This was built in 1966 by my brother from a Nomad wagon. I know...terrible, but at the time they were plentiful and he was a twenty something hot rodder. Was built in ND and sold a couple times in ND. I heard it may have gone to TX in the early 1970's. I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen it.
About 20 years ago at Arapahoe Auto Salvage in Englewood, Co, there was one of these that visible, but not easy to get to. It too was a medium blue in colour.
Because I have a cousin just outside of Newcastle Wyoming that used to have a field of tri-five Chevys and had been told he had a 55 Nomad-ElCamino in the early 60's. I never saw it, my Uncle I got my 34 from told me about it when He saw my 55 Nomad. That's not too far from ND so I thought I'd ask.
I hope you find it. I love that photo of it. When I was a kid, bought a 55 Nomad model kit with pictures on the box of a El Camino conversion and the kit had the parts and directions on how to convert the Nomad into a El Camino. Later, my first car was a 55 Nomad but I sold it a few years later and I've been kicking myself ever since
I only know the person my brother sold it to, who is trying to find the name of the person he sold it to. Was a person in the Grand Forks ND area, but could have been at the Air Force base so could have gone anywhere from there. This was in the early 70's. Would love to find it, but interesting to hear all the stories and interest it is getting on this site and some face book pages. Thanks to all and keep bringing the leads.
My guess it that it was either restored to stock in the 80's-present or deemed "ruined and not feasible to restore and was parted out in the 70's before Tri five Nomads and conv.'s skyrocketed in value. Once they skyrocketed (like any other coveted car) stripped shells and rust buckets that were once passed over, became legit 'project' cars. Possibly a Nomad enthusiast bought it, added a Nomad roof back on and restored the body back to stock? The car could be a restored or Hot Rodded Nomad running the streets and you'd never know it. The roof could have been sourced from an unsaveable parts car that was rusted up to the beltline. Or, someone's rust bucket roller could have donated their roof to it rather than replacing all the floors, rockers, etc. on their's. Over the years I've also seen several NOS Nomad roofs. One was on Los Angeles Craigslist a couple years ago. Maybe the one Spooky saw is it?
My Dad had a friend here in the Minneapolis area that had an nomad/el camino back in the early 1970's. The guys name was Lee Schupler. I can try to ask my Dad if he remembers any details about it.
If you know the last known city or area where the car was sold, you might find some help using Craigslist. Several years ago I was looking for a 37 Chevy Sedan I had once owned. All I knew is that the guy I sold it to had sold it again to someone in Connecticut. Similar to what you are doing here on the HAMB, I posted the most recent picture I could get of the car in the Wanted section of Craigslist in different Connecticut cities. Over the course of a couple years, I got several phone calls, most of which were dead ends. One did describe unique features of the car correctly and allowed me to continue my Craigslist search in a city near where it had been spotted. This eventually let to a contact and communication with the new owner. About another year later, he made it worth while to come see the car and as you can see in my avatar that car has been back with my Family since 2011. Good luck with your search. I hope you get to find more history and maybe even locate that 55 conversion.
I talked to my Dad, and he said Lee's was a ratty red cut down 56 nomad. He also had a 57 nomad at the time and just bought the cut down for the tailgate trim that was better than the stuff on his 57. He thinks the 56 ended up at the scrap yard after being parted out.
Hey. I have a few questions to James Backyard. I have a similar Nomino like in the pictures. Might be the one. What engine was in back then, trans, seats, steering wheel etc?
Fairly certain it lived for while in Stromsburg Nebraska in the 70's. I was a Tri City Street Rods member and we did quite a few things with the Midwest Street Rods and this car or one like it was at a lot of the events. Have no idea what happened to it?
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