’57 Chevy dreaming

If you know my automotive tastes, you know I go for the “uncommon,” to say the least. But one hobby favorite that remains at the top of my list is…

If you know my automotive tastes, you know I go for the "uncommon," to say the least. But one hobby favorite that remains at the top of my list is a 1957 Chevrolet two-door hardtop.
When I was a kid, I was always great at scouting cars behind fences, garages, etc. While working a Boy Scout food drive in the 1980s, I was in a neighborhood I hadn’t been in before when I spotted a pair of 1957 Chevrolets behind a fence: a red Bel Air two-door hardtop and a primered One-Fifty or Two-Ten two-door sedan. The cars disappeared from behind that fence about 15 years ago, but I sometimes still dream about that red Bel Air (although, I sometimes dream the Bel Air is in a salvage yard). The recent "Weathered Wheels" photo from Old Cars Weekly reader Roger M. Van Patten reminded me of the recurring dream and the Bel Air I was too shy to ever inquire about. Hopefully, I'll wake up from one of these '57 dreams to find the full-size car in my garage.

Here's the text we included in Old Cars Weekly with Van Patten's photo:
Every hobbyist probably dreams of stumbling into their dream car,
parked and long-forgotten behind a barn, obscured and overgrown behind
a fence or tired and dirty on a back lot.
OCW reader Roger M. Van
Patten stumbled into a vehicle many hobbyists dream about in a
Philadelphia field. His dream find, a ca.-1973 Chevrolet truck in
rust-free condition, was found as a cab and chassis this fall.
According to Van Patten, the stock cab lamps indicate the truck is a
heavy-duty model, such as a C-2500 or C-3500.
Van Patten apologized
for the obscured view of the truck, as it was blocked by two look-alike
cars in the foreground. He notes these two cars are not for sale.
(Yes,
we know those are a pair of 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupes in the
foreground. But didn’t you enjoy Van Patten’s story?)

Do you have any neat cars hiding around your hometown? Drop a photo in my inbox (angelo.vanbogart@fwmedia.com) and I'll run it here or possibly in Old Cars Weekly's "Reader Wheels" section.

Angelo Van Bogart is the editor of Old Cars magazine and wrote the column "Hot Wheels Hunting" for Toy Cars & Models magazine for several years. He has authored several books including "Hot Wheels 40 Years," "Hot Wheels Classics: The Redline Era" and "Cadillac: 100 Years of Innovation." His 2023 book "Inside the Duesenberg SSJ" is his latest. He can be reached at avanbogart@aimmedia.com