Robert “Nick” Nichols’ 1955 Chevy Nomad is a cruiser and show machine.

Renteria Bros. Paint and Body painted the car and they nailed it. This shade of yellow is bright enough to require shades but not look overly gaudy. Some yellow paint jobs are a nightmare, this one is not.

Lots of people don’t know that the styling inspiration for the 1955 Chevy model year egg-crate grill actually came from Ferrari race cars of the era. Weird but true!

It just does not get any more pristine than this. Bob had a list of people to thank, so many in fact that they wouldn’t all fit in this Nomad, even if stacked right. Warren Roland, the Renteria Bros., Capital Automotive, Dale Butler, Dwaine Verage, and Pat Hogan all had a hand in getting this car to where it is today. He reserved special thanks to his wife Yvonne who put up with him spending all his time with the car and generally being a garage hermit.

That killer stance was achieved by mixing factory and aftermarket suspension pieces. The front suspension uses McGaughy’s 2” lowering springs and spindles by the same company. Heidt’s tubular A-arms and KYB shocks make up the rest of the hard parts. A Unisteer rack and pinion handles the turning duties and Chevy Malibu 10.5 inch disc brakes do the stopping up front. Nitto 225/45/NT450 tires are on the front American Racing wheels.

Out back, a 10-bolt rear end from a Camaro is stuffed with 3.42 gears and an Eaton posi-traction unit. Stock Nomad five-leaf springs are mounted as well. KYB shocks are also present in the back. Rear brakes are discs from SSBC. 17x8 Americas are shod in Nitto 275/50/NT450 tires. The stance of this car is 100% dead nuts on.

Chevrolet had a concept/show car a few years back that was a revival of his vaunted name. It was a big hit on the show circuit and briefly seemed to have had a chance to be considered for production, but ultimately it never was. That may be for the better as the name may have been tarnished because nothing is cooler than the period correct original models.

Hood birds are worth large sums of money. Anyone else think they look like a train and a jet combined?

Nichols has spent considerable time in the engine bay prettying things up with polished components and the custom stainless front wheel wells, firewall, and aluminum paneling by Dwaine Verage. The motor is a 390hp 383ci stroked and bored small block Chevy. It uses Vortec heads with 1.94/1.50 valves.

Going from top to bottom on the motor, we have a 750-cfm Summit carb bolted to an Edelbrock Air Gap intake that sits on a set of Vortec heads sporting 1.94/1.50 valves. Those valves are opened and closed by a roller cam of unknown specs and a set of hydraulic roller lifters. A stroker crank moves stock rods and hyper pistons. MSD is credited with the ignition system. The Vintage Air serpentine belt system is pretty slick as well. Afterburner headers carry the gasses away. It’s all backed up by a Turbo 400 transmission with a 2300 stall converter.

Being cool seems to be a central theme to this car. The Be Cool aluminum radiator is backed with a pair of Spal fans. The car also has a Vintage Air A/C system in it to keep Nick and his wife Yvonne from melting down on hot San Jose days.

A B&M Mega-shifter is used to bang through the gears. Nick chose a spot for the Autogage tach right up in front of the shifter, so it’s visible with a quick glance down.

– The interior car is a place where Nick did some thