Chevrolet 1957 road test

There are many changes in the new Chevrolet, and most of them seem aimed at making the even hotter one hotter yet.

The test car, a Bel Air four-door hardtop, had a fresh look when compared with its year-old counterpart. What it may have lost in identity as a Chevrolet, it has gained in resemblance to Buick and Olds at the front and to Cadillac at the rear. Not a few Chevy fanciers will consider this similarity highly desirable.

Like many first-off -the-line cars, ours had an odd combination of equipment. The engine was the hottest of Chevy's non-fuel-injected varieties, putting out 270 horsepower and using two four-barrel carburetors, solid valve lifters, and the hot cam. Curiously coupled with this was Powerglide. Either Turboglide (not available on the earliest cars, which we were forced to choose from) or a manual shift would have given us better times in the acceleration runs. Further checks will be made later in the year with cars better broken-in, as well as more logically equipped. Important variations will be reported to you.

The test car had neither power brakes nor power steering.

How would you expect this particular Chevrolet to stack up to some of the other performance combinations available in the line? This is the hottest carburetor engine; compared with the 250-horsepower FI powerplant, or any of the other carburetor-equipped choices, this engine should give more go and less economy. Comparing Powerglide with other transmissions, it doesn't give the acceleration you'll get from the new Turboglide or from a stick shift. The stick shift has better economy than either automatic, and Turboglide's fuel mileage shouldn't differ much from that of Powerglide if you drive conservatively. That, by the way, will be hard to do.

Will It Be Best-Handling Car Again in '57?

It doesn't look that way. Retaining its ball-joint front suspension, Chevrolet has cancelled out some of its advantages by going to a somewhat softer ride, with resultant greater lean on corners, and less confidence for the driver. There is no question that the car looks and feels bigger, and we can't blame Chevy for giving in to the buying public's apparent feelings in the matter. Personally, we prefer the taut feel of the '56.

The non-power steering is easy. Except in parking, the GM power steering really isn't needed except for someone whose physical condition demands it. Chevy retains its high-mounted wheel and most drivers will sit high, as in the Ford.

The instruments are newly mounted in a higher position, the cowl itself having been dropped slightly to give a newer look. (Unfortunately this made it necessary to move the freshair intake back to the front of the car. The "new" grilles around the headlights for this purpose are in a position that has been generally discredited because of exhaust fumes in close traffic.)

Vision is good and, we're glad to say, undistorted. An exception is the rear-view -mirror, now cowl mounted. It blocks the right front fender for shorter drivers and isn't big enough to make the wrap-around rear window truly useful. The Eldorado fins help in parking.

Out on the open road, connoisseurs of handling will note the same tendency to get bigger and softer at the expense of crispness in handling. Though you won't have to fight the wheel, front-end heaviness is evident in a mushier feel. The figures show that Chevrolet has the best weight distribution among the three cars, but the driver benefits little.

Recovery to an originally straight course when the wheel is whipped from side to side is fair. A sharply crowned road demands considerable correction.

Despite these criticisms, the '57 Chevrolet remains a good car to handle. We feel that the tendency to let power outstrip the chassis has popped up here, however, and we're ag'in it.

Is It As Roadable As It Was?

It takes irregular surfaces in its stride. Normal highway dips cause it no embarrassment. When they get bad, it bounces (but doesn't bottom) and then recovers quickly with no oscillation to bother the driver.

On curves, body lean and tire squeal combine to wain you of approaching limits. You have all the necessary power to pull out if you get in trouble, but see that you stay on the pavement for sure control.

At ordinary speeds on soft or washboard roads, control is surprisingly good. Elapsed time need iot suffer on-back roads, and passengers will fare better than in earlier Chevrolets.

Is the Hotter One the Hottest?

There's no doubt that it still holds the title in its field. Particularly when you remember that we had a low-performance transmission, the test figures are impressive. It beat all the times of last year's powerpacked test car and all the times of the Ford and Plymouth this year except for the Plymouth's time from 0 mph.

