ErikStenger
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Answer: Hey! Stop laughing! No, really. The answer is a timid... "yes." Here's the short version of the story.
Back in '54 the Corvette was just a "parts car" that didn't have very many friends inside GM. Many hated the car and looked for reasons to kill it. But in retrospect, GM really didn't have that much invested in the car. It had a sedan chassis and suspension with a goosed up straight-six truck engine they called, "The Blue Flame Six." They even painted the engine blue and added a chrome valve cover and three chrome air cleaner covers - one for each one-barrel carb. Plus, there were no steel stamping tools to make the body. Fiberglass bucks are a lot cheaper than steel stamping tools. The low investment cost may have been the only thing that saved the car.
It was very common in the '50s and '60s for car companies to make a new car by using the platform from an existing car. It helped keep costs down and profits up. They were always looking for ways to stretch a design to appeal to a larger audience. Obviously, Corvette product planners were NOT on board with Harley Earl's "sports car" concept. Almost from the beginning, someone said, "Hey guys! Let's make a station wagon version of the little Corvette."
So the little Corvette's greenhouse grew and extra seats were added. Lots of seats. Chevrolet was serious about this concept. Five prototypes were built and a brochure was created too. The brochure promoted the car by highlighting, "the sleek styling of a sports car with the versatility and utility of a Station Wagon."
Wow, it's a good thing this one didn't make it. Although it's an interesting idea for say ,the Chevy Belair, ahh... not for the Corvette. But here's the kicker. The brochure claimed the the Corvette Nomad could seat SIX! Well, that must have been snug. But the overall package actually looked pretty good. even Harley Earl liked it. response was good enough, so they decided to apply the concept to the Belair.
Yes Corvette fans, we dodged the bullet than one. If this car had gone into production, what would have been the next step? Perhaps a pickup truck-like version? Yea, that's it, the Corvette El Camino sport pickup truck. Imagine that. Or maybe you'd rather not.
Epilogue:We could look back and say that the Corvette Nomad experiment was sort of a prehistoric sport utility vehicle. Regardless, Chevy went on to sell Nomads based on much larger car platforms for decades in various levels of trim. But never as a sports car or performance car. It was just a neat, utility car.
Following the "retro" craze," Chevrolet built the above Chevrolet Nomad Concept Car for the 2004 car show circuit. The nose looks like the front end of the '53 - '55 Corvette, while the back end is nothing like the Corvette Nomad show car. This could have been tricked out a little more. It's nice, but a little tame and safe.
Here's what it looked like.
2004 Chevrolet Nomad Concept Car
Back in '54 the Corvette was just a "parts car" that didn't have very many friends inside GM. Many hated the car and looked for reasons to kill it. But in retrospect, GM really didn't have that much invested in the car. It had a sedan chassis and suspension with a goosed up straight-six truck engine they called, "The Blue Flame Six." They even painted the engine blue and added a chrome valve cover and three chrome air cleaner covers - one for each one-barrel carb. Plus, there were no steel stamping tools to make the body. Fiberglass bucks are a lot cheaper than steel stamping tools. The low investment cost may have been the only thing that saved the car.
It was very common in the '50s and '60s for car companies to make a new car by using the platform from an existing car. It helped keep costs down and profits up. They were always looking for ways to stretch a design to appeal to a larger audience. Obviously, Corvette product planners were NOT on board with Harley Earl's "sports car" concept. Almost from the beginning, someone said, "Hey guys! Let's make a station wagon version of the little Corvette."
So the little Corvette's greenhouse grew and extra seats were added. Lots of seats. Chevrolet was serious about this concept. Five prototypes were built and a brochure was created too. The brochure promoted the car by highlighting, "the sleek styling of a sports car with the versatility and utility of a Station Wagon."
Wow, it's a good thing this one didn't make it. Although it's an interesting idea for say ,the Chevy Belair, ahh... not for the Corvette. But here's the kicker. The brochure claimed the the Corvette Nomad could seat SIX! Well, that must have been snug. But the overall package actually looked pretty good. even Harley Earl liked it. response was good enough, so they decided to apply the concept to the Belair.
Yes Corvette fans, we dodged the bullet than one. If this car had gone into production, what would have been the next step? Perhaps a pickup truck-like version? Yea, that's it, the Corvette El Camino sport pickup truck. Imagine that. Or maybe you'd rather not.
Epilogue:We could look back and say that the Corvette Nomad experiment was sort of a prehistoric sport utility vehicle. Regardless, Chevy went on to sell Nomads based on much larger car platforms for decades in various levels of trim. But never as a sports car or performance car. It was just a neat, utility car.
Following the "retro" craze," Chevrolet built the above Chevrolet Nomad Concept Car for the 2004 car show circuit. The nose looks like the front end of the '53 - '55 Corvette, while the back end is nothing like the Corvette Nomad show car. This could have been tricked out a little more. It's nice, but a little tame and safe.
Here's what it looked like.
2004 Chevrolet Nomad Concept Car
