While you are enjoying the 2017
Chicago Auto Show, take a moment
to reflect on what folks experienced
at the annual event 60 years ago. It
was the 49th annual presentation in
Chicago, held during a magical age
when the auto industry indulged
itself, putting style first. The
year stands out as a revolution in styling artistry and
technological advances.
Greatly influenced by futuristic concept cars, the 1957
production vehicles were substantially longer, lower
and wider than in 1956. Popular trends included quad
headlamps; soaring tailfins, dual- and tri-tone paint
schemes, and plenty of anodized gold-tone and chrome-
plated trim. Factory-sponsored racing returned for 1957,
whipping the horsepower competition into a full gallop.
All companies released high-performance V-8 engines,
some outfitted with superchargers, fuel injection or
multiple carburetor
setups – many
pumping out 300-
plus horsepower.
A scene from
the “Motorevue of
1957” captured the
Studebaker Golden
Hawk two-door
hardtop during its
presentation. This
photo was taken
within the 15,000- seat central arena of the International
Amphitheatre where folks could relax after walking the
large auto show. The 60-minute Broadway-styled musical
revue was held twice daily at 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. No
charge. On the program schedule were the community
queens to complement the various 1957 automobiles,
a live orchestra, an announcer, professional singers,
dancers and comedy skits. In joining the horsepower
race, Studebaker-Packard released its Sweepstakes
275-horsepower, 289-cubic inch supercharged V-8.
New for 1957 was the Studebaker Broadmoor station
wagon. Studebaker’s sibling – Packard – gave Chicago
showgoers an advanced look at the new Clipper four-door
sedan and, for the first in the Packard lineup since 1950, a
Clipper four-door station wagon.
In the accompanying
photos, the Cadillac
exhibit is on the top and
Lincoln on the bottom.
Pictured in the foreground
of the Cadillac layout is
the “Directeur” show car,
created and appointed for
the busy executive. Based
on the production 1957
Cadillac Sixty Special, the Directeur contained a ticker
tape news screen, high-fidelity phonograph, telephones
and full secretarial equipment. Directly behind the
Directeur sits the Eldorado Biarritz convertible, powered
by a 365-cubic inch V-8 with dual four-barrel carburation
and 325 horsepower. On the far right side of the Cadillac
scene, a portion of the luxurious Eldorado Brougham is
in view. Billed as the crowning achievement of 55 years
of Cadillac design, a mere 400 copies were produced
that year. Across the aisle from Cadillac, the upscale
1957 Lincoln motorcars presented its “unmistakably
new” models, including the Premiere Landau four-door
hardtop on the left, and a Premiere convertible on the
right. Lincoln models featured the “Quadra-Lite” grille,
sweeping bodylines, canted rear fender “blades” and a
368- cubic inch, 300 horsepower V-8. The Continental
Mark II hardtop can be glimpsed atop a raised platform in
the background.
Making its public
debut in Chicago
was the 1957
Rambler Rebel,
pictured at the far
right foreground
of the American
Motors exhibit.
Equipped with the
new AM-engineered 327-cubic inch V-8 with electronic
fuel injection, the Rebel pumped out a healthy 288
horsepower. Motor Trend magazine tested and reported
that the lightweight Rambler Rebel was the second fastest
0-to-60-miles per hour American automobile for model
year1957, just behind the Chevrolet Corvette. Sharing the
exhibit was a Rambler Custom Cross Country four-door
hardtop station wagon.
By M. J. Frumkin
Chicago Auto Show Historian, Curator
CHICAGO AUTO SHOW 2017
It was 60 Years Ago Today...
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