Much more pleasing to us than the standing-start times are those for acceleration at passing speeds. They should, of course, not be abused by the power-happy, and quite possibly that's what will happen. Still, a car that can almost fly from 45 to 60 in a mere 2.9 seconds is one that should be capable of keeping you and your family out of trouble.

The extremely slow shift of the Powerglide transmission makes us hope that it will soon be dropped in favor of Turbo glide. Rough idling can be expected from the hot camshaft the powerpack engine.

What Has Happened to Fuel Mileage?

The steady speed consumption figures have suffered with the huge increase in power. Ordinary driving, with its conditions closer to those you might experience with your own car, yielded little change from last year's comparable car. If you want a real high-performance car this year and still have to consider your gasoline bill, we have a suggestion: learn to drive smoothly and conservatively as a general rule, saving bursts of speed or acceleration for special occasions. It's more fun that way, it will mean money in your pocket, and your passengers will be less ruffled.

How Are the Brakes?

This test car had just been born when we took it over, so we had tester Jeff Cooper take it on a leisurely trip over varying terrain to break it in. He returned it with this note attached: "Brakes are inadequate for mountain driving or highway with traffic. Fade early." Time was so short that we couldn't complete our regular tests in time for this issue. A full report will follow.

Does It Ride Better?

The ride is considerably softer than on the '55 and '56 Chevrolet. Road irregularities, from highway tar strips up through, the tribulations of a washboard surface, will give passengers no trouble. As in the Ford, driver and passengers are aware I of the surface without being bothered by it.

The body leans more than before, and passengers will be pitched about very slightly more than in previous models.

Is the Engine Compartment Cluttered?

It's one of the cleanest we've seen, even allowing for the power equipment not present on the test car. An enormous space in front of the radiator is useless, but you can get around the compact V8 with refreshing ease. A giant air cleaner assembly has to be removed for any serious work. Plugs are inaccessible.

What's Different About a Chevrolet?

You'll like a firmly put-together air, characteristic of its Fisher bodies for years past and of its chassis since 1955. Along with the V8's smoothness, the high quality of interior trim,, the softer ride and the use of various components present in bigger GM cars, this can almost make you think you're in a higher price bracket. Specific features worthy of engineering respect and exclusive to Chevrolet in its field are the lightweight engine and the Turboglide, which we heartily recommend if a Chevy is your choice and it's optional on the model you want. Unsurpassed smoothness and accelerating power combine with the new HR (hill retarder) range to make as satisfying a transmission as any automatic we've driven. In our brief test on. the GM Proving Ground at Milford, Mich. it slowed us down on steep grades as though with a giant hand, which it should since this is its only function. It gives no advantage in acceleration (not that one is needed! ) and so makes Turboglide just about as completely automatic as it can get until the day when it can see a 'hill ahead and decide itself to shift to hill retarder.

Chevrolet continues the GM keyless locking system. A Chevy driver has two blessed conveniences missing from the Ford and Plymouth: a centered glove compartment, and complete absence of distortion in the wrap-around windshield. We regard both,, as minimal requirements in a modern car. Nor arc they conveniences, alone; both are aids to safety and all manufacturers should adopt them permanently in 1958, even over the wails of their stylists.

You get the most accurate speedometer in any U.S. car.

The new low-set tail lights, smaller than most, do not give adequate protection against rear-end collisions.

Will It Last a Long Time?

A car that is not all new is likely to be a better bet for the' long-term owner than one that still has some wrinkles to be ironed out during the first model year. A poorly hung rear door whose window was extremely tough to roll down, uneven paint on the dash molding, and badly fitting brightwork on the dash itself marred the looks of the test car. Check these points (which should be improved later in the year) along with quality of exterior paint and any rear-axle hum in the particular Chevy that meets your specifications.