Corvette War Story.

[William V.]

I have often wondered about a Corvette I saw in 1965 that was north bound on RT22 in Armonk NY. From the front I thought it was a 55 Vette however when it went by it looked like a Nomad Station Wagon with 53 thru 55 taillights. The color was gold. At the time I had never heard of the Corvette Nomad.

I only saw the car for a few seconds as it went by but this sighting has had me wondering for years.

Did I see a Corvette Nomad, or is this like an Elvis sighting?

[Mike M.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

In 1961, at the Mason Dixon Dragstrip in Hagerstown , Md. , there was a 53 to 55 vet, in gray primer, that someone modified to look like a sedan delivery(is, windowless Nomad clone) I think i still have a phoito of it somewhere. mike

[John R.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

There was one at Carlisle two weeks ago. I don't recall the color but I'm sure it was seen by a number of others.

[Dave S.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

I too saw that Corvette Nomad at Gate 3 at Corvettes Carlisle this year. I believe it was Thursday night. I must admit it was something special and redefined the term "head turner". I don't remember the color but I believe it had New York plates.

[William V.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

I'm sure the color then was gold or tan. However who knows what color it is today.

[Richard D.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

I believe Chevrolet built a Corvette Nomad concept that they showed sometime in 54 - 55(?)that went on to become the Chevy Nomad wagon later on.

Wonder if that's the one you saw?

I think it's in the 50 year Vette anniversary book.

Rich

[Duke W.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

The original Nomad concept car, shown at the 1954 Motorama, was built on a Corvette chassis with the Corvette front end bodywork, but the production version beginning in 1955 was built on the Chevrolet passenger car chassis. This was likely a "sneak preview" of the Nomad body style to gage public reaction before GM fully invested in production tooling. I don't know how many Corvette-based Nomad concept cars were built (could be only one) or whether any escaped to the public domain, but my guess is that what you and others have reported seeing are aftermarket kits based on the original Nomad concept.

Also shown with the Nomad at the '54 Motorama was a handsome Corvette-based fastback coupe called "Corvair". Too bad it didn't go into production as a Corvette coupe, but given the slow sales in that era a second body style would not have been economically justifiable.

Duke

[Mike Yager]

Re: Corvette War Story.

As I recall the Nomad at Carlisle was silver in color. It seems to me its been at Carlisle for the past couple of years. If I recall correctly from the owner's display, he built the car himself based on the prototype. I don't think its the original prototype.

[Bryan L.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

Heard a great story from a very knowledgeable guy last week about that very thing. Seems like there are some GM documents that show the original 53 Motorama car chassis was lengthened and used to build the 54 Motorama car which was the precursor to the Nomad. I also heard that the original 53 Motorama car body was used in a GM fire test. The 54 Motorama car was later crushed.

BL

[Dave S.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

Seems to me that the Corvette Nomad and Corvair were on the 55 Motoroma post card that is buried in my collection somewhere.

[Mike M.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

john: the "nomad" that was at Carlisle lst year(2002) was a homemade(Super craftsmanship by the way) that was built utilizing a 55 chevy pass car Nomad . the gent who built it had to make the doors from scratch. the 53 vet front clip was widened to fit the pass car cowl. it was silver blue as i recall and the owner was from western Pa as i recall. there is another Black homemade "nomad" that is active in the pacific northwest, primarily in the solid axle club as it was featured in one of their recent magazines. mike

[Bob McCorkle]

Re: Corvette War Story.

I just read an article about this in "Old Cars Weekly" Vol 32 No. 37 September 11, 2003, page 22.Also a good number of Corvette related stuff in this issue

[John H.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

This one (click on the link below) was at the SACC 50th Anniversary parade in Flint - very nice piece of custom work.

[Marty McDonough]

Re: Corvette War Story.

There is a light blue one residing in Quartzsite, AZ. The owner is a retired Chevrolet dealer. He said GM gave him 'the blueprints' and it took him 12 years to build. He had it at my show last January in Parker, AZ. If you would like pics e-mail me and I will send them to you.
Marty VH

[Tom B.]

Re: Corvette War Story.

Actually the Corvair fastback, the Corvette Nomad and the Hardtop which was a '55 style with roll up windows and a '56 looking hardtop traveled the show circuit together. Only one Nomad and one Corvair are believed to have been made and subsequently destroyed after they had outlived their usefulness but the hardtop lives in the Vancouver area. The current owner is restoring the car and he believes that there may have been a second hardtop built in a different color to tour Canada. He is searching for previously unkmnown photos that could confirm a second car. I haven't been able to come up with anything that he doesn't already have though. Anyone have any mid '50s Canadian car magazines?

Tom