Thread: Ultimate fin car???

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I'm in the middle of doing a turquoise '57 Bel Air coupe. I have recognized for a while that the '57 Chevy is rarely chopped, restyled, or even dechromed. Like the 49-51 Mercs, they have been popular from the first day they were made, and still command a premium price.

Here is my question:

What is the ultimate fin car? Lots of them had little fins, but I am talking about the ones that have big fins as a major styling point. Are any more popular than the '57 Chevy?

If you could get any fin car for free... what would be YOUR choice?

I'm thinking these are candidates....

'57 Chevy
'59 Caddy
'60 Ford
'58 Plymouth
'57 T-bird
Studebaker Golden Hawk
'59 Chevy
'59-'60 Buiks
late '50s early '60s Imperials
some of the late '50s to '61 Chryslers or DeSotos
'60 Chevy
Others?

What are your thoughts? If we narrow it down to 3-4, maybe we can put together a poll.

Jay, I think I read somewhere that the 60 Plymouth had the largest fins in that era (even outdoing the 59 Caddy).

I guess I already have my favorite, although I sometimes think I should have held on to the 57 Dodge along with my Plymouth.

AND WHY DOES THIS NEW FORUM SEEM TO SCRAMBLE THE ORDER YOU UPLOAD PICTURES?

Mike... I must be psychic. I had a "vision" of what you might like! Spooky! :-)~

I would credit "Christine" for some of the popularity of that model. Wasn't there a ProMod called Christine?

...and on a related note... Did you see what that stock '56 Dodge ragtop sold for at the auctions? ...$104,500!!! :-o

".....Wasn't there a ProMod called Christine?...."

Yep sure was, and then there was the AL Scheib (480?) Hemi powered 57 Fury.

But I think my favorite 57/8 Plymouth would have to be the "Suddenly" Hot Rod Magazine Special that competed at Dayton and Bonneville. I think there is a replica of it at the Peterson Museum as the original disappeared long ago.

57 Desoto I had one and realy loved it great riding car Next would be 60 Chevy

Mopar's could possibly "Rule" but a few of the
Caddy's were top "Finners" in there day also.


I'm a bowtie dude but I never cared for the '57 fins.

I may be biased, BUT, I'd go for the Caddy!!

Oooops! I need to add the 59-60 buick, and those Imperials with the floating tail lights and head lights!

Originally Posted by Mike P

".....Wasn't there a ProMod called Christine?...."

Yep sure was, and then there was the AL Scheib (480?) Hemi powered 57 Fury.

But I think my favorite 57/8 Plymouth would have to be the "Suddenly" Hot Rod Magazine Special that competed at Dayton and Bonneville. I think there is a replica of it at the Peterson Museum as the original disappeared long ago.

Mike, I remember this one!!! I started buying magazines in '58, and remember reading about it in Hot Rod.

Yeah Jay, glad you added the Imperial--don't remember what year it was but if I ever find one that is both affordable and buildable good possiblity everything else would get put on hold till the Chrysler was built!. When I was a kid I worked at a gas station, a Doctor in town had one of the Imperials, it was almost a privilege to just service the car when he came in...When he stopped for gas, he always got a bit of extra service, too! What a classic!!!!

Dave, I have a friend in the Hill Country of Texas that has several old cars and one of them is a very Looooooooooooooooooooooooong Imperial. If you would like, I could drop him an email and see if he is tired of it sitting around gathering wasp nests.

Originally Posted by MelloYello

Dave, I have a friend in the Hill Country of Texas that has several old cars and one of them is a very Looooooooooooooooooooooooong Imperial. If you would like, I could drop him an email and see if he is tired of it sitting around gathering wasp nests.

If it's one of the one's I'm thinking of (wish I could remember what year they were) I definitely be interested in at least seeing some pics of the car!

I've got an email off to him and I think it is an early to mid 60's but not real sure.
If he gets back and wants to part with it, I'll try and get all the info and some pics.

Here's a great link that show Imperials by the year.
http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/index.htm

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Yeah Jay, glad you added the Imperial--don't remember what year it was but if I ever find one that is both affordable and buildable good possiblity everything else would get put on hold till the Chrysler was built!. When I was a kid I worked at a gas station, a Doctor in town had one of the Imperials, it was almost a privilege to just service the car when he came in...When he stopped for gas, he always got a bit of extra service, too! What a classic!!!!

When I got to AZ in '73, there was a body shop in Mesa that had a '58 Imperial sitting at the back of the lot, solid black, white leather interior. I stopped one day and inquired about it. They told me the fellows name who owned it and gave me his phone number. I called him and asked if the car was for sale. He said yeah, what do you have to trade for it. I had sold out all my stuff in N.C. before coming out west, so the only thing I could think of was a Polaroid camera that had belonged to my dad. I said I would trade it and the guy said "bring the camera to my house and I'll sign over the title". I did and he did. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have made the deal if he had known that I only wanted the motor, a 392 Hemi. I pulled the hemi and Torqueflite out of it and junked the rest. See how smart I am? All I had to do was sit on it for 20 years.

The motor and transmission went into a '57 MGA roadster. Then, before I could get it done, a fellow came along and wanted to buy the body, but not the motor/trans. I pulled them and he towed the body away. Another fellow I knew had a flatbottom boat and was looking for a motor for it, so we made a deal and I helped him put it in the boat. I had been through the motor and freshened it up with a Racer Brown cam and assorted goodies, including two four-barrels, so it moved the flatbottom pretty well.

That is the sad story of how one beautiful Imperial met its demise.

"......That is the sad story of how one beautiful Imperial met its demise......"

Not to get too far off topic, but I personally believe that one of the main reasons that a lot of the old 51-58 Chryslers, Dodges and DeSotos survived the crusher (especially the less popular more door and luxury versions) was the fact that they still had a HEMI under the hood. The number of 392 HEMIs that are still out there amases me considering that it was only in production for 2 years and only fitted into the high end Chryslers.

One unusual "fin" treatment that also comes to mind is the 58 Chevy. Not nearly as pronounced as the sideways fins (wings) on the 59 and 60 models, I personally kind of developed a soft spot for them, although a lot of people will claim that one of the big factors for the popularity if the 57 Chevy was the introduction of the 58