Nomads wend their way to convention
Luke and Kathy Miller never have a problem deciding where to go for vacation, or how to get there. They just go wherever the Chevrolet Nomad Association annual convention is held. This year they are heading to Sacramento, Calif., for the week of July 8-13. As far as getting there, the Millers will drive their 1955 Nomad (pictured) from their home in Caledonia, Wis., just like they do every year.
By John Lee
Luke and Kathy Miller never have a problem deciding where to go for vacation, or how to get there. They just go wherever the Chevrolet Nomad Association annual convention is held. This year they are heading to Sacramento, Calif., for the week of July 8-13.
The national club’s 24th annual meet will take over the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel there with a show-n-shine and judging, tours of area auto collections and shops and a variety of other activities. As far as getting there, the Millers will drive their 1955 Nomad (pictured) from their home in Caledonia, Wis., just like they do every year. Besides the previous 23 CNA conventions, they drove the same car to all 17 national meets of a predecessor organization, the National Nomad Club.
Luke was in college when he dragged the nearly complete Nomad out of a junkyard. He swapped in a better 265 V-8 engine over Easter break and soon had “classic” transportation to carry him through the rest of his college years. The title is stamped, “Previously junked and reconditioned.”
The Miller children, Jenni and Luke, went along on summer Nomading trips until they grew up and left the nest.
Jenni’s own daughter, Avery, was introduced to the family heirloom in 2006 when the Nomad convention was held in Sedona, Ariz., near where they live.
Getting the Nomad ready for this year’s trip will be a race to the finish. Luke related, “After returning home last summer we started disassembling our Nomad to do a cosmetic makeover. Once the seats and carpeting were removed, it became obvious that a simple repaint just wouldn’t do.”
A complete bare-metal body rebuild and Regal Turquoise and India Ivory repaint have been completed, and the interior shop is racing the clock to finish the new upholstery.
A nine-car caravan from the Seattle area will help make up the show of more than 100 restored and modified 1955-56-57 Nomads expected in Sacramento. Tours are planned of the California Auto Museum and California Train Museum, as well as the Rams Head Auto Collection.
For more information on the club and convention, visit www.chevynomadclub.com or e-mail cna.club@gmail.com.
More resources:
- For Chevy Nomad pricing, check out the 2013 Collector Car Price Guide.
- Find history, data and more on the Chevy Nomad in our Standard Catalog of Chevrolet 1912-2003.
