Question about '57 Chevrolet Hood Script for 6-cylinder cars

[Dosmo]

When I was a teenager, I owned a '57 Chevrolet 210 station wagon with the 235 6-cylinder engine.  On the hood was the plain "Chevrolet" script.  There was no "V" under the script as there would have been with a V8 powered car.  I had an eye for noticing this type of detail back then, and I still do.

 

Being the owner of a '57 Chevy, I started paying more attention when I saw others, which was pretty often as they were still pretty common in the late '60s/early '70s.  I started noticing that some V8 cars had what appeared to be hoods sans the "V" emblem.  I also noticed that some 6-cylinder cars sported hoods that actually did have the "V". 

 

Since I'm online quite a bit these days, I see lots of '57 Chevrolet photos.  I see photos of 6-cylinder cars that do not have the "V", but the Chevrolet script is mounted up higher on the hood than it was on my old wagon.  I have been assuming that the hoods on these cars have been replaced with those from V8 cars with subsequent removal of the "V", leaving the Chevrolet script by itself.

 

Now, I'm wondering if that is actually the case.  I wonder if, for whatever reason, any '57 Chevrolets left the factory without the "V", leaving the script mounted high on the hood.  I've attached a couple of photos, showing two different '57s with the scripts mounted in the differing positions.

 

Thoughts?  Does it matter?  It probably does not, but I wonder how many others notice this, and whether or not any original cars left the factory with the scripts mounted up high sans the "V".

[TerryB]

I just recently saw a 1957 Chevy six in the plain Jane trim for sale near Hershey.  Can recall where the lettering was located.  The big give away is the missing V as you noted. Will have to look at that detail if I pass by it again.

[TerryB]

Check out the 1957 in the cars for sale that just recently sold.  It has the higher placed logo.

[John348]

I just looked it up in the parts book and it specifically states   under group number 8.055 57 Passenger 8 cyl  "ornament ("V")   3759108 

Edited January 7, 2019 by John348 (see edit history)

[misterc9]

The blue 57 Script height is correct for a 6cylinder car. The dusk pearl 57 has the script at the V8 height but with out the V emblem, probably has a V8 hood.

[mercman from oz]

In Australia, the only 57 Chevrolet that was offered was the 210 series 4 door sedan with the six and manual 3 speed transmission.

Only black wall tyres were offered and only Poverty hubcaps were fitted.

We didn't get the choice of body styles, and running gear like your got in the USA.

The only choice that a buyer here got was the colour of the car, and that was limited, as not that many were assembled here.

Count your Blessings.

This is the illustration in the Australian Sales Brochure.

Regards Mercman <><

[nzcarnerd]

2 hours ago, mercman from oz said:

In Australia, the only 57 Chevrolet that was offered was the 210 series 4 door sedan with the six and manual 3 speed transmission.

Only black wall tyres were offered and only Poverty hubcaps were fitted.

We didn't get the choice of body styles, and running gear like your got in the USA.

The only choice that a buyer here got was the colour of the car, and that was limited, as not that many were assembled here.

Count your Blessings.

This is the illustration in the Australian Sales Brochure.

Regards Mercman <><

 

Remember also that the Oz cars were sourced from Canada, as our NZ cars were, except that we got Bel Air V8s. Even though they were all four door sedans they have always been 'collectible' and the survival rate is probably over 10%. There were 506 Chevrolets registered new in NZ in calendar year 1957. Some would have been late sale 1956 cars and a few may have been used imports but probably around 480(maybe) would have been new cars. Just in the last year I have been putting together a list of surviving cars, most of which are complete and running and either, I have seen them personally, or they have appeared on the road or at shows and their photos have come up on the net. So far I have over 50 confirmed from their frame numbers plus a few more which have either had a number change or there is some question about. I reckon there must be at least as many more put away in sheds, either complete or incomplete, that have not been out for many years. Of course there are many more Tri Chevs which have been imported, particularly in other body styles, and they now vastly outnumber the NZ new cars. Of course back in 1957 the Chevrolet was, in the US as it always had been, a basic working man's car, whereas in NZ, as it would have been in OZ, it was regarded as being 'quite flash' and most were bought new either by farmers or businessmen.

[Dosmo]

9 hours ago, mercman from oz said:

 

Your Australian sales brochure appears to show the hood script mounted in a higher position than what I remember on my old station wagon.  My previous line of thought regarding the position of the hood script may prove to be incorrect.  Thank you for this most informative post.

[TerryB]

Could have been a running production change made to the emblem location so that it worked for both six and V8 models.

[Dosmo]

14 minutes ago, TerryB said:

Could have been a running production change made to the emblem location so that it worked for both six and V8 models.

Yes, that does makes sense.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Dosmo, thanks for contributing this very interesting topic!

I'll be following it to see what information comes to light.

And the '57 Chevy community will thank you, too.

[Ed Luddy]

The Canadian built cars differ slightly from USA built ones. The hood script may well have been placed higher on all Oshawa built cars regardless of engine.

 

[nzcarnerd]

I had not rally thought much about the placing of the Chevrolet badge on '57s until this thread came up.

