The “Tri-Five” Chevrolets (1955-57) were a hit, with nice profits for General Motors from the sale of nearly five million units. Noteworthy was the addition of a V8 engine for the first time in ages and – if you wanted a bit of extra oomph – you went with the Power Pack option that includes a 4-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust. This ’57 Bel Air was so equipped when new and has never been restored. Body, paint, interior – all of it is said to date back to 1957. This nice find is in Camas, Oregon, and is available here on craigslist for $38,000. Another nifty tip from T.J.!
Chevy’s 265 cubic inch V8 debuted in 1955 and a 283 was added as a companion upgrade in 1957. The 348, 409, 396, and other hot Chevy engines were still a year or more away, so the Power Pack was one way to get more power out of the new V8s (except for the Fuelies). The addition of a 4-barrel and twin exhausts doesn’t sound like much today, but those add-ons plus different heads and a wilder camshaft squeezed 20 more horses out of the ‘57 283.
The seller refers to this Bel Air as a barn find, but there’s no evidence to suggest it had to resort to living in one. We’re old the automobile runs and drives well although the odometer is on its second time around. The set-up under the hood is said to be numbers-matching and comes with Chevy’s venerable 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. I’m going with paint code 810, India Ivory over Larkspur Blue as the finish this car received on Day One.
Chevy built a lot of these ’57 Bel Air Sport Coupes, more than 168,000 to be more precise. While the seller focuses on how original everything is, no mention is made of anything it might need. The photos of the interior are not as revealing as they could be, so surely the carpeting or something is not 100% perfect. Is this the nicest unrestored ‘57 Bel Air left? We don’t know, but you can be the judge.
Nice!
Hardtop for this price, no rust and west coast? A bargain!
Very nice car.
There aren’t many cars like the 55-57 Chevys that garner immediate attention nor causes the blood to stir a little faster.
This is a nice one, and I hope whoever gets this enjoys it for the rest of us.
Camas is in Washington, just across the river from Portland and a few miles east of Vancouver, WA. Nice car, too bad about the Powerglide though, for me anyway.
The nicest one probably not ,but if it looks half as good in person as the photos I think it is priced very fair. I like 55 and 56’s best. However in the late 50’S my dad had a 57 Bel Air this same color but it was a 4-Door. Had it been a 2-Door, I think I would still have it. I loved the car hated the doors.
want the Bel-Air 1957.
I’d buy this one but Mama says NO!!!
you know I have always wondered how barn finds work. what if a car belongs to a different owner that had stored it there and forgot about it and then sees it and wants it back. or maybe died and then the family wants it back.how will that work out?
Should workout well if they produce the title.
My issue is all the dryer sheets lying around….does the car stink that bad???
Very nice car. Love the color!
How is the interior?