If you think that cross-overs are a relatively new development, or that we can currently buy every variation of cross-over yet dreamed up, well, here’s a small surprise - in 1954 General Motors revealed one of the sexiest cross-overs there’s ever been in the Chevrolet Corvette Nomad.
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Corvette conversion
A conversion on the original two-seater Corvette convertible, it featured a long, low roof, fat, forward-canted ‘B’ pillars, a vertically ribbed lower tailgate tilting forward at exactly the same angle, long side glasses and exhausts that exited from the bodywork aft of the rear wheels.
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Motorama madness
It was a sensationally sexy machine then, when it formed a part of GM’s legendary Motorama exhibition, and it looks no less desirable now - so much so, that you wonder why GM didn’t build this low-slung sporting estate.
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Bel air birth
But in a sense, it did. Instead of converting the Corvette, it converted the standard Chevy saloon, to make a Nomad out of the Bel Air (pictured). The result sat a lot higher than a Corvette, had a less rounded nose and was made from mild steel rather than the Corvette’s glassfibre, but it still looked great.
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Design
The forward-thrusting ‘B’ pillar and tailgate were there, so was the lateral ribbing across the rear portion of the roof, and the elegantly generous glazing beneath. The same vertical chrome spars adorned the tailgate, flanked by the preposterous rearward jut of the Belair’s wings. The Nomad wasn’t a sports car any more, but it still looked terrific as a ’55 Chevy. It would look even better on the more glittery ’56, and better still as a variation on the legendary ’57 Chevy.
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Power
Besides all that load space, got at via split tailgate, there were plenty of treats in store for the owner of a ‘Motoramic’ Bel Air according to GM, including Glide-Ride, a sweepside windshield and torrents of power from either a Blue Flame six or the Turbo-Fire V8. Not that a blower was strapped to the Nomad’s small-block V8, but it would undoubtedly have mustered enough thrust to overwhelm the cart-spring suspended whitewalls at the rear, especially in optional Super-Turbo-Fire form.
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Practicality
Apart from their raw go, American cars of this era were about as manoeuvrable as a sackful of coal. Manoeuvring loads into this sizeable Chevy wasn’t easy either, the lack of rear side doors making it a whole heap harder to retrieve your cargo once you’d shoved it deep inside. It was for this reason that the wonderfully-named Nomad wasn’t much of a hit.
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Exclusive
Around 23,000 were made from ‘55-’57, which was nothing against the 2,223,343 cars Chevy built in 1955. The Nomad disappeared, but eventually became a darling of hot rodders, making it hard to find a standard one today. And you’ll pay handsomely for it, which is why there will never be a mint example in my garage.
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