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I understand 63-64 looking "similar." Kinda like 53-54, 46-47, 38-39, etc. (Watch the tongues wag now!!!)

It looks that way because I did an edit... Bill was right, I messed up!

Bate's Chevrolet, 1957...



Buck Baker and his Black Widow, 1957...

Where did the name "Black Widow" come from? We never called them that back in 1957.

"Black Widow" was the nickname given to the black painted 1957 Chevrolet 150's that were factory backed by Chevrolet in Nascar racing. The factory program put together a few cars before they were outlawed. It was based off the same sedan that Chevy sold to police fleets and the U.S. Army, only with a dose of thrill, a fuel-injected 283ci V-8 straight out of the Corvette that boasted 270 hp. The ironic thing is the fuelie 283 was the reason NASCAR outlawed the car, because it didn't have a carburetor. It also came with six lug truck suspension.

That's from SuperChevy.com

the black widows, of which 40+were built by vince piggins in the atlanta area under the name of SEDCO, were built with 57 283 ci, 283 Hp FI engines, not the 2x4 wcfb 270 hp engines. i've examined 3 "black widows" over the years and my impression being all three were clones. there are quite a few parts unique to a 57 pass car Fuelie that were missing on the clones. in summary, there were about 40 widows, about 1000 pass car 57 FI's and a little over 1000 FI vettes in 57. they are my favorite chevys and i've been lucky enough to have bought and restored a pair of 57 fi vets and one 57 pass car FI. if anyone out in vcca land finds a 57 chevy FI and needs help in differentiating a real from clone, give me a call or email.happy new year guys, mike

I was around in 1957 and followed stock car racing. I can't recall the Black Widow name used for anything back then.
The fuel injection was not "out lawed" in 1957 because it didn't have a carburetor. The NASCAR guys made all makes limited to a single carburetor. Also the supercharged Ford engine was elminated as well as the mmany makes that offered dual fours and tri-carbs. That was a time when the manufactors backed out of racing due to saftey concerns (and the government).
Chevrolet also put out a publication in 1957 suggesting how to build a stock car and what special parts were legal and available from Chevrolet. I have had a copy since 1957 and they are reproduced today.
Not on the picture of the 1957 it even had windshiels wipers and the head lights were real, not just decals.

Here's your history lesson for today...

1957 Black Widow History

I won't give up. It says they became know as black widows.....like a nick name. Never was an offical name.

Yup...likely some clever announcer or promoter gave them the name. I doubt Chevrolet would want their car known as a husband killer!

Back to the lady sitting in the white convertible,

Hey, Brewster. Not so fast buster,

How can you tell that the convertible is a 1949 and not a 1950?

Going by the speedometer and the clock it's hard to tell. The darkness of the "ring" in the speedometer face looks like a more like a 1949 while the square in the clock looks lighter *gray) and more like a 1950.

First impression to me, said a 1950 but then I noted you said it was a 1949. I'm not sure. Are you? Why?

Anyone else puzzled or think that Brewster is just guessing?

Charlie

I used an educated guess, Charlie. All the dash knobs on this are cream. On my '50 they are a dark grey. The steering wheel looks to be painted a different colour as well. And I may be wrong on this one, but wouldn't the top of the dash and the window garnish be a dark colour if it was a 1950? Green or black depending on the leather colour? We can go back a few pages and look at a '50 here...

The dash knob color may be washed out.
The 1950 BelAir and convertible hada black rimmed steering wheel, 1949 had the lighter tan rim.
1949 dash had lighter color on top, darker on the bottom. Convertible dash mayhave been sollid exterior type color.
Car pictured may be an early pre-production model a a prop type display.

Hey Charlie - that's likely a high-falutin' Canadian photo, EH? High-falutin' - that's Granny Speak - us edumacated ones in the frozen north used to watch Jed, Granny, Elly Mae, Jethro, Miss Jane & Milton all the time. That's how we got edumacated, EH!

Jack I did get the pics of the wheels. Thank you. Unfortunately, I do not have the under bonnet paint tag on my car. I do have the number tag. I am only going on color by the paint remnants deep inside the doors, directly under the bonnet, etc. and those areas indicate a very dark blue.

Gene... Charlie was questioning me on this picture, which I think is a '49...



This one is definitely a 1950...you can tell by the Powerglide...

You can really see the colour difference in the speedo and steering wheel when the pics are side by side. You can also see that the clock is different colours.

Ardie, the reason I asked if you had the paint plate abbreviation is that the History of Holden is a bit lacking in the chart for 1937 paint colours. It only lists two colours available for the Standard tourer, being Pearl Brown Med , and Coronardo Tan. BUT these are listed as being supplemental colours after AUGUST 1937 , so it doesn't mean that blue wasn't available before 1937. But they do have the 1936 colours listed. There seems to be a lot missing for the whole 1937 range. The 1937 Master (deluxe) Tourer is listed as Pearl Brown medium only.

With regards to the wheel colours. The only reference for body colour and wheel colour combinations that I have found ,apart from the 1937 38 39 40 sales Brochures is this 1939 OLDSMOBILE webpage. It has the combinations available for 1939 , and has both styles of wheels with black rims and coloured centres, and full coloured wheels. Some nice pictures from the 1939 olds catalogue as well.


1939 OLDMOBILE HOME PAGE

NOW , my choice of colours for a Dark blue 1937 car . Options could be Full dark blue to match Body colour with twin pin stripes, maybe to match any body striping. Dark Blue with Black rims and pin striping to match body striping. Silver centres with black rim and twin light blue pin strips. The silver on the wheel I have looks very much like Rally wheel Argent silver, with a Gloss to it.(maybe clear coat the Argent silver).The pinstripes on this wheel , are definitely a light blue. Or a light blue wheel centre with black rims and twin dark blue pinstripes.

I was hoping that in my 1937 to 1938 wheels that I have , that I would have a blue one , but the other 4 I have , all have original green on the back,( and lots of layers of house paint over the front). The other two wheels I have are buried deep in my shed, and I can't remember the paint ,(if any) on them.

I will keep my eyes out for other 37-38 wheels in the future.

Just an ammendment to the 1937 Master (deluxe) tourer, It was available in Bancroft Blue , and Peterkin Grey, as supplemental colours after August 1937.

Thank you so much Jack! That is amazing info. I will consider very carefully the options you presented. They sound very appealing and should make an interesting car stand out further. Regards, Ardie

1960 Anchorage Alaska. 1958, 1959, and 1960 Chevrolets all lined up for your viewing pleasure...



Christmas shopping in a rough looking 1951 Deluxe...



Geneva NY, 1957. Looks like the '50 convertible has had a repaint at some point...

Thats from the Alaska earthquake

1933 Chevy Lifesavers... I wonder if this was built on a rare roadster or phaeton chassis?



1950 More-door...

Nice airport limousine....anyone have any more pictures of Chevrolet airport limos?

The hubcaps and fenders on the Lifesaver car look like '34-'35 Standards to me.

Mike

I think you're right... I must be slipping. That's two wrong this week!