 

Of course all of the NZ new cars were V8s and should have the gold V badge below the Chev script but from looking through the photos I have accumulated some don't.

 

This car is an Australian built 210 that has lived in NZ for many years. Its Chev script is certainly mounted lower than on the NZ V8 cars.

 

I am sure this car started life as a six but I think it has been repowered with a V8.

 

 

[nzcarnerd]

I started looking through some of my photos of '57s and found this one which somebody must have converted into a two door as only four doors were sold here new.  I can tell from its serial number that it is one of the locally assembled, local new four door sedans.

 

I know there are several '55s in NZ that have been converted into two doors. I think the movie American Graffiti had a lot to do with that becoming a popular thing to do.

 

 

[nzcarnerd]

I found this one on the Wellington Chevrolet Club's website. I think the photo is probably more than 20 years old. The car was  probably imported back when near new as it has been converted to right hand drive. The whole business of being forced to convert lhd cars to rhd is something of a can of worms. Many cars were converted back in the day but there have always been a few that haven't. My 1965 Pontiac was imported in later 1965 and remained left hand drive.

 

Unfortunately this two door has no licence plate so I can't run the plate to see what its serial, number is. I presume it is a six cylinder 150.

[mercman from oz]

 

NZCARNERD, You make an interesting point when you say that 10% of the 57 Chev sales still exist in NZ. In Australia, sales of the Chevrolet for calendar year 1957 was 2015.

Australia had a much larger population than NZ, but we could only garner this many sales. Bearing in mind that this figure is for Calendar Year, so a big proportion of these would be 56 models.

Just for comparison, Calendar years sales for 1956 was 1649 and for 1958, it was 1418. So, some of that 58 total would have been 57 models.

Regards the survival rate, I would doubt very much that the survival rate would be that high in Australia. It is a known fact that you Kiwi's take better care of your old cars than we did/do in Australia.

Just for your information, all Right Hand Drive 57 Chevs used the carry over 56 Chev Dash. Attached are pictures of survivor 57 Chev 210's in Australia.

[viv w]

The Chevrolet script on a 57 V8 is shorter in length than on a 6cyl car, this is so that it fits inside the vee emblem.

 Most of the 57 chevs in this part of the world were assembled in Port Elizabeth south Africa. I had a RHD 150 Coupe utility 6 cyl sedan with the long script on the hood, it was unrestored and rough but the script was mounted lower down, my other one was a LHD V8 Belair 4dr sedan, both cars were built in Port Elizabeth.

 One of our club members saw my Belair and told me he worked in the P E factory when these cars were built, he claimed they would built 12 RHD drive cars and then 12 LHD as production progressed on the assembly line and said the majority of the LHD cars were for export to the Belgian Congo, I can't confirm this but thought it interesting.

 Another interesting thing about SA built 57's was the paint and upholstery. SA cars the roof was painted one color only down to the gutter line, the tops of the doors and pillars were lower body color and some of the colors followed earlier Chev models.

 My %7 Belair was totally original but very tatty before restoration, it was canyon coral with an india ivory roof/top, the interior seats were pleated as per 1955 design but the door panels matched the USA spec design for 57, and the interior was color matched to the exterior in canyon coral with ivory.

[mercman from oz]

Here is a picture of an imported 1957 Chevrolet 210 V8 Sedan that now resides in Australia. You can compare the length of the Chevrolet Script with the six cylinder version.

[Dosmo]

7 hours ago, mercman from oz said:

 

Just for your information, all Right Hand Drive 57 Chevs used the carry over 56 Chev Dash. Attached are pictures of survivor 57 Chev 210's in Australia.

 

4 hours ago, viv w said:

The Chevrolet script on a 57 V8 is shorter in length than on a 6cyl car, this is so that it fits inside the vee emblem.

 Most of the 57 chevs in this part of the world were assembled in Port Elizabeth south Africa. I had a RHD 150 Coupe utility 6 cyl sedan with the long script on the hood, it was unrestored and rough but the script was mounted lower down, my other one was a LHD V8 Belair 4dr sedan, both cars were built in Port Elizabeth.

 One of our club members saw my Belair and told me he worked in the P E factory when these cars were built, he claimed they would built 12 RHD drive cars and then 12 LHD as production progressed on the assembly line and said the majority of the LHD cars were for export to the Belgian Congo, I can't confirm this but thought it interesting.

 Another interesting thing about SA built 57's was the paint and upholstery. SA cars the roof was painted one color only down to the gutter line, the tops of the doors and pillars were lower body color and some of the colors followed earlier Chev models.

 

 

Antique car enthusiasts must seem like an odd breed to those not so inclined.  Concerning authenticity, we obsess over the slightest detail when it comes to defining what is correct and what is not.

 

Coming to grips with the knowledge that countries outside the United States offered models with different standard equipment, not to mention options, can cause one to question certain assumptions formed over a lifetime.  I have never considered there might be more than one hood script for the 1957 Chevrolet, regardless of the country in which it was manufactured.  Likewise, the idea of the 1956 dashboard being carried over into the 1957 model year is a new factor to be considered, from this point forward, any time I happen to be checking out a ’57 Chevy at a local car show.

