Custom Nomads: Why are they all so ugly?

Sanitary when only slightly modified............

 

The Sam Hollingsworth '57 on the cover of R&C in May, '67. This is the one referenced by JimA above and my favorite also.

 

I actually like that a lot. It looks tastefully done to me.

 

I agree 100%. Nomads and 40 Fords are two vehicles that need restraint. They also are my two favorite vehicles, maybe because they look so good just as they came from the factory.

 

I agree about 40 Fords as well. I love seeing all of the various hot rods and customs that I see on a daily basis on here. And I would proudly drive any of these amazing cars. But it is a 40 Ford that I truly aspire to own someday. For me it's not just about how good they look, but it was a actually a properly done 40 that showed me the way.

 

I agree...nomad wagons are like caddy's just a little will e purr-fecto-mondo... you can over kill it quickly. I guess that why most of us like and appreciate the classic traditional styling and not the award winning show car that is worth so much that you don't want to drive and enjoy them. That cole foster blue and white is freaking awesome... The wagons that bigkens dad has rocks ass too.

 

I don't think anyone has mentioned the original Nomad: GM's Corvette Nomad show car.

http://www.corvettenomad.com

I wish they'd put this into production. (It had rollup windows, by the way.)

 

some times simpler is better...i want a all stock aprearing 1955 nomad or 2 door wagon just lowered with a modern chasis and drive train....

 

If they'd been built with injected 392 Hemis and 4-speeds, they would have been perfect.

 

I don't understand why those of you who are anal retentive restorers are even looking at customized cars.

If you don't want anyone to cut any old cars up for their own fun, you should buy them all up and put them in your own personal restored car museum!
Otherwise, shut your pie hole!

Mercy to all the Safari wagons that have been stripped and scrapped just for their tailgate spears...

And all the Auburns that have gone to the crusher minus their dash boards, and Lasalles, Desotos and Packards missing grills and/or tail lights.

Ban those awful customizers and hotrodders to hell for not restoring everything, even the "parts cars" somehow!

 

That's the one I was talking about !! I LOVE that car !! Do you have any more pics of it ??

Todd

 

heres a couple

 

i love the paint colors, i kinda like the wheel/tire combo, but the doors are hideous. like someone already said they were doing body mods just to be doing them for points not aesthetics.

 

No offense, but your reading comprehension level is abysmally low.

No one here is an anal retentive restorer, as you put it, nor is anyone saying a Nomad shouldn't be customized. Merely pointing out that the radically customized Nomads I've seen are uglier than a stock one, when the whole point of customizing is to improve the looks of a vehicle.

 

Your on a roll Duncan!!

I love the HAMB

This is prime example of what your talking about. Ugly!!!!

 

This '56 is near perfect. I tend to lean towards the '56 since that is what I have owned the most of. If it had Lee tail light lenses and full width tube grille it would be perfect to me. I also like a one piece smooth front bumper with no guards. It seems like, these days, builders think that all of the emblems and chrome have to be there when it's the cars that have just the right stuff removed that really stand out.

My opinion is that any more than mild customizing ruins the Nomad but it's an individual thing. That's why they call it customizing.

Tom

 

What did cole do to that car besides make it super clean and shave the hood bird?

 

Ever hear of the old saying less is more? sometimes as in the case of the Nomad a little subtle changes here and there are far more appreciated and a greater artisitc expression then going gonzo overboard. It's sort of like woman and jewlery a little bit says elligant and a touch of class. A lot or too much screams REDNECK white trash, go back home to the trailer park and stick that heap next to you full out custom 1985 ElCamino

 

The majority of the nomads pictured so far are good lookin except
the newmad/ realmad/& a few other abortions.
they make me throw up a little in my mouth.

-----some things cant be changed!

pro street 49-51 mercurys,
a drastically changed corvette, a 34 3 window with a BIG pie cut out of the sides to wedge the body,
a cut up moulded in nomad,
etc...
thats all dog sh!t!!!
i would be embarrsed!!! maybe their mother inlaws are impressed!?!
im not! ---- although the quality of work is great the overall outcome is nAsTy UgLy!

 

Yup...

 

Which'n?

 

I have been following this thread pretty closely since I have a great love for this particular body style since I first saw a 55 Pontiac Safari in a dealer's showroom at the age of 11 and vowed I would own one someday.It took 40 years almost to the day but I finally realized my dream.

I also find it a bit ironic that Harry Bradley was quoted in the beginning of this thread and then proceeded to offer up some of the most outrageous(to me at least)modifications to what has to be one of the most beautiful cars ever to be produced in it's original form.

The following article was culled from the July 1996 issue of Custom Rodder and was written by Jerry Weesner.Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures but my scanner has tanked and I had to photograph the pages.

I find it sad that some people will make modifications to what I consider a beautiful design.I find it sadder that a lot of Safaris were picked over for their relevant parts to rebuild a Nomad and then discarded.However that is their perogative.Some people have an intense dislike for the way my Safari is painted and that is their perogative as well.

Anyway that is my take and I will leave the article for the forum to discuss.

 

I'm not a big fan of Bradley at all but I love
the four door wagon conversion. Some one should
but no one will.

I think of all of the wagons the '55 Pontiac safari is perfect.
One of these days I'll have.

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

I've never seen the car in post #47 and now that I have seen it I wish that I hadn't. That is one of the ugliest cars that I've ever seen. That is unbelieavably ugly. It's just ugly. It's ugly. Ugly!

 

bradley may have stated the obvious but he sure built his share of ugly too.
ever seen the black and white el camino?
anyway i like ugly cars too. if we didn't have them we wouldn't know a beautiful one when we saw it.

 

Yeah. I guess they do have their place.

 

Having owned three 57 Safaris and two 55 Nomads, I beg to differ. The 56 Nomad customized by Russ Meeks (with a four inch section job by the way) in the mid 60s and currently owned and being restored by a fellow Hamber was just simply perfect in it's execution, especially in it's original, after being sectioned, black paint scheme.