1957 Chevrolet 150 2-door Post Small Block Chevy on 2040-cars

There were many options available, most of which were designed to make the car more comfortable and luxurious. Air conditioning was offered though rarely ordered, as was a padded dash. Power steering and power brakes were available, as well as a signal-seeking AM^[4] radio and power antenna. Power windows and power seats were also available. A rear speaker could be purchased which required a separate volume knob to be installed in the dashboard, beside the radio — this rear speaker was touted as providing "surround" sound. An "autotronic eye" was offered; it was a device that bolted onto the dashboard and sensed the light from oncoming traffic, dimming the headlights automatically.^[5] One unique option was an electronic shaver, connected to the dashboard.^[6] The ‘57 radio used tubes that required only 12 volts of plate voltage and a transistor for the output stage. This lowered the power drain on the battery to an insignificant amount when the engine was off. Playing the radio with conventional tubes for extended periods occasionally drained the battery to the extent that it could not start the car. The clock was electrically self-wound and moving the hands to correct the time resulted in actually regulating the going rate. After a few corrections, the clock was remarkably accurate.

Another dashboard-mounted item was the traffic-light viewer, a ribbed plastic visor that was installed just above the speedometer. Because the roof extends so far forward of the driver, it is hard to see overhead traffic lights. The traffic light viewer captured the reflection of overhead traffic lights so that the driver didn't have to lean forward to see past the edge of the roof. A/C was also an option.^[7]

In 1957, Chevrolet started to add safety features such as "crash proof door locks^[8] "(first added in 1956), padded dash boards, safety-styled steering wheel with a recessed hub^[9] (though not as much as Ford's), seat belts(also first in 1956^[10]) and shoulder harnesses.^[11][12] However, unlike Ford, Chevrolet did not promote these safety features heavily.

1957 was also Chevrolet's first offering of a turbine transmission, known as the Turboglide. It was a design concept that Buick had developed with their Dynaflow transmission. However, due to a reliability reputation caused by its complexity, most automatic transmission buyers shunned the Turboglide in favor of the two-speed Powerglide that had been offered since 1950. At the time the Turboglide casing was the largest cast aluminum component ever put into mass production, but it never recovered from the reputation in 1957 and the option was discontinued in 1961. Manual transmissions were limited to three-speed, column shifted units (with synchromesh in second and third gear only). The Powerglide's shifter went P N D L R while the Turboglide's was P R N D Hr (although the 'Hr' was changed early in the production series to 'Gr'-Grade Retarder because of drivers' mistaken belief that 'Hr' meant High Range instead of the correct Hill Retarder.) .^[13][14] An overdrive unit was available as an option on the three speed manually shifted transmission cars. A four speed manual transmission was also offered at a price of $188.00 as a dealer installed only option. A '57 equipped with this transmission mated to the 270 horsepower engine and limited slip differential was the one to beat on the drag strip and street into the early 1960s.

From a numbers standpoint, the '57 Chevrolet wasn't as popular as General Motors had hoped. Despite its popularity, rival Ford outsold Chevrolet for the 1957 model year for the first time since 1935. The main cause of the sales shift to Ford was the fact the '57 Chevrolet had tubeless tires, the first car to have them. This scared away sales to Ford as many people did not initially trust the new tubeless design. Also Ford's introduction of an all-new body styling that was longer, lower, and wider than the previous year's offerings helped Ford sales.^[15] However, the 1957 Ford — with the exception of the rare retractable hardtop model — is not nearly as prized by collectors today as the 1957 Chevrolet. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the '57 Chevrolet was a popular used car and highly prized "street machine" or hot rod in 1957 terms. It was the final year of the "shoebox" Chevrolet, as 1958 saw the introduction of a much larger and heavier "X" framed Chevrolet. The ideal size of the '57, combined with its relatively light weight compared to newer full-sized cars, made it a favorite among drag racers. The engine bay was big enough to fit GM's big-block engines, first introduced in 1958 and popularized in the 1960s by the Beach Boys in the song "409". The relatively simple mechanical attributes of the car made it easy to maintain, customize, and upgrade with components such as disc brakes and air conditioning.

The big block, however, was not what put the '57 on the map on the street scene; it was the introduction and the over-the-counter, low-priced availability of the small block, 365 horsepower 327 in 1962 that was the blockbuster that made both the '55 and '57 Chevrolet able to beat the Ford hotrods with their flathead V8s. This was a major turning point in American hot rodding: Chevrolet had claimed the street scene from Ford. The '57 Chevrolet also won 49 Grand National "cup" NASCAR races (the most of any car in NASCAR history), won the Southern 500 (in 1957, 1958, and 1959); becoming the only car to win the 500 three times. The earliest victory for a '57 Chevrolet in a titled NASCAR Grand National Series race was the 1957 Virginia 500; a race that was shortened due to an extremely flagrant accident.

The '57 also won 25 NASCAR convertible races, more than any car and won all three possible drivers championships. The first in convertible class and winning car in the 1959 Daytona 500 was a 57 driven by Joe Lee Johnson. That would make it actually 26 wins. The convertables were started on the outside row and were approx. 10 miles an hour slower than the hardtops and sedans because of aero dynamics. No one figured that a convertible would win the race and they didn't but who was the top finishing convertible? With the 283 engine placed from the factory behind the centerline of the front wheels made the '57 a superior handling car on the short tracks and the dirt tracks as well. This mechanical advantage, coupled with a high reving reliable 283 earned the '57 the nickname "king of the short tracks". With the fuel injected 283, the 150 model two door sedan version, called the "black widow", was the first car that was outlawed (and quickly so) by NASCAR as it proved almost unbeatable on virtually all the NASCAR tracks in early 1957. After the '57 was grandfathered out from the now "cup" division in 1960 and relegated to the lower local track sportsman divisions they were the car to beat for years. The '57's subsequently were used up in stock car racing at a very high rate. Surprisingly enough, the '57 Chevrolet also won a disproportionate amount of demolition derbies as well: With the radiator set back from the grille, the car was difficult to disable. The additional advantage of having the last double lined trunk, coupled with a strong frame, made it a surprisingly common winner in the demolition derbies during the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the 1970s, the '57 Chevrolet became a collector car.

Companies such as Danchuk Manufacturing, Inc. and Classic Chevy Club International began selling reproduction and restoration parts. In the early 1990s, the value of meticulously restored '57 Chevrolet convertibles was as high as $100,000. Though those peaks gave way significantly after 1992, the '57 Chevrolet has held its value and now is poised to exceed the previous peak.

Restored, original examples are increasingly rare, and modern customizers and restorers are creating fast, powerful, ultra-modern hot rods that are winning the '57 Chevrolet a whole new generation of fans. Fiberglass and all-steel reproductions are making it possible for future generations to enjoy the '57 Chevrolet as original cars become harder to find.