.
I will do whatever it takes to buy hers.
That IS where the Chevrolet script is on a 57 150 series. Car probably got bumped up and had a nose put on it from a 150, and they drilled holes to add the BelAir molding but did not close up the holes for the Chevrolet script. That’s my guess.
Nice presentation but the price is a tad on the high side. No A/C and paint bubbles mean a repaint is in order ASAP. $10,5K would leave enough room for repaint.
Always amazes me how people fawn over the ’57 Chevy models … to me, the ’57 Ford Fairline was a better-looking car and the F-Code Supercharged 312 offered better performance … not knocking the Chevy as I like the tri-5 models but given the choice I’d take the Ford …
Ford outsold Chevy in ’57. My Dad was a Ford guy and when I was about 17, he had a Fairlane, 4dr hardtop, 312 Thunderbird engine with a 4barrell and dual exhaust. Ugly as sin paint: yellow and brown (really!) In spite of the color, I totally loved that car. I have always thought they looked better than the ’57 Chevy. Brother-in-law had a new ,’57 Chevy Bel Air, 283, 4barrell, dual exhaust. He went through two trannys and always kept a qt of oil in the large space between the grill and radiator. He always said he wanted a stick and radio, my sister wanted an automatic. They compromised – no stick, no radio, and yes to the automatic!
A buddy in high school had a ’57 4-door hardtop … he took off the rear door handles, bondo-ed the holes and the door seam, and painted over it to look like a two-door … the stuff we did back then …
This is not a factory air car. No air ducts at ends of dashboard. No AC control on heater control. No under hood brackets for compressor, hoses, or condenser. No hole in rad. support for hose bracket, etc. etc.