55 nomad

[Rlopez209]

Engine , frame and front and rear suspension are done.

[LURCH426]

GOT A GOOD START.THIS IS MY AVORITE YEAR OF THE TRI 5 NOMANDS

[Qwit Pushin]

I could never understand why the rear wheel openings for this year Nomad were so high. The rest of the 55 lineup had the smaller openings which I always felt looked best.

[camaroman]

I could never understand why the rear wheel openings for this year Nomad were so high. The rest of the 55 lineup had the smaller openings which I always felt looked best.

I agree about the looks of the regular car wheel opening but if you have ever tried to stuff a larger tire than stock under one of those you would understand why Chevy changed them ...

[CorvairJim]

The 1955 Nomad was styled after the Corvette-based 1954 Motorama Nomad show car. It had the Corvette style open wheelwells. When they decided to build the actual car on the regular Chevy body, they decided to go with the open wheel openings of the show car. They add a distinctive look to the car that none of the other Chevys had in 1955. In 1956-7 they reverted to the standard production style "teardrop" wheel openings. What Glen said about the smaller openings on the rest of the line throughout the tri-5 era is absolutely correct. That's why almost every tri-5 Chevy drag car from the era had it's wheel openings rediused. Nowadays, people just tub the heck out of the cars and leave the quarter panels alone!

Notice also that the Nomad had exclusive side trim in 1955. It didn't have typical Bel Air spears on the quarter panels; it had the spear flowing from the headlight "Eyebrow" back onto the door instead.