The Corvette Corvair

crosscreekcooter

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I was going to post this in Ox's restoration thread, but figured he would act like a little girl. When I was in high school, I had an older friend that had a '53 Vette. As I remember, that thing had a straight 6, 3 speed transmission, and the interior looked pretty unfinished . It was cool as hell to cruise Frische's Big Boy in on Saturday night. I don't think it even had interior door panels. Anyway, I came across this story about the '54 series. I don't ever remember seeing anything like these, except as a convertable roadster. When I was 17, I had a 2 door "56 BelAire. I worked a trade with another guy at high school for his "55 Nomad wagon, but soon nixed the trade because his engine was ragged out and mine had just been built. Today either one of those cars would be a collector's item.
Anyway, I came across this story about the '54 series. I don't ever remember seeing anything like these, except the convertable roadster model.

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[SIZE=-1]1954 Corvette dream cars - Corvette Corvair fastback, Corvette Nomad wagon and Corvette convertible coupe[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]For the 1954 Motorama shows, General Motors Styling Section created not one but three distinct Corvette dream cars: the Corvair fastback coupe, the Nomad station wagon, and the convertible coupe. All three shared some recognizable Corvette features, such as the front grille and fascia treatment, but were given certain unique styling elements in order to set them apart. The Corvair and the convertible coupe maintained the same wheel base and overall length as the 1953 Corvette. The Nomad wagon had a longer wheelbase and was approximately two feet greater in overall length.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=-1]1954 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Coupe dream car[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The Corvette Convertible Coupe was the closest in styling to the production model. It was painted in a muted yellow hue and it's main distinctive was a fiberglass removable hardtop that gave the sports car new "all-weather utility" as touted in the Motorama brochure. This feature would appear on production models as an aftermarket accessories beginning in 1955 and would officially become an option for the 1956 model year[/SIZE]


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[SIZE=-1]1954 Chevrolet Corvette Corvair dream car[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Corvair concept was a 2-door fastback, 2-passenger coupe. When it made its debut at the 1954 GM Motorama in New York City. It was a ruby red color but was repainted light sea foam green for the Los Angeles show in March.

It was built with a fiberglass body and was touted as a "new aerodynamic design" for the closed sports car class. The streamlined roofline swept back into the jet exhaust-type rear opening.

The Corvair used the Corvette front end, though it sported ribbed air intakes on the hood that routed fresh air to the interior and fender vents that allowed heat to escape the engine compartment. The Corvair had a wrap-around windshield and the roof was aircraft-inspired sweeping back into the chrome-trimmed licensed plate housing, which resembled a jet-fighter exhaust port.

Inside the body appeared to have the roof grafted right on to a production Corvette, as there was no storage area behind the seats. The stock trunk area was used with a deck lid contoured to the new roofline. The seats had the production fiberglass divider between them, just like a stock Corvette roadster. The remainder of the interior was largely stock, with custom white seats and chromed interior C-pillar trim pieces.

The chassis and power train of the Corvair was strictly Corvette. Sluggish sales of the 1954 Corvette deterred GM management from moving forward with the fastback coupe. The time for a Corvette fastback eventually did come, though nearly a decade later and on a new-generation Corvette. The Corvair nameplate would be recycled later for the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair rear-engine compact car.

The Corvette Corvair was rumored to have survived the crusher, but no trace of it has shown up. Also rumored that there was actually more than one car built, but no paperwork has surfaced that can verify this[/SIZE]
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[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=-1]1954 Chevrolet Corvette Nomad dream car[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The Nomad combined the sleek styling of a sports car with the versatility of station wagon. Built with a "glass fiber reinforced plastic" body, the Nomad was two-door with space for six passengers. It was built on modified 115-inch Chevrolet wagon chassis to give it the extra space necessary for this seating capacity. The Nomad also had an electrically operated rear window that automatically retracted into the tailgate when unlocked or could be remotely controlled by a button on the instrument panel. The Nomad was most lauded of the three Corvette dream cars for 1954. A larger version of this concept appeared for the 1955 model year and the nameplate would appear on concepts in the late 1990s and 2000s.

The 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Nomad concept station wagon, designed by Harley Earl's design staff, was introduced at the 1954 General Motors Motorama in New York City. Nomad was another name that Chevrolet would tag onto a production vehicle in the near future. Although resembling a Corvette, and in fact using many Corvette components, the Nomad was built on a modified 1953 Chevrolet sedan chassis. From the windshield posts forward, the Nomad was strictly stock Corvette.

The silver-blue and white Nomad was fitted with a Corvette 150-horsepower, 235 C.I.D., 6-cylinder engine with a 2-speed Powerglide transmission. This 2-door fiberglass show car station wagon had room for 6 passengers. The tailgate had electrically-powered glass. The interior was finished in blue and white leather with a fold-down rear seat and a ribbed headliner.

Pieces of the 1954 concept "Corvette Station Wagon" were actually put into production in 1955, and the car became the Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad Wagon[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=-1]A Trio of Corvette Motorama Cars for 1954[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=-1]Corvettes for 1954: The production model, the Corvair fastback coupe, the Nomad wagon and the convertible coupe
Images Courtesy of General Motors Archive and The Nomad wagon Courtesy of the Shane Collection[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=-1] [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Home[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] < [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]General Motors[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] < [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]GM Cars[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] < [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Historical Models[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] < [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Corvettes[/SIZE]
 

deuce

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Gatordiddy

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Holy crap - my Dad had a '57 Vette until I came along and he had to sell it. I was so close to buying a '62 a few years ago, spent lots of time on the NCRS forums AND I NEVER EVEN KNEW THESE VERSIONS EXISTED!!!

What the hell? Where did all these different models come from? I am a little embarrassed that I didn't even know about them until now since I fancy myself as somewhat of an enthusiast.
That museum picture of the Corvette Nomad is killing me ...love that one.
Awesome post!
 

crosscreekcooter

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I am the same way. I have seen a couple of pictures of the Corvette Nomad but didn't know it was a production model, I always thought it was a custom. Same for the fastback. That's some good looking ****. The 57 vette was a sweetlooking ride, it just had that single headlamp toothy grill old school yeah I'm a bad-ass look. I had a buddy years ago that had a gorgeous silver 67 427 conv 4 speed and he got busted with a square grouper and lost it to forfeiture.
 

oxrageous

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Production models? To my knowledge, NONE of these were production models except the roadster, of course. Just concepts. Even the concepts were more than likely crushed.
 

TLB

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Awesome article! Thanks for finding and sharing it.

I am in the boat of those who had no idea these existed. To Ox's point, I believe the article indicated, the Nomad and Fastback Coupe were not production models and only one of the Corvair seems to have been made (and saved from the crusher).

That museum pic is killing me as well. I'd love to know which meuseum has it but I'm too lazy to google right now. I live about 30 min from the Antique Auto Museum in Hershy and while I know that car isn't part of their inventory, they do host traveling exhibits so maybe I can get lucky at some point.

Great stuff.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Durty South Swamp

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wow, never seen these, and i absolutely love old vettes. dont like any of them between late 70s until 2014 but love the old, old ones... and the brand new ones that are a litte more polygonal instead of smooth curves are really, really sharp. great find, thanks.
 

TLB

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Came across this and thought it belonged in this thread

ALH-weird-boats-67-corvette-stingray-speed-boat.jpg

’67 Corvette Stingray Jet Boat
 

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