Chevrolet Nomad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chevrolet Nomad was a station wagon produced by the Chevrolet Motor Division of the General Motors Corporation from 1955 to 1961. The Nomad is best remembered as a two-door station wagon and is commonly associated with the "surf culture" of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Nomad was considered Chevrolet's halo model during its three-year production as a two-door station wagon.
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[edit] 1955-1957
The two-door Nomad differed from other station wagons of the era by having unique styling more reminiscent of a hardtop than of a standard station wagon. Chevrolet shared this body with its sister Pontiac, which marketed their version as the Pontiac Safari.
The Nomad's unique design had its roots in a General Motors Motorama show car of the same name that was based on the Corvette. The Concept was introduced at the GM Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City in 1954, GM Motorama Site, as one of Head Stylist, Harley Earl's "dream cars,". Thus the car is betther know as the "Waldorf Nomad". [1]
GM approved production of the vehicle if the design could be transferred to its full-size models, because top GM brass felt that they could sell more models if it were attached to the popular Bel Air model. The car has found a special place in Chevrolet enthusiast's hearts due to its special features that are not found on any other Chevrolets. The true Nomads only occurred between 1955-56-57 and have even inspired speciality clubs focusing on the beginning years of the Nomad. [2]
While considered to be a milestone vehicle design, General Motors discontinued the original Nomad at the end of the 1957 model year to focus attention on its upcoming new halo vehicles like the Chevrolet Impala.
[edit] 1958-1961
For the 1958 model year, Chevrolet applied the Nomad name to its traditional top-line four-door station wagon.
In 1959, the Nomad was transferred to the expanded Impala model range, which had replaced the Bel Air as the top-line Chevrolet. Chevrolet continued to use the Nomad name until the end of the 1961 model year, when all Chevrolet station wagons adopted their parent model name.
[edit] 1964 through 1980's
The Nomad theme returned again in 1964 and 1965 as a two-door Chevelle station wagon that was actually referred to as the 300 series, and spent the rest of the 1960's as a low-level Chevelle station wagon. In the 1970's and early-1980's it was even offered as a G-Series full-size van model.
[edit] Concept cars revival
There were 2 Nomad concept-cars. The first one developed in 1999 was based on the F-body and was V8 powered [3] The second concept presented in 2004 was based on the GM Kappa platform [4][5]
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Automotive History Online - Chevrolet Nomad History & Photos
[edit] In the Movies
The 1957 was featured prominently in Frank Miller's comic book Sin City. It was also featured in the movie Frank Miller's Sin City (film) directed by Robert Rodriguez. In the movie, the car was owned by Jessica Alba's character Nancy Callahan and used as a major plot point.
[edit] References
- Gunnell, John, Editor (1987). The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-096-3.
- Dammann, George H. (1986). 75 Years of Chevrolet. Motorbooks International(Crestline Series). ISBN 0-87938-692-4.
- / Chevrolet Nomad Pictures and Information
