The most striking refinements were the wide chromed grille and the new dashboard, with certain Bel Air versions coming with front fender chevrons, as well as a V-shaped trim on the tail fin.
The production numbers are the best indicator of Chevy’s growing popularity. The Bel Air two-door sedan accounted for close to 63,000 units, while the 4-door sibling reached almost 255,000 cars.
The Sport Sedan and the Sport Coupe exceeded 303,000 units combined, while the convertible was obviously the rarest for this model year with just 47,000 vehicles.
The Bel Air th at we have here is a four-door sedan, and as you can easily tell by simply browsing the photos in the gallery, it doesn’t come in its best shape.
The folks over at Classic Cars of South Carolina (classiccarsofsc on eBay) claim this is a barn find, though based on the pictures, it looks like the vehicle is now stored in a junkyard alongside other abandoned classics.
The most impressive tidbit is the engine under the hood. The Bel Air comes with a running V8, though on the other hand, we know little about this unit. There’s a chance, however, this is the original engine that was installed on the car back in 1957, and all of these make the Bel Air quite a solid candidate for a full restoration.
The 1957 Bel Air was offered with a mix of six-cylinder units and V8s. The standard unit was the 250 (4.0-liter) Blue Flame Six with 140 horsepower, while the base V8 was the 265 (4.3-liter) Turbo Fire V8 two-barrel and rated at 162 horsepower.
Chevrolet also offered several versions of the 283 (4.7-liter), with a fuel-injected variant added late in this model year with 283 horsepower.
This Bel Air is fitted with a 283, though the garage in charge of selling the car hasn’t provided any specifics on the version. Given its solid condition and the running engine, it makes sense for this Bel Air to come with a hefty price tag.
