From The Classifieds: 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air pillarless hardtop

From The Classifieds
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air pillarless hardtop

There are plenty of vintage Chevvies to be coveted out there – even in Australia – but none have quite the pull of the fabulous, truly iconic two and four-door models that appeared in 1957.

A brilliant revamp of the 1956 model – which was an update of the 1955 model – and, by dint of sheer, but cleverly calculated styling adventurousness bringing to life a sound but previously unassuming design, it secured the late-1950s Chevy a permanent place in the annals of American auto classics.

This was despite the fact Chev executives had originally anticipated an all-new car for 1957 to face off against Ford's larger, new-look competitor. Even though there was undoubted concern when the Chev was first unveiled in 1956 – later vindicated by the Ford's outselling of the Chev in its year of introduction – there's no question which car has fared better historically.

Designed in the time of the legendary Harley Earl (then GM Vice President of styling), the 1957 Chev's styling signatures were its sharply-finned rear end with the sweeping – usually contrasting – side motif, the low-set tail lights and the wide, bulky grille complete with air ducts around the headlights. It is believed Earl showed the prototype Chev to GM executives with the comment that the design team had worked on putting "a bit of Cadillac" into it.

All these things combined to provide design elements that easily identified the Chev no matter which direction you looked at it and cemented its position among memorable US cars. Others may have been forgotten, but the '57 Chev certainly hasn't been.

Engines available in the US during its life included the Blue Flame six, and 265 (4.3-litre) and 283 (4.6-litre) cubic-inch V8s. There were three transmissions: A column-shift three-speed manual and two automatics – two-speed Powerglide and three-speed Turboglide – were available. Australian cars were fitted with the two-speed auto.

And so we come to this imported left hand drive Bel Air pillarless two-door coupe from Merrylands in Sydney's west that is listed on carsales.com.au for an opening price of $65,000.

The car looks pretty much as it must have appeared in the 1950s, with standard suspension, regular steel wheels, whitewall tyres and original interior presentation.

The light green 283 cubic-inch V8 '57 comes complete with matching numbers, factory power steering and a vintage air-conditioning system that was included in a recent restoration. The Chev is claimed to have covered just 89,500 miles and has had two owners since it was bought new in the US 59 years ago. The owner says this is verifiable from the service books.

What a delight to see a 1950s US car that has not been tampered with in any visible way.