1957

By the mid 1950”s GM began to show signs of lowering some of the injuries in a vehicle accident. This was not from Government regulations but rather a selling point to help market their new vehicles. Highways were becoming better and speed could be increased. One of the first improvements on Chevy/GMC trucks was to lower the center of the...

Our feature Truck of the Month Series is well known for the very unusual. So, here we go again! Cameos of the mid-1950’s are now rarely seen, however this example was even quite unusual when you could place an order at the Chevrolet dealer 65 years ago. Not only is it one of the country’s top unrestored Cameos, it has...

March 2022 Feature Truck of the Month Coming Soon

             Beside the beach Louie Hinojosa of Bakersfield, CA has been a car and truck enthusiast since his high school days in the mid-1960’s. He had a 1955 Chevy two door hardtop ready when he was of driving age. This was his daily driver for many years. He learned so much on how to keep...

Our special truck this month: A 1957 Chevrolet Cameo owned by John Wazorick. Few people can say they have owned their 60 year old vehicle 40 years! It all began when John was in high school and the new 1957 Cameos were introduced in Chevrolet dealer’s show rooms.* It was love at first sight but it brought up a big...

WOW! What an unusual totally restored truck. When we were first shown the photos of this step side pickup, we saw this was special. No one we knew could recall anything quite like this. The pickup is a 1957 GMC Napco ½ ton (Factory 4 wheel drive) with 125 inch wheel base. Not only is this an almost 60 years...

One of our good customers, Scott Phaneuf of Hatfield, MA recently purchased a NOS (New Old Stock) GM tool bag with all the correct tools. It was found in a San Diego dealership back storeroom. Somehow it had not been thrown away over these many years. In earlier years canvas tool bags were with the vehicle when new at no...

What a unique invention. When you have a 1947 through 1959 single rear wheel 3/4 or 1 ton GM truck and need more pulling power, this is the answer. American ingenuity at its best! This new steel center hub extension includes eight long bolts to reach the original wheel studs. This holds the factory wheel in place and then provides...

  With the introduction of the new small block V-8's in 1955 Chevrolet trucks, modified sheet metal was created to help in cooling. The new truck design came standard with the proven 235 inline six cylinder but when an optional V-8 was added, cooling modifications were necessary. The short length V-8's cooling fan was too far from the radiator and...

Have you ever crawled under a pickup for sale looking for damage? You then turned it down because some rust was coming through the floor. Well, check this! David Cross of Stillwater, Minnesota found this 1957 Chevrolet 1/2 ton and ignored the signs of major rust. What is now a show quality truck would normally have been crushed by a recycler.

During the early years of GM truck production, many examples exist which relate to their vehicles being designed more for work. Changing a trim part for appearance reasons was usually secondary if it resulted in unnecessary expense. Often parts were used that had already been on GM automobiles. This eliminated expensive new tooling costs and kept GM truck prices in...

  During the late-1950's GM car and truck manufacturers begin to install optional V-8 engines in their vehicles. To set the vehicles apart from their six cylinders, V-8 emblems were designed to attract outsiders. This GMC front fender V-8 emblem above was used during 1955 through 1957. The GMC letters were on both six and V-8 trucks. The pictured Hydramatic...

  If you ever wondered about the color of the primer used by GM before the initial paint, these photos give the answer. This 1957 Chevy 1/2 ton had been polished through the paint in most areas. Of course, our question is: Why didn't they stop polishing when the primer first appeared.

Regular readers of this section know we tend to give credit to trucks that are the more unusual. This month is no exception.

This months feature truck is one of the better examples of a correct 1957 Chevrolet Cameo. Its a limited production 1/2 ton that was sold four years in the 1950's. They are now rarely seen. GM added many extras to their 1/2 ton pickup and came up with this very deluxe truck. This "Boulevard Truck" drew customers into dealer showrooms and yet could be used by a new owner for light hauling.

You can’t get more unusual than 1 of 1. This is how Ralph Wescott of Largo, FL describes his 1957 GMC Palomino. General Motors built only one! It was produced to draw attention to their truck display at the New York Autorama show in 1957.

I got this 1957 Chevrolet truck two years a go. It was in bad shape I did a body off restoration. It has a 350 with 700 R4 , S 10 rear and Fat Man front end. With a lot of help from Jim Carter's I able to do all the work.