Cheap Project? 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
The seller of this 1957 Chevrolet feels his reduced price of $5,500 is a very reasonable exchange for all of the potential he’s seeing here, and with this price reflecting a reduction of five hundred dollars already plus the option to submit an even lower offer, it sounds promising that this one’s ready to be in somebody else’s hands. It’s a project in need of a complete restoration, but if you’ve got the skills maybe in a few months a cool ’57 will be cruising the streets of your neighborhood. The Chevy is in Gray Court, SC, and can be spotted for sale here on eBay and also here on the seller’s business website, Classic Cars Of South Carolina.
Some good news is this one’s a top-of-the-line Bel Air model, which originally came from the factory with a higher trim level than both its 150 and 210 counterparts. But there’s also a considerable amount of not-so-good news, not the least being that there’s no motor or transmission present, although if you’ve got a spare bowtie drivetrain taking up real estate in your garage maybe it can be put to some good use under the hood here.
The floors are mentioned as being in really good shape, which may be just slightly optimistic as they are looking a bit thin in the far front sections, especially on the passenger side. But I’ve seen considerably worse lower metal in numerous tri-fives, and maybe with some work, they’ll be structurally sound and ready to accept the carpeting and seats of your choice. The dash is missing a few components, but overall it’s actually not all that bad.
Outside, the body appears fairly complete, with the seller specifically mentioning the rockers and lower quarters need replacing, but the front fenders aren’t exempt from rust either. The trunk lid looks like it’s from a different car, as it’s primed and a different color inside from the rest, so hopefully this and some of the other panels will be salvageable.
We don’t get very many shots from underneath, but this particular area of the frame rail that we do get a close-up of appears more solid than I was expecting, although considering the amount of body and trunk corrosion, I’d probably anticipate some attention will be required underneath before this one’s ready to hit the road again. There’s a lot of work to be done here, but this is a classic ’57 and also the more upscale Bel Air model, so I’m guessing somebody’s gonna snap this one up sooner rather than later. Is $5,500 a reasonable cost for what you’re viewing here?
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Comments
The mere fact that the steering wheel is not cracked blows my mind…
And it may not have much left in the dash, but by God the clock is still there!
It always blows MY mind that 55,56,and 57 Chevys get so much attention. BelAir was the top of the line. But this poor baby seems DOWN and OUT in Bel Air. 🏰 😉
“The seller of this 1955 Chevrolet…”
’57, no? But it’s a ’55 in the text three times. Just a copy-editing note.
As a mopar lover here
2 words
HELLCAT SWAP
Or a nice 440 and make it spin tires🤷
watch it run right out from under all that rust!
No kidding😄
Yes definitely Mopar it up, it will be worth a fortune, maybe adapt a Ford transmission too
Someone’s better off continuing their search. It needs extensive rust repair on the lower portion of the body, it’s missing F&R seats and who knows what else. It’s going to be a money pit. Look at their sell through rate, it 3% per month, that suggests high prices and/or low quality.
Potential buyers tend to forget, when looking at what appears to be a low entry, price, you are always better off starting with the best car you can afford. You either pay up front or pay later in both money and time.
Steve R
You’re completely right. The good thing about these cars is that there’s lots of new and used parts available and if someone has the time and money could make this nice. but this one will require a lot of metal work first and as you say, better to get one that I’d already in better shape. Pictures don’t show everything and I’m guessing there’s probably lots of bondo in there too. I can see a large patch of it on the rear quarter pop out. Just watch some of the YouTube videos from DD speed shop and the 57’s he has rescued. Look good on the surface until they start pulling it apart and tons of rot.
This place is an hour and a half away from me and they have what I consider lots of very expensive junk. I think he gets every shredder escapee in the Greenville area. They are nice to talk with and you can browse the rows of derelicts but boy there are some scary so called projects there.
You’re right, there’s nothing special here that is worth saving. Start with a good survivor driver and make it your own.
There is no such thing as a cheap ’57 project anymore. But this is a good entry point if you are going to make a Blasphemi type of car. Beater look, new frame and running gear.
Hmmmm, this is most definitely a project car, it appears to missing some original parts, which are kinda hard, and or expensive to find, so if building a more original looking stock car l wouldn’t recommend it,but if building a race car,are some other type of street car, and if they are willing to take less money, it may be a pretty good deal, but be careful, the say there is some rust,but how much who,knows.
No one with experience would ever build something like this into a race car. This is far too expensive to start with. Without much effort competitive turn key bracket cars can be found in the $10,000- $15,000 range, grudge night bombers can be found for far less. A bracket car in that price range won’t win car shows, but they will be safe and go rounds. Price dynamics are far different for race cars than street cars, only beginners and dreamers that didn’t do their research would make the mistake of purchasing this with the intention of turning it into a race car.
If someone has their mind set on a 57 chevy race car, you buy a solid shell, then modify from there. This car would take to much time and money to get to that point.
Steve R
It definitely looks like this was a junkyard refugee and has been kind of cobbled together to make it look more of a 57 then it was say, a few years ago. the whole front clip doesn’t seem to match the rest of the body, and the trunk has been replaced – the other missing parts are likely on all the local 57s in the area that picked it apart over the years. For a 57 Chevy , it still looks like a decent car for the price, and there are tons of used and aftermarket parts around, not too mention all the junked 4 door sedans that could offer up similar pieces. I’m sure its not going to be restored, but it will end up as someone’s street rod ! .
Resto rule one – buy the best possible example you can find to start. This ain’t it.
Agree. To sketchy to decipher what’s original & what’s not. No drivetrain. For a novice restorer a find to start. However for a collector this one needs far more work then they want to deal with. It will get sold is the bottom line.
The the prices of most ’57 2 door bel Air project cars are usually so high most guys can’t afford them. This seems prices right if you can do most of the labor yourself and have the room, patience and means to finish it.
I’ve been out of the car flipping games way too long I don’t know what I can flip this for so it would wind up being a lawn ornament until someone offered me cash my neighbor has a 55/56 in his garage he has been rebuilding for a few years turned down a recent offer of $15k for it obviously in better shape than this one.
Alright let’s get right to it. It’s got to have a Ford engine, Ha, Ha, Ha. It’s a parts car at best and not much of that can be used.
God Bless America
I would think in CA there has to better candidates. Front end doesn’t match rear, in some pics the passenger door is off. Looks tossed together to sell. They made too many of these and too many better ones out there to tackle this one.
This guy has been hawking junk for years. I know I stopped in there over 20 years ago and almost everything he had was pieced together junk. He used to have full page ads in Auto Trader every week, he seldom sold anything. Maybe he’s got better junk now, don’t know, haven’t been by there in several years.
Take it out to the back 40, shoot it, and give it a decent burial.
Ol gal still has life left in her….however….it’s about a love of doing the work and doing what time and finances allow….if it casts a shadow on the ground it can be repaired or restored
…..myself I would rather start with this than pick up on someone else’s “better” candidate….
With that much stuff missing, I think you could do much better for 5 grand. There’s no telling how much this project could nickel and dime you to death, looking for all the little things that may have been pilfered from it over the years. A kid down the street from me bought a ’57 Bel-Air that was in better shape and much more complete than this one for only $1500 just last September. Compared to what he got, this one is only worth about $1000.
There is no mention of a title or if the vin plate is still attached to the vehicle. Without those two little knick-knacks ‘ and with the amount of rust I’m seeing in this ol’ boy he’s not worth building If you got him for free, and I’m not seein’ $5,K worth of parts here.
It is so bad I would not know where to begin.
You could always cut the top off and make a salad bar out of it