 

The older I get, the more I realize I know less than I might have imagined.

[cheezestaak2000]

ok, just to add to the confusion, i was under the impression that the 2bbl v8's had the silver vee, and the power pack 4bbl had the gold one. my 57 was a 4bbl and had the gold vee, my parents had a 2 bbl with silver vee. mine was a bel aire, theirs was a 210

 

[John S.]

As far as the "V" emblem on the hood and trunk of 1957 Chevrolet, the "V" was used when car came equipped with an eight . I have seen some cars that had engine swaps from six to  V-eights, and the Chevrolet script was not changed on the hood and trunk to include the "V". As far as the gold and silver V and script are concerned, the gold was a dress up option, that included grill, ,and emblems. John

[Jim Skelly]

8 hours ago, John S. said:

As far as the "V" emblem on the hood and trunk of 1957 Chevrolet, the "V" was used when car came equipped with an eight . I have seen some cars that had engine swaps from six to  V-eights, and the Chevrolet script was not changed on the hood and trunk to include the "V". As far as the gold and silver V and script are concerned, the gold was a dress up option, that included grill, ,and emblems. John

John,

 

You are correct that the V was used on the V8s only.  However, gold was not an option like on some '50s Cadillacs.  The Bel Air came with a gold grille, emblems and front fender "vents".  The 210 and 150 lines came only with the silver or chrome parts.

[John S.]

Jim, I stand corrected. I looked through my 1957 Chevrolet accessory and option catalog. Gold  was used on the Bel Airs, and the 210 and 150"s had chrome. Thanks, John

[nzcarnerd]

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 2:22 AM, Dosmo said:

 

 

 

Antique car enthusiasts must seem like an odd breed to those not so inclined.  Concerning authenticity, we obsess over the slightest detail when it comes to defining what is correct and what is not.

 

Coming to grips with the knowledge that countries outside the United States offered models with different standard equipment, not to mention options, can cause one to question certain assumptions formed over a lifetime.  I have never considered there might be more than one hood script for the 1957 Chevrolet, regardless of the country in which it was manufactured.  Likewise, the idea of the 1956 dashboard being carried over into the 1957 model year is a new factor to be considered, from this point forward, any time I happen to be checking out a ’57 Chevy at a local car show.

 

The older I get, the more I realize I know less than I might have imagined.

 

To add to the confusion - referring just to Chevrolet here - you get export cars from both Canada and the US. I know that the NZ assembled Chevs in that era came from Canada but there were small numbers of cars imported fully assembled that ere built in the Tarrytown plant in the US. For 1955 New Zealand's Chevs were six cylinder cars badged as 'Deluxe'. The serial code used is 1219 - which identifies them as 150s but what confuses the issue is that you could order your car with the 210 side moulding. There were about ten Bel Airs imported - all sixes I think - of which at least three have survived.

 

Regarding the South Africa connection I know of a 1956 Bel Air four door hardtop which was sold new in SA and imported to NZ maybe 40 years ago which is a Tarrytown built car. I presume the SA plant didn't build the pillarless models.

 

This car is a little unusual. It is a Canadian 210, six cylinder, three on the tree. What is different about it is that it is body #1 - the first four door body to go down the Canadian line. I can't remember its serial number but it is about 80. It has the code RHD DOM on the body plate. First registered in NZ January 1957. I can only assume the gold V badge is a later addition.

 

 

[cheezestaak2000]

silver grill, gold vee

 

[Jim Skelly]

like the one my folks' bought new (except w/o skirts and optional wheel covers,  and Mom wanted a white top)   …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dosmo]

A poster on the TriFive forum says that the Chevrolet script for V8 cars measures 13 3/8", while the I6 script measures 15".  And, if I'm understanding correctly, Bel Air scripts for sixes and eights should be gold in color, while those for 210s and 150s should be silver.  However, regarding the upper versus lower location of the script on the six cylinder hood, there doesn't seem to be, so far, a general consensus.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Dosmo (see edit history)

[Jim Skelly]

That's correct, the gold color was used only on the Bel Air.  Lots of cars have had emblems and grilles swapped out as parts got damaged, or to convert a 210 hardtop into a Bel Air hardtop, for example.  I didn't know about the script width being different between the 6 and 8 as I never saw one of each parked next to one another.  Different countries must have had some variations from the U.S. and Canadian market, which I wasn't aware of before this thread.

[Dosmo]

One of the TriFive posters said reason for the different script widths was so that the total width of the plain "Chevrolet" six cylinder scripts would be about the same as the "V" for the V8s, to keep the same approximate balanced look.

 

I've attached a couple of photos one poster used to illustrate this point.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Dosmo (see edit history)

[g. wight]

in 1957 i thought the silver V on the hood and trunk was designation for a 283 V8 with a two barrel carb and the gold V was a 283 'power pack' meaning a 4 barrel carb and dual exhausts - obviously no V meant it was a 6 cylinder

[JamesR]

Great photo, cheezestaak2000. Magazine quality in composition!