VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions A "new" '57 Chevy? Anyone else hear this?

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/22/57-chevy-for-sale-again-50-years-later/

It appears CARS, Incorporated is going to begin production of 1957 Chevrolet steel bodies. Combine this with the company that already produces the 1969 Camaro body shells and you have a whole new wave of possible scammers.

I can just see someone paying big bucks for a '57 Chevy and then finding out it was produced just months ago and built with reproduction parts.

What's everyone else think about the new era of full body reproduction?

Complete new steel bodies are available over here & new "old" cars are being manufactured.
But, as they are hand built & all parts are new, their cost is way above an original .
If you were using original parts in a new '57 body then surely it's an original ? You only changed the body panels!
Here in the UK our Licence plates are age related & a rebuilt car has to contain the major part of the original.
If on testing this is not found so then you are issued the dreaded "Q" plate,a new body is ok, one of the reasons "Rodding" has never been as popular this side of the pond.
I'm not sure but I think you have to manufacture a certain number to avoid the "Q" but you still get an up to date plate.

Full body reproduction?

Na, it's a kit car. Even if built buy the manufacturer, it's a kit. It will never be worth the same as the restored or original version. I read some of the comments below the article and most are right on.

Daryl, most of those "restored" muscle cars on ebay today are put together with parts made overseas and are not far from what Car,inc. is offering. Someone once said that there are more SS cars for sale today than Chevy ever manufactured.

I don't think it really is a kit, You do need a frame last time I saw the "demo" at Carlisle it also required a cowl/firwall/windshiled piller post, needless to say all of the door hardware. It is far from an easy task. All of the panels need to be welded and then finished. It was also missing a key componant...... a VIN number. Basically some of the project cars I have seen sold recently will have to be wearing new skin when and if they ever get finished. I was at a local cruise night last night (even Billy Joel was there!) and there was a Duesenburg Kit there made in the 70's, and it was real pleasent to see. There does seem to be less and less 57 ragtops around lately, maybe this will bring a few out and also put to use some part that would just become scrap
John

Ask CHEVY he has a URL for a company that will sell a new 57 Convert body complete, or a body on a chassis, or a complete turn key brand a**ed new 1957 convert. ready to rumble....
check it out!

new 57 Chevy Ragtop

I don't have a '57 but isn't the VIN # on the firewall?
If so then I changed my mind. If I wanted everything brandy new, then I'd rather start with an original firewall and frame with a real VIN# and add all these panels. Given that most "projects cars" need new or repaired panels all over the place, you might be better off getting everything new right from the start...IF you can afford it!

Seems to me that it would make sence to buy an orriginal and a kit and make a whole car with the reproduction parts replacing worn out unrepairable parts from the real thing.

In '57 the serial number (VIN # did not exist yet) was attached (by spot welding) to the drivers side front door post between the two hinges. So since they supply an original cowl then the serial number plate should be in place.

I would assume that your check book would determine which way to go. If it is bulging with cash then go for the turnkey option. If it is like mine then fabricate all your own patch panels and salvage everything you can.

RGwiz, read the information on the site, they do start with an original Cowl.

I think this will help people restore an otherwise "un-restorable" vintage car. But something in my mind just doesn't add up. At what point does it stop being a vintage car, and become a reproduction? If 99.8% of the car is new sheetmetal should we really count it as a vintage car?

I dunno. These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. :p

Good point about the VIN number, John. I wonder how most DMV's handle VIN transfers?

What difference does it make if you call a "restored car" a vintage car, or a reproduction? After all isn't it just to the depth one goes to to make the restoration "As it came from the factory."?

And what difference does it make if I do all the restoration under the shade tree, and paint it with NOS paint or one that some supershop did it with new to specs repo parts and then a Doctor or a talk show host celebrity with mega-bucks orders it off the menue, and has it transported to his air-conditioned garage and it sits in a glass cage?

The part that kicks my dander is the T-bucket with the Chevy 454 and is registered as 1915 Model T and is carrying, and paid for, antique plates. Anything wrong with that picture?

I take it Ray you don't appreciate a BBC powered "T" bucket being called an Antique car?

I agree, I think it should have nothing bigger or newer than a 265 SBC engine to be classified as an Antque!

When I first saw this posting I thought of the current Cobra kits. There are a few other kits out there also.
Can you call these "kit cars" antiques, even when they have antique plates on them?
This 57 is in a gray area being it has an original firewall and cowl. One part of me says yeah it's a great idea, and another says wait a minute it's very close to a kit car.
I for one am still holding off on buying repro fenders for my 32 coupe in hope of finding those perfect original repairable rear fenders.
(yeah, maybe when hell freezes over)

I agree with Chip, if you have a lot of cash and it does not matter to you that you have a reproduction body that is your decision and, I am sure you can enjoy it for cruising etc.

