There are certain vehicles that were bound to be classics from Day One. The Chevy Nomad was one. A full-size take on the ’54 GM Motorama Corvette Nomad, it reached production as the Bel Air Nomad midway through the 1955 model year.

The Bel Air Nomad was the most expensive non-Corvette in the Chevy lineup during the Tri-Five years (1955-1957). (Photo by Jim Campisano)

As the most expensive non-Corvette in the entire lineup, the Chevy Nomad, a two-door sport station wagon was never intended to be a high-volume piece, but a halo car as Chevrolet reinvented itself in 1955 as more than just a purveyor of low-priced vehicles. It was a styling statement at a time when the Harley Earl-led design team was the undisputed worldwide leader.

GM Motorama Styling For The Street

While a two-door wagon was nothing revolutionary (Chevy and other manufacturers had been offering them for decades), the Nomad had a unique hardtop body, with a one-of-a-kind swept-down roofline. The roof itself was ribbed, both inside (with stainless steel bows dividing the headliner) and out. The tailgate was a clamshell-like two-piece affair, which didn’t exactly lend itself to easy loading and unloading of bulky items. Still, the rear seat could fold down, giving you room for a surfboard or two, a cooler, and whatever else you needed for a day out.

As part of the Bel Air family (which was the top of the Chevrolet lineup then), the Nomad had a high-end interior, gobs of external brightwork, and style for miles.

Other than the Corvette, the Chevy Nomad was the division’s lowest selling model, with only 8,366 leaving showrooms that year. That’s out of a total of over 1.736 million, an all-time record for the Bow Tie division at the time.

During the Tri-Five years, the Nomad retained its place atop the Bel Air hierarchy, but it never flew out of showrooms. Sales dipped in ’56, when 7,886 were sold. For ’57, its last as a premium two-door wagon, production dropped to 6,103 — this out of 1.5 million units.

The ’57 Nomad saw the same styling upgrades as the regular Chevy, with a new oval-shaped grille, floating parking lights, fins (the left of which hid the fuel filler cap), new taillamps, and trim. Under the hood, the top of the line engine was the new fuel-injected 283, which made an advertised one horsepower-per cubic inch (though Zora Arkus-Duntov once told this author the actual number was 290, which is what the engine would be rated in 1958).

An Instant Classic

While their high price, unique nature, and limited utility guaranteed they’d remain a niche item, enthusiasts immediately went nuts over them, and the Chevy Nomads popularity never waned. Nomad clubs formed almost immediately (some are still around today). Yes, they were popular with surfers, but even more so with hot rodders, who used them as sporty tow vehicles, parts chasers, and the basis for thousands of street machines and dedicated drag cars.

One Nomad aficionado is Army Colonel Dan Zajac, who bought this particular example in 1997 from Classic Chevy International in Florida. He was stationed in Fort Stewart, Georgia, after serving as a battalion commander in Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Thunder. He decided at that point it was time to get the ’57 Chevy Nomad he always wanted. As a kid, he bought Nomad models, and progressed to diecast cars, but had never achieved his goal of having the real thing.

Then this one came along. The price was right — not too terribly expensive — and a project car was born. He drove it back to Georgia from the Orlando area, and started on the cosmetics, as well as fixing a few things.

The Tri-Five was in the original Dusk Pearl when he bought it, a hue his wife described at the time as “a nail polish color,” with an India Ivory top. Dan jokingly said his toxic masculinity could not handle such a color. Besides, he always wanted a blue one. One day, Dan saw a Dodge dealership with Dakota pickup trucks in this blue on the lot. He pulled in, got the paint code off the door, and was on his way (though we’ve never seen a Dakota with such an amazing shine). The actual color is PPG Intense Blue Pearl Metallic; the roof was slathered in contrasting Pearl White. The look is absolutely stunning, especially in the sun.

One Horsepower Per Cubic Inch

Next thing you know, Dan got transferred to California, and he was living not far from D&P Classic Chevy when it was still in Huntington Beach. He picked up the current engine there. It is a Ramjet 350 Chevrolet crate engine, one of the first factory fuel-injected crate engines. The engine was rated at 350 horsepower, and installation was a breeze. It’s been 100 percent reliable since day one, though Dan is not one to leave things along. He added some chrome dress up goodies under the hood.

The exhaust is simple: Long tube headers into Flowmasters with a stainless steel exhaust system. A Conceptone serpentine drive turns the accessories and Vintage Air keeps the inhabitants cool. A Griffin cross-flow radiator ensures stress-free cruising, even in traffic.

That engine was mated to a 700R4 overdrive (with a cooler), which sends power to a factory-style 10-bolt rear with a 3.42 cog. The stock column shifter selects the gears.

The front suspension consists of Ride Tech tubular A-arms and coilovers, a Hellwig stabilizer bar, and A CCP 605 steering box. Out back are simple leaf springs with a Hellwig sway bar. All this adds up to a Nomad that is light years ahead of stock in the ride and handling department. It’s not some ultimate autocross car, just a well-sorted street machine. And since Dan has no interest in autocrossing, that’s fine by him.

Brakes were not left factory, either. Wilwood 12-inch six-piston front disc brakes were added up front and Wilwood discs were added to the rear, too. Rolling stock consists of Foose Impalas (eight-inches wide front and 10-inches rear) wearing Toyo Proxes 4Plus radials (235/40 front, 275/35 rear). The rear Wilwoods were one of the last modifications on this near 20-year project, getting installed just last year.

(Photos by Jim Campisano)

“My first approach on every classic car I’ve owned is I want safety and performance at the same time, so you go for more power, more streetability, better transmission and better suspension and braking,” said Dan. “That’s the way I approached it.
“When it comes to interiors, I keep them as stock-appearing as I can because I like the quaintness of, ‘OK. This is what a car looked like in 1957.’ There’s no digital dash here. It’s basically stock appearing.”

Inside The Ride

Dan’s restored most of the interior himself. One major alteration was the center stack he built himself to house the Clarion stereo (AM/FM-cassette — yeah, it’s an older build). The seats are not modern and reupholstered to hold the occupants in place during high g-load cornering. Just stock front and rear bench seats in the timeless factory upholstery.

“I like the stock interiors, so when I get in it I kinda feel like I’m still in a ’57 Chevy while everything under the metal is updated,” Dan told us. “I’m not criticizing those who do because I’ve seen a lot of really nice cars [with modified interiors].

(Photo by Jim Campisano)

Dan was kind enough to take us for a ride after our photo shoot and we can tell you he’s achieved just about every goal anyone could have for a classic car. It starts, idles, and runs like a modern small-block, it rides beautifully and tracks straight, and the air conditioning blows ice cold. The Ramjet engine makes all the right sounds without being obnoxious, and thanks to the overdrive automatic, revs are more than tolerable at highway speeds.

What’s next for Dan, who also has a real-deal ’70 Plymouth Superbird (restored) and a ’67 Barracuda Formula S sharing his garage space? He’s got a Competition Blue ’70 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler with a Ford Performance 514-inch crate engine under the hood that’s just about finished. We can’t wait to see that in person.