'57 Chevy Daily Driven by Original Owner

62caddy

62caddy

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Sweetest little old lady you ever saw - still drives the only car she ever owned (as of the time the video was produced): A 1957 Chevrolet Bel Aire 4 door hardtop that she purchased new in 1957.

She says, "A lot of people don't know how to take car of a car..."

Compared to her, who can argue with that? :)

Bless her.

http://www.youtube.com/v/QwcRG2aEi3s

**If that car is still all original paint & interior - that is utterly amazing!
 
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By my figuring ...that averages out to only 5.6 miles per day for 57 years. Still that is an amazing story....good for her. $2,200 in 1957 sounds a little steep though. My house was built in 1956 and was $6,000 new.
 
I'd think you could get a decent house built today for the price of 3 new Chevy Impalas...no?
 
1957 american muscle. A time when american vehicle making was great.
A test of time that these vehicles are awesome if taken care of.
 
Nice story.

My cars would last a helluva lot longer if I only drove them less than 2 thousand miles a year, too...
 
Car looks great and that woman is quite the character. But, the seat covers have obviously been replaced and I really doubt that the paint is original. Could be but unlikely. Nothing wrong with that.

Some hydraulic lifter clatter when she fired it up so it's possible that the engine hasn't been apart. I did get a chuckle out of the two gallons of Prestone in the trunk.

Great story.

Murray
 
Good thing it was a 57. A 265 never would have lasted that long with their crummy oil filter system.
 
Mark W. said:
Good thing it was a 57. A 265 never would have lasted that long with their crummy oil filter system.
Click to expand...
'55's had an optional by-pass oil filter that sat on top of the intake while 56-57 265's had a "full-flow" canister on the block just like 283's.

Murray
 
Altho I'M a '57 model myself, the one I like the best is the '56, specifically, the '56 4 door hardtop, like this one.
 
Our family had a '57 Chevy station wagon in the all-too-common orange color. It only lasted in the family until 1964, but it moved with the family from Maryland - Texas - Germany - Maryland. It was quite a sight on European highways.
 
I always loved the 57 and the nomad version. I always thought it was "the" American icon car. The simplicity of the engine (in its time sophistication) hey they're still running a small block Chevy (somewhat modified today). I think my father had a 56 and a 58 though I only saw pictures of them. I had a friend in the 80s with a show car one (2 door). I used to like to work on cars back in the day. You could get to anything with some wrenches and a screw driver in a few minutes. My Toyota has to have intake removed to change half the plugs ( though they last 150000 miles). In fairness (I'm taking nothing away from Chevy here). They steered crappy, they stopped crappy, they had to be tuned up every 5000 miles or so. When was the last time you changed points or a cap and rotor. They got poor gas mileage which wasn't much of an issue when gas was 10¢ a gallon. And chances are, you weren't likely to get 200,000 +miles out of them (short of major rebuilds) which isn't uncommon today
 
Is the (dual) exhaust assembly original? I don't recall the outward flaring @ the ends of the pipes on this model.
 
My dad had a 57 that he kept until I was about 10. He finally sold it. If memory serves, it was Coral and Black.

I wish I had kept my first car. I wish I had kept my last motorcycle! ;)
 
One of my customers mom just pasted away and I've been offered a 64 Buick with 30,001 miles, never driven in winter OR rain.
Looks like new but for very minor pits on the bumper.
The car has always been garaged, and still smells like new car inside!
She let me drive it and it was a trip back in time, what a boat.
$9000.00 hummm, just don't know. :smoke:
 
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