I feel the drive train, the body, and the frame are components which are the "core" of what we call a Chevrolet, or any other vehicle that is supported by membership to a club. If any of these are reproduced by a firm ,other than the original auto maker, then it is not GM. If your club is based on the appreciation of a GM product this car would be a car without a birth certificate.

The drive train and frames, along with a body are available for swapping back and forth to create a car. Many people have used original GM core parts to complete a restoration. However, I feel the "Kit Car" comparison is a valid description of what we have in this case.

I am just saying that to claim it is a Chevrolet would be wrong.

Of course Steve you are assuming that GM built all the parts on a "Genuine Chevrolet", that more than likely wasn't nor is now necessiarly so........nor would any restroration be considered "Genuine Chevrolet" if the restoration was done with Non-Gm made parts, or one that used shop fabbed sheet metal or foreign made patch panels, bearings, seat fabric, tires, paint, rubber products, fasteners, and so on and so on.......Maybe you need to put that in the judging book, if you believe it is so.
In actuality who can be savy enought to make the judgment that a car built of new sheet iron around a "Genuine Chevrolet" serial numbered Cowl is not a restored Chevrolet, assuming it has a Chevrolet engine, radiator, transmission, rear axle, appropriate for the year,model and series? How about the 150 and 210 cars that have had all the deluxe trim added, the seats and interior,and repainted and including changing out the cowl plate, is that a points deduction, and also to add trim to a biscayne, 210 or an Impala that is made to look like an Impala SS? Or is that simply another "don't tell...don't look too closely" type of a deal?

I'm glad to see and authority like Steve hear on this discussion.
Hey Steve. Do the judges know the difference between a repro fender and a real GM fender? Do they look for that type of thing at shows?
I sure hope they consider the availability of some genuine items as they sure are getting hard to find.
If the judges deduct for large repro items then this 57 might as well be called a "kit".

Thanks for pointing to this thread. This is the discussion that I was hoping to see.

I find it interesting that they make all the sheet metal except the cowl/firewall, which must be special in a convertable. I wonder if there is a legal reson why this is so.

This is very interesting. Here is much more detail about this, that appears in the link in Daryl Scott's posting that started this string (thanks, Daryl). I think some of us have not seen this info, perhaps, as it answers some of the questions that have popped up here.

If the work was carried out to a high standard (and anybody laying down this much cash probably would) I think that most judges on the show field would never figure this out. Don't know if that is good or bad.

from the link-
"All of the '57 Chevy Convertible bodies built by CARS Inc. start with an original '57 Chevy Cowl (dash, A-pillar and firewall) around which fresh sheetmetal is added. This allows each car to be considered as officially "restored", complete with a VIN number from the car that donated the cowl. I-go-cars.com reports that pricing has yet to be determined, but CARS Inc. plans to keep the price of a turn-key car at or below what restored '57 Chevy Convertibles are going for at auction, which is around $70,000 to $100,000. A body alone will likely start in the $30k range."

There Is a guy In the Seattle area who had only the frame for a 1958 corvette. He bought a engine,Transmission, Springs and other running gear related Items out of state. Both doors, hood, Front half of the body was from another place, Wheels from somewhere else, On and On until he had enough parts to build the car. After It was finished, He has taken It to many car shows and has won many awards. Many comments like, What a beautiful restored original 1958 corvette, It must of been kept In a heated garage since new to look so new and original. This corvette was probably built from six or seven different cars, From all over the country, And he call It a unmolested restored corvette. I wonder how much of this goes on and what about the guy who may pay big dollars down the road buying cars like this not knowing the real truth. :confused:

Well I guess it really is an unmolested RESTORED car, just not an unmolested ORIGINAL. I would rather have a car lovingly restored from good used and nos, by a craftsman or master restorer than buy one that came off the assembly line, put together by randomly selecting parts back in 1958 then has the snot driven off of it and seldom serviced, set up on cinder blocks beside a double wide for 30 years, and later slicked up and sold as an unmolested ORIGINAL car. Just my humble opinion.

Can I have a new body when all that is left of me is my cowl? Maybe grow a new body from stem cells? I sure don't want to be molested though.

Well maybe not molested, but wouldn't a tickle now and then let you know you were "Restored"?

I know of a few Vettes that have been put together from parts located here and there. It dosen't bother me if you put something together using original parts. Just don't make the claim that it was a complete car when you got it.
These '57's are not in that catagory.

:) Unlike the older ladies who have their bodies tweeked at the body shop so they WOULD be molested??