1957 Chevrolet - Reader Ride

By: Wayne Cooper, Photography by: Wayne Cooper

Date: 21.01.2017

Wayne Cooper's '57 Chev is a stone-cold classic

Wayne Cooper's 1957 Chevrolet

I originally bought it from Seven82Motors in Queensland, they had it advertised on the internet, but the car was in America when I bought it. So Seven82motors shipped it over and put it on a truck to my place in Melbourne.

I’ve done a substantial amount of suspension work since I’ve owned it. It’s got a 357 Chev motor with Edelbrock aluminium heads, an Edelbrock carby, Turbo 700R transmission and a Pontiac Positraction rear end – which puts the power down really well.

When I first got it, I didn’t know how a Positraction diff worked, and I assumed it worked like a regular limited-slip diff. So when I jacked it up and spun one of the wheels and found that the other didn’t spin the same way, I thought I’d been ripped off. I then took it to a mechanic, and a thousand dollar rebuild later realised that there was nothing wrong with it at all.

It’s not a show car by any means; it has a heap of little imperfections. But I’m not too fussed about that sort of stuff, I take it out all the time and I really enjoy the experience of driving it. The steering wheel is still on the left as it was in the States. I don’t understand the point of getting a big American car and then changing it to right-hand-drive.

At some stage I would like to paint it, but there’s no big rush. While we keep getting sunny days I’ll keep taking her out with the family as much as I can.

Valuation guide:
Good original examples of '57 Chevs range into the $50k+ zone.

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