Big Oak Garage Wraps Up a Custom 1955 Chevy Nomad
The first drive in their “new” 1955 Chevy Nomad will be a moment to remember for Gerry and Melinda Kennon. It was idling up to the stage at the Nashville Nationals to pick up their Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year Finalist award!
Gerry bought his first Tri-five Chevy in 1962, a Bel Air hardtop that he drove to high school, then college, and after years of idleness, rebuilt into a show-worthy custom rod in 2015. However, he always liked Chevy’s Nomad sport station wagon, and at shows he and Melinda would seek them out. Through that mutual interest they became acquainted with Will Posey and began comparing ideas for creating the perfect Nomad.
Eventually, Will came across a nice two-owner ’55 and convinced the Kennons to buy it and allow him to build their dream machine at his shop, Big Oak Garage. The goal was to retain all the style that made the Nomad a classic, while modernizing everything underneath.
Will was amazed at how solid the starting point was. “We didn’t find any rust needing repair even in two of the most vulnerable spots – the battery tray and the spare tire well,” Will says. “We were able to restore and reuse all of the original trim.” The three-piece front bumper was exchanged for a smoothed one-piece, and the rear bumper was modified into a one-piece unit. Both were tucked tighter to the body.
Fun fact: Chevrolet finished all 1955 Nomads with two-tone, roof-and-body paint combinations, but no solid colors – and no black! Gerry worked with painter Jake Meadows to select the BASF black for the main body and Root Beer for the roof, matching the two-tone on his ’55 Bel Air hardtop.
The body was channeled over a Morrison Max-G chassis with air ride suspension and rack-and-pinion steering controlled from a downsized ’55 Chevy wheel through a Flaming River tilt column. Baer disc brakes are fitted behind Schott 20×8.5- and 20×11-inch wheels and Diamondback redline rubber. The big rolling stock gets turning courtesy of a supercharged 755-horsepower 6.2-liter LT5 Chevrolet Performance crate engine that’s beautifully detailed and surrounded by custom engine bay panels. A 10L90E 10-speed automatic transmission adds to the driving experience.
Built by Ricky Custom Interiors made liberal use of burnt orange and black leather to finish ’67 Thunderbird buckets, a custom rear seat and center console, plus other interior appointments. The center of the original dash is smoothed, and Dakota Digital gauges monitor functions.
Gerry and Melinda visited Big Oak Garage periodically during the Nomad’s six-year build but say they were still “blown away” when laying their eyes on their finished Nomad for the first time and cruising through the Goodguys awards ceremony. It doesn’t get any better than that!
Photos by John Jackson
