For some reason, I never have been a real big fan of any 50's era Chevys. The 57's always looked more like rolling tanks than cars, and I always struggled to figure out how people actually drag raced those things back in their day.

Here is a photo comparing the two

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5892/3756890483c919c9b8qw4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It seems like compaired to the early camaro, the 57's are not as big as the seem :eek:

My other choice of car would be a 55 Pro-Street but it would have to be Pro-Street....

different era, different style, both are classics of their time.

I dont know.. id take a 55-57 in a heart beat!

It's all in the lines/styling. I was very surprised when I had my 69 GTO parked alongside my buddy's 69 Charger. The Charger looks a lot longer, but nearly the same length.

I'd take a 57 in a heartbeat. Man I almost bought one in 1978 or 79 for $1500 and that thing was sweet. It had power windows and tuck'n'roll seats. AC too I'm thinking but not sure.

$1500 was a lot back then but I had it and sure wish that's how I'd spent it:). oh well

My other choice of car would be a 55 Pro-Street but it would have to be Pro-Street....

Yah me too..I take a 55 or 56 chopped Pro-Street..with a nice blower sticken out of the hood...make mine red/white...

Garfield there's more chrome, and weight, hanging off the front of that 57 tank than there is collectively on the whole Camaro!

I don't understand the fascination of the 57, but it seems to captivate a lot of hot rodders. Personally of the tri-5 years far and away the 55 is the one I'd own. Slick little 55, tubbed would be pretty neat in my book. Still a tank, but probably more survivable in an accident than a first gen for sure.

Well to compare the two cars in the picture is apples to oranges. The camaro is sitting low with custom wheels, etc.. and the the 57 is a stocker. Just go to any car show and in 99% of them there will be lots of tri 5's and lots of first gen Camaros. Those "tanks" actually don't weigh that much and just like Camaros you can just about build one from mail order without having a car to start with.

I'm with the rest of the guys I will take a 55-57 any day with 56 being my favorite of them. I would also be more than happy to take a nomad of the same vintage. 57 is my least favorite of them but, still a timeless classic. They were trend setters at the time just like the Camaro was when it came out.

What makes them much like a Camaro is the fact that they lend themselves very well to any style build you want to try. Very few cars can look good in all different styles of build. Actually the 55-57's are even more versitile <sp> they even make good looking low riders (56-57).

Its not a matter of which is best when comparing classic shapes
Its a matter of appreciating them individually
They ony come around every 10 or 15 yrs, and even then only maybe 1 or to makers hit the nail on the head
32 terraplane , 39 chev coupe, 55/56 chev, 66 pillarless impala, 1st gen camaro/dodge charger and challanger, stingray, mach 1 then a heap of plastic crap till the viper

and the best of the lot 51 Bradford

My other choice of car would be a 55 Pro-Street but it would have to be Pro-Street....

I built a ProStreet 57 before I built my Camaro. It was a stock 6 cyl 3 spd when I bought it. It had a 468 cuin blown big block with a Super T-10 4 spd and a narrowed 9" with 4:56 gears when I was finished with it. It was a great car. I owned it for 10 years. I sold it in 1998 and bought the Camaro a few months later. About a year later I started tearing into the Camaro. I do miss that car sometimes.

Here's my 57:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4112/57jpgzh0hu2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4112/57jpgzh0hu2.de86ad27be.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=237&i=57jpgzh0hu2.jpg)

http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/6553/57um5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/6553/57um5.7b2c167b3c.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=67&i=57um5.jpg)

.

A '55 red n white please.

a 2 door wagon/panel would be cool too.

There was a '57 4 door wagon with a 283 for sale in southern Utah last year, turquoise/white. they were asking 10,500. for it. Wonder if it's still there, it's in a really small town away from a lot of traffic.
Was a 4 door though. If it was 2 door, it'd have me really wondering......

'55s are my first choice, '57 2nd choice. '56s never grabbed me completely for some reason....weird.

Royce I hadn't put the tank reference to mean it was heavy, I thought it was in reference to the boxy shape of the car. Which I love on the 55. I also like the boxy lines of a 66-67 Chevy II. I guess I like my cars without all the extra bling that the 57 had or the 69 RS Camaro has. I'll take a stripped down version that is all business over the glitz of the no function accessories. In fact a Chevy II would be my next choice after a first gen, especially if the little Nova had a BBC, fenderwell headers, tubbed, and on and on. Now that I think about it maybe I should part ways with the 68 SS to build my Chevy II I always wanted! Hmmmm?

The tri 5 chevy's just look solid, like you could walk away from almost any kind of accident in one. The Camaro, not so much. I think you ever hit anything hard with the Camaro and it's over for the car and most likely yourself. I like the Camaro styling, but the first gen isn't a particularly well build car. But then not much was in that era and in this body line.

Camaro looks good. I'm still convinced 55' was the best year for 50's cars.

We've got the first gen camaro and the 55 nomad side by side in our garage. The nomad has at least a foot on my camaro but I can push the nomad easier than I can push the camaro. (neither move under their own power at this time)

There was a guy earlier this year riding around in a 57 Chevy that he was trying to sell for $15,000. It was completely restored from bumper to bumper without a single scratch or dent in it anywhere. He disappeared for a while, and the last time I saw that car, it was sitting on the dealers lot. I dont know what he "traded it in" for, but I haven't seen either him or the car since!

Royce I hadn't put the tank reference to mean it was heavy, I thought it was in reference to the boxy shape of the car. Which I love on the 55. I also like the boxy lines of a 66-67 Chevy II. I guess I like my cars without all the extra bling that the 57 had or the 69 RS Camaro has. I'll take a stripped down version that is all business over the glitz of the no function accessories. In fact a Chevy II would be my next choice after a first gen, especially if the little Nova had a BBC, fenderwell headers, tubbed, and on and on. Now that I think about it maybe I should part ways with the 68 SS to build my Chevy II I always wanted! Hmmmm?

The tri 5 chevy's just look solid, like you could walk away from almost any kind of accident in one. The Camaro, not so much. I think you ever hit anything hard with the Camaro and it's over for the car and most likely yourself. I like the Camaro styling, but the first gen isn't a particularly well build car. But then not much was in that era and in this body line.


Ok gotcha, 57's do look like they weight 6000lbs just because of how "bubbly" they look and the huge bumpers. For some reason the 57's look much biger to me than the 55 and 56 which is one of the reasons I like the 55-56 better.

You're right none of the small to mid size 60's cars are built all that well. Evn the 66-67 Nova you are no safer than you are in the Camaro unless, you do what you have planned (tubbed, etc...) which will look awesome by the way.