What's So Special About The 1957 Chevy 'Black Widow' And How Many Were Made?

The 1957 Chevy Black Widow is one of those rare cars that is loved and remembered as much for its build as it is for its backstory. The Black Widow was never a distinct machine by itself; instead, it was built off the 1957 Chevy 150 two-door sedan, which was a robust, lightweight, and pocket-friendly option. In fact, the '57 Black Widow was initially nothing more than a special equipment package that did not even come from Chevrolet's official factory line.

After the 1955 Le Mans tragedy, where the French driver Pierre Levegh's silver Mercedes crashed into the side stand and killed close to 80 people, racing was viewed as a starkly risky sport. This led to GM withdrawing its official support from racing teams. However, off the radar, GM established SEDCO under the leadership of Vince Piggins, a former Hudson engineer, which led to the inception of several iconic cars in the years to come, including the Black Widow. 

The formula for building the first Black Widow, which debuted on the NASCAR circuit, was fairly simple — it was Chevy's lightest sedan equipped with a ridiculously powerful engine. Though the engine of the car was certainly an attention grabber, it was the other minor tweaks and modifications that made it a raging success.

[Featured image by Junglecat via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]

The 1957 Black Widow had a 4.8-liter V8 engine at the front that guzzled out 283 horsepower. Along with that, it was equipped with a 3-speed manual transmission and came in an RWD configuration. However, the game changer was the vehicle's Rochester fuel injection system, which made a massive difference in its overall performance and jacked its maximum speed to 130 mph. 

To ensure an optimal final product, the smaller elements of the car were redesigned and re-equipped too. The machine was fitted with 6-lug hubs and wheels, which ensured larger and better braking systems suitable for a race car. Apart from this, it also had two new sets of heavy-duty springs, an upgraded exhaust, and a bigger 20-gallon gas tank. Even with all of these packed inside the chassis, the curb weight of the car was just 3,168 lbs.

Once the Black Widow hit the racetracks, it seemed unstoppable, and even won the '57 NASCAR Grand National Championship, alongside winning several other races that year. However, with the long list of problems that came along with a fuel injection system, NASCAR had no other option but to redraft its rules and ban fuel injection systems altogether.

The story behind the name of the car, however, largely remains a mystery; with some claiming that it was named after its color scheme, while others believe that it got its name after its absolute dominance on the tracks. As for the number of Chevy Black Widows made, since they were not officially built by Chevrolet, the actual production figures were never revealed. However, there were reportedly as many as 20 of them assembled during its lifespan.