Image: Craigslist

When the ’57 Plymouth came out, advertising shouted, “Suddenly it’s 1960!” And, indeed, compared to the offerings of Chevrolet and Ford, the Plymouth did look three years ahead. Put them all side-by-side and you’ll notice the Plymouth was longer, lower, and wider, yet we’re stuck with ’57 Chevys being one of the quintessential ’50s cars.

Funny thing, that nostalgia!

So when this 1957 Plymouth stock car came to my attention, it made me wonder what it would have been like if Plymouth came up with its own version of the “Black Widow.”

The Black Widow Chevys were fuel injected Model 150 two-door sedans built by the Southern Engineering and Development Company, which was really a facade for a Chevrolet skunkworks. All the cars were black and white – hence the nickname – and were built for NASCAR’s National Speed Week in Daytona.

I don’t think Plymouth had an equivalent factory racer, but this 1957 Plymouth in a Maine Craigslist ad got us thinking how they would have set up the car. First, they’d use the bottom-of-the-line Savoy two-door sedan and stuff it with a V-800 318 with two four-barrel carburetors.

Then they’d raid the parts box and snag some 300-C parts, such as bigger brakes and heavy-duty Torsion-Aire suspension. Paint it gold with a white spear and you’ve got yourself a factory race car.

As it stands, this vintage Plymouth race car is on a Chevelle chassis with a small-block Chevy motor. It’s hard to make out whether it’s a sedan or a hardtop, but someone’s been having fun with a time-traveling Mopar.