Street or strip, this 57 Bel Air rules em both

1957 I traded a 54 Ford Crestliner and 1200 for this 57 Bel Air 2-door hardtop. Black with a blacksilver interior along with a 270 horse, 2x4 barrel set up, 3-speed tranny and a 3.55 single track rear end. This was in February of 57, and the only drag strip open that time of the year was Yello Belly Drag Strip in Grand Prairie, Texas. The car ran 16 seconds flat at 90 mph crossing the finish line in second gear. This was our family car until 1960, then we a 1959 station wagon. img class"alignnone size-full wp-image-3099" src"mediawp-contentclassicchevyuploads20160657-Bel-Air-drag-car.jpg" alt"57-Bel-Air-drag-car" "600" height"399" The 57 was raced often, and as I could save money, I bought speed for it. First came headers, then a cam, floor shifter, 4.56 gears, etc. When the 283 threw a rod, it was replaced with a 292 cubic-inch motor, then a 327, then a 355. I raced the car at long closed drag strips in the North Texas area like Richland Hills Drag Strip, Forest Hills Drag Strip, Green Valley Raceway, Temple Drag Strip and Cedar Hill Drag Strip. I ran 27-32 times a year through 1995, then I the car for 10 years when electronics took over drag racing. img class"alignleft size-full wp-image-3100" src"mediawp-contentclassicchevyuploads20160657-Bel-Air-drag-strip.jpg" alt"57-Bel-Air-drag-strip" "300" height"167" Then in September 2004, I had LNJ Street Rods (Larry Sanders) in a 99 LS1 from a wrecked Corvette. That aluminum motor was with a 4L60E tranny, rack and steering, disc brakes, tilt steering, 12 gallon fuel cell, Aeromotive fuel long tube stainless steel headers, a Comp cam, heads, Cal Trac traction bars, an Eaton Posi unit with 3.73 gears and Moser axles, Mickey Thompson street radials, 2 transmission oil coolers and twin Kamp;N air filters. I thought I would be satisfied with 7.90 times in the eighth mile. The quickest I had gone with the 355 small-block (4-speed, 5.86 gears) was 7.64 in the eighth mile and 11.59 in the quarter mile. The car ran 8.03 the first time out and finally I got it down into the 7.90s, after tuning on a dyno. After about a year, the oil showed 0 at idle and about 25 at maximum. The motor must have run upside down in the wrecked Corvette I got it from, starving the bearings. So, I got a Lingenfelter long-block, forged rods and ARP bolts and had it balanced. One year after that, I had Extreme Horsepower (Arvil Fowler) in a larger Comp cam, Stage 2 heads, larger injectors, and a 90 mm throttle body. On the chassis dyno it clocked 383 rear wheel horsepower. Still, I had oil issues so I the motor and found the bearings had too much clearance from the builder. Extreme Horsepower rebuilt the motor and now the car has run a best of 7.51 in the eighth mile with 1.60 sixty-foot time. In 2007 I won the Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge event in the King Muscle class at Texas Raceway in Kennedale. The car has the original and interior except for carpet, and I had the front seat recovered in the original style material. My 57 has all the original chrome and it is just my clean daily driverracer. But with me having it set up for racing (solid motor mounts, 5.86 rear gear with a spool) it is not street friendly. Id always wanted a hot rod to drive on the street and take to the drags and race. My wife told me to sell the 57 and buy a street rod unthinkable! A buddy took me for a ride in his Z06 Corvette with 405 hp, 6 speed, 3.42 gears and 355 street tires, shifting at 6200 rpm. We went from zero to 100 and stopped all within a quarter mile. Of course, the Vette only weighs 3150 lbs and my 57 weighs 3600, minus driver. I told my friend that I knew what I was going to do buy a Vette! He said no, the running gear of a Vette in my 57 and I would have the best of both worlds! So thats what I did. img class"alignnone size-full wp-image-3106" src"mediawp-contentclassicchevyuploads20160657-Bel-Air-burnout.jpg" alt"57-Bel-Air-burnout" "550" height"352" My latest adventure with my 57 was this August, when I drove from Ft. Worth, Texas to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Tri-Five Nationals. It was a great adventure and one I soon will not forget. Of course I raced my 57 at the event and even got to next to Jeff Lutz, who has one of the fastest 57 Chevys in the country. We got to visiting and became friends, and I even got to race him! I enjoy racing anytime I can and especially with other area Tri-Five Chevys running under my local car club, the Dallas Area Classic Chevys. For more information on the largest Tri-Five Chevy club in the country, go to a href"http:www.DallasClassicChevy.com"www.DallasClassicChevy.comabr img class"alignnone size-full wp-image-3107" src"mediawp-contentclassicchevyuploads20160657-Bel-Air-James-Carson.jpg" alt"57-Bel-Air-James-Carson" "450" height"299" strongspan style"font-family: Times;"Shop for Tri-5 Chevy at a href"http:www.ecklers.com"www.ecklers.comaspanstrongbr strongspan style"font-family: Times;"Follow us on our Tri-5 Facebook a href"https:www.facebook.comEcklersClassicChevy?frefts"Click here and Like us!aspanstrongp