My stepfather and mother are moving to Idaho in a week, unfortunately my stepfather suffered a stroke last week and isnt doing well. He has a 57 chevy which last ran in 2004. The motor is seized, brakes are sticking and may not work at all. We found his keys and can get in neutral (we hope). The plan was to have an professional automotive moving company come load up the car and transport it to Idaho. We nixed that idea because his outcome is uncertain. If he doesnt recover were going to sell the car, so the new plan is to tow it to my father in laws house about 10 min away and store it there for a few months.
My question is what would be the most straighfoward way to tow this car? Flat bed? Can any tow company handle this or should I only let pros who handle classic cars tow this thing? The tires seem to be holding air ok, not too confident in the brakes or the auto transmission at this point.

I would request a flat bed.

You don’t give a lot of information about the car. Even if it’s a nice, straight, two-door HT, I’d think about any towing service could do an adequate job on a 10 minute drive. As suggested, a flatbed truck would be safest for the car, no worry about 20+ year old tires failing and damaging the car.

Another vote for a flatbed wrecker
Or, rent a uhaul car trailer & move it yourself, if you're able to load & unload it

Have you located the gas cap yet?
Nice car, my father had a ‘56 hard top when I was in 5th grade.
I would think any towing company would be able to handle a short tow like that.

Need keys to get in it maybe, but not to tow it.

Flatbed would be the way to go, I think most tow companies would choose that as well given the option.

Weve got the keys for it, its a 2 door hard top.

Hire a flatbed tow truck. Those old tires and axles would probably hold up for 10 minutes, but why take a chance?

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
Have you located the gas cap yet?
Nice car, my father had a ‘56 hard top when I was in 5th grade.
I would think any towing company would be able to handle a short tow like that.

Yes, lol.
Luckily my father in law owned a ‘55 and a ‘57 back in the day. Hes first in like to by this car if my stepfather doesnt improve and we have to sell.
Funny thing was we couldnt find his key. My father in law has saved a key to every car hes owned- over 40. He had keys for his old ‘57 that was stolen outside a bar in the early 70s. Just so happened that key was a match. He explained that in the 50s GM only used a few different key codes and one of his 50s GM keys might work.
Sure enough it did.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Hire a flatbed tow truck. Those old tires and axles would probably hold up for 10 minutes, but why take a chance?

Oh yeah- flat towing or driving this thing was never an options. Im worried about putting it in neutral to go down the driveway. I discovered these 50s chevys dont have locking steering wheels, so thats a plus.

Before taking it to the new place, clean out what you can of that mouse house, including taking the air cleaner housing off. Also nice to see that the car looks to be original and not screwed with.

Another vote for a flatbed.

Run a leaf blower to clean out the acorns and scare off the critters just before moving it.

I’d call that a nice, straight two-door HT! Hope it finds a home with someone who’ll really love it and do something with it, whether it be restore to stock, or restomod.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Before taking it to the new place, clean out what you can of that mouse house, including taking the air cleaner housing off. Also nice to see that the car looks to be original and not screwed with.

Yeah my father in law was checking out the engine and noticed all the potential critter homes. Were gonna clean it out before transport so he doesnt get any unwanted visitors.

Back in the day I owned a 57 chevy, it was my beater car.
Those old cars from that era are tanks. The manufacturers did not skimp on heavy metal when building them.
Nice that you have a V-8 engine as most were 6cyl.
Does it have a 2spd Power-glide auto trans or 3 on the tree manual trans?
I would think the drum brakes are just stuck to the brake drums. You could pull or push on the car while it is in neutral to see if the brake drums release.
How do you know the engine is locked up?
You could pull the spark plugs and put a big breaker bar on the front crank pulley/harmonic balancer, and try and break it free,unless its truly frozen.
A flat bed tow would be my choice.
Those old cars don't have to be babied. Pulling, pushing or pounding on them was normal maintenance back then.

Great old car. Glad it’s going to a good home.

Brings back memories. My folks had a '57 just like it but the body was a light yellow. Loved that car. Took a few dates to the drive-in movies in that car.

Oh, and another vote for the flat bed.

It’s a rear drive car. Flat tow it otherwise you have to fiddle with disconnecting the drive shaft. You should be able to slip it into neutral with or without the key. It’s likely to have stuck wheels and breaks. If you have time, jack wheel to see if you can move them. If you end up selling it, it makes no sense to haul it to Idaho.

I have a 59 Impala, essentially the same drive train.

You don't need a flatbed tow truck. Any dual axle 24' trailer with a winch could handle that easy.

By the way...57 two door, Bel Air hardtop with what looks like an original factory V-8, is worth some bucks. Great car.

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
Back in the day I owned a 57 chevy, it was my beater car.
Those old cars from that era are tanks. The manufacturers did not skimp on heavy metal when building them.
Nice that you have a V-8 engine as most were 6cyl.
Does it have a 2spd Power-glide auto trans or 3 on the tree manual trans?
I would think the drum brakes are just stuck to the brake drums. You could pull or push on the car while it is in neutral to see if the brake drums release.
How do you know the engine is locked up?
You could pull the spark plugs and put a big breaker bar on the front crank pulley/harmonic balancer, and try and break it free,unless its truly frozen.
A flat bed tow would be my choice.
Those old cars don't have to be babied. Pulling, pushing or pounding on them was normal maintenance back then.

Good questions- im just repeating what my retired mechanic father in law said. I guess I better go get some more info on that. Its an automatic trans for sure.