57 Chevy_0073 5-5-12

*sigh* I love the '57. While i prefer the bare-bones 150 2-door post with the dagmar bumper (like this one has), the Bel Air is just so perfect. It's a collection of different, bold, and really ridiculous design elements. Gunsights on the hood, mastodon-like grill with big bugeyed headlamps (complete with air intakes in the bezels), flashy huge side trim, different radii wheel arches that mimic a ship's bow waves. And of course the wraparound windshields, hidden fuel nozzle, tons of chrome, and vibrant two-tone upholstery. It's all curves, points, kinks, sharp lines, flowing arches, and different textures. Those things shouldn't work together (look at the '57 Dodge, 1958 Oldsmobile, or '57 Ford for example. Good looking cars, but just not quite right). But the '57 Chevy just works. It manages to look big and comfortable, yet has a nimble, aggressive look. It's both futuristic and old fashioned. It manages to look like a custom car, right from the factory. And there's just no mistaking it for anything else. I think that, while somewhat underpowered even with a fuel injected small block option, and floaty, wallowing suspension, it may be the greatest American automotive design of all time, and the quintessential american automobile