Arrival

Disassembly

Mechanical

Body & Paint

Finish

Originally, General Motors executives wanted an entirely new car for 1957, but production delays necessitated the carry-over of the 1955 design for one more year. Ed Cole, chief designer for Chevrolet at the time, dictated a series of changes that significantly increased the cost of the car. These changes included a new dashboard, reshaped windshield, sealed cowl, and the relocation of air ducts to the headlight pods, which resulted in the distinctive chrome headlight that helped make the ’57 Chevy a classic. Fourteen-inch wheels replaced the fifteen-inch wheels from previous years to give the car a lower stance, and a wide grille was used to give the car a wider look from the front. The now famous ’57 Chevy tailfins were designed to duplicate the wide look in the rear. Bel Air models were given gold trim: the grille, front fender chevrons, hood, and trunk script were all rendered in anodized gold. The V-shaped trim on the tail fins was filled with a ribbed aluminum insert exclusive to the Bel Air.

Body choices for 1957 included the typical two- and four-door sedan (identified by the “posts” between door windows), the two-door hardtop (also known as a sport coupe; the car has no post between the front and back window when the windows are lowered), the four-door hardtop (also known as a sport sedan), the utility coupe (a two-door sedan with a package shelf instead of a rear seat), the two-door station wagon (with a sloped pillar behind the hardtop door and sliding windows at the rear seat), the four-door, six-passenger station wagon, the four-door, nine-passenger station wagon, and the convertible. Unlike most competitors, the Chevrolet four-door hardtop featured a reinforced rear roof structure that gave the car added rigidity and a unique appearance in silhouette.

Read more about the 57 Chevy at: http://ak57chevy.com/history.html