Detroit Steel

Essentially a mix of a 1953 Corvette and a Chevy sedan, the Nomad station wagon has always been an interesting conversation topic among enthusiasts. Now one is making its way onto the auction circuit.

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0Bobby @ LG Motorsports

One of my favorites.

XLR8OR

Just because something is rare doesn't mean it was good idea.

Frankie the Fink

Don't let Mike Terry or Brett see that!

GTOguy

If you guys forget it, I'm willing to. I'll bet it doesn't even have ABS or Bluetooth, never mind that it can't clear 22" wheels............

Easy Rhino

Exactly what came to my mind.

dcaggiani

I have been a fan of the Nomad for quite some time. While a Corvette version was not a real option, I opted to RestoMod a 55 to be more powerful than a Corvette

Here is the build thread
http://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125171

mkiv808

I think it's awesome. One of the first hot hatches!

rayvaflav

Check out the photos in this thread:

The photo in post #1 is not too terribly flattering.

The photo in post #2 is fantastic !

Ray

roadbike56

I always liked the original Nomad. Thought it was a cool design and experiment. In retrospect, it shows that station wagons were gaining in popularity by the mid-fifties and would continue to grow in popularity until the mid-seventies when the mini-van and SUV would take over. If someone is making replicas, that's great.
On the other hand, the C3 station wagon kit that was available in the 70's was something that should have died on the drawing board. Too bad no one was around to kill it and some awful examples are out there.

vettebuyer6369

I like the old Corvette Nomad. I think it's cool and would be fun to own. I took this pic at Carlisle in 2009; not sure if its the same car as in the OP:

54greg

Ohhhh so sexy!

KENS78SILVERANNIV

Very cool ride! Probably why some on this forum don't like it. It's "MODIFIED"

gbvette62

I love Nomads. The Motorama car, 55-57 production ones and even the 55-57 Pontiac version, the Safari, I love them all.

The car that's the subject of this post, doesn't do as much for me though. The proportions of it seem off. The original Motorama Nomad looks like it had a lower roof, than production Nomads. In building that car, Corvette body panels were mated to a stock production Nomad (actually a Safari) roof. To me, the result is a little awkward, and not as aesthetically pleasing. To really pull off the conversion, the top probably needs to be chopped an inch or two.

jim lockwood

I'm glad you wrote that. I saw the same thing and wasn't sure if it was an optical illusion or not. But, yep, the proportions look wrong. Too, I think the "B" pillar in the original was more steeply slanted than on the production Nomads and on that re-creation.

Not taking anything away from the effort and craftsmanship evident in the built tho. I genuinely appreciate the work which went into creating the car.

Jim

morly1963

Very cool! Always loved the Nomads!

fyreline

There are conflicting stories as to which frame the original Waldorf Nomad (the Motorama car) was constructed on. Some say a stretched pre-production 1953 Corvette prototype frame (or even the original 1953 Motorama Corvette show car itself), some say a modified standard 1953 Chevrolet passenger car frame. In any case, the proportions are everything and yes, the original car also had some "unflattering" angles. Basically the only Corvette portions of the car are the front end styling (the fenders themselves are completely different), the dashboard styling, and the taillights on the rear fenders. Oh, and the wheel covers. Pretty much everything else is one-off custom-built stuff, with much different proportions than the standard Corvette. I had never heard that the roof was created from "Corvette body panels /mated to a stock production Nomad (actually a Safari) roof." I don't believe this is correct. No "production Nomad" roofs would have existed at the point when the car was constructed, let alone a Pontiac Safari which was added later in the program at Pontiac Motor Division's insistence. There are a couple of great books out on all of the Motorama show cars, which give a quite detailed description of how and when these fabulous cars were constructed - as well as the "most current thinking" on where they are now, if they still exist at all. As for the Waldorf Nomad, there was definitely more than one built. Whether or not any still exist is an ongoing matter of opinion - some claim to have actually seen one, and of course there are a lot of "I heard from a guy . . . " stories. Turning one up would definitely have to be the Barn Find of the Decade. It's not the prettiest Corvette by any means, and some don't really consider it a Corvette at all . . . but it's damned neat, I'd love to have one, and I still hold out the hope that some day an actual example will turn up. You never know.

jim lockwood

I think you've misunderstood the earlier comments.

The reference was to the replica Nomad which seems to have used production roof panels which don't look quite right.

Jim

C-1 Generation 2

I did a 58 Corvette Nomad many years ago out of a Hot Wheels 58 Corvette and 55 Nomad roof.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/daddy_...etaken-public/

gbvette62

The Nomad was built in late 1953, and introduced at the January 54 Waldorf-Astoria Motorama, which is how it came to be known as the Waldorf Nomad. Everything I've always read about the Nomad though, indicates that it was built on a regular 53 passenger car chassis, utilizing a stock 53/54 Corvette nose and tail lamp pods.

There's a well known GM Design Studio picture of the Waldorf Nomad, where the car looks somewhat awkward, because the nose is sitting up high. I've always assumed that the picture was taken before an engine was installed, because in other pictures of it, the stance looks normal.

Jim's right, I was saying that the car in the first post here, was built by mating a Pontiac Safari, with 53-55 Corvette body panels, not that the Waldorf Nomad was built that way. I probably should have started a new paragraph there.

I've never seen or read anything about there being more than one Nomad. I believe there were two roll up window, hardtop cars built, a pale yellow one for use in the US, and a green one which went to Canada (and I think still exists). The Nomad and Corvair, were always said to be one-offs.

In writing about the various Motorama Corvettes, Noland Adams said that there was only one Nomad and one Corvair, and both were destroyed. The Nomad was shown in two different colors, first blue (Pennant Blue?) when it was introduced at the Waldorf, and later either Aztec or Corvette Copper. I read that the Nomad was damaged while being transported to a show, and this may be when it was repainted copper?

In one of Noland's books, he recounts an interview he did with a long time GM employee, Norman Brown. In the interview, Brown talks about graduating from high school, and being hired at the Warren MI GM Engineering Center, in the summer of 1955. His first job at GM Engineering, was to disassemble and destroy the Nomad, as well as some other dream cars. Brown later became well known for building aluminum big block Can-Am engines, and L-88's, for some of Chevrolet's "back door" factory road racers.

The pictures below are of a 1954 GM Motorama hand out, from my literature collection. It features the "Chevrolet Nomad", "Chevrolet Corvair" and the "Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Coupe".