Why is the '57 Chevy considered cool?

I think for one thing, everybody recognizes it. It was the third and final year of the "Tri-five" body style and loaded to the gills with fins and chrome. The 265 V8 was introduced in the '55, but for '57 it was enlarged to 283 cubes. The '57 probably takes all of the best things about cars of the 1950s and puts them all in one package. It had a lot of chrome, but tastefully done. It was smaller than the '58 and later cars. So it had better handling (not saying much) and performance. And some of it probably comes down to personal taste. I prefer the '56, but for a long time, that was considered the least desirable of the three.

Certain vehicles just seem to catch the public's fancy - the design and overall appearence simply capture a bygone era of car hops, drive in theaters, early rock 'n' roll and classic automobiles.

1957 Chevy, 1955-57 TBirds, Stingrays and a little later, early Mustangs, Camaros, Novas, Baracudas, Challengers, etc........

I suspect it's nostelgia for the most part. The '57 Ford actually outsold the '57 Chevy which indicates that the '57 Chevy didn't garner its popular appeal until later.

57 had fins (referred to as the two-ten) also that is when the new sb v8 came out....55 & 56 did not have fins

see this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/57_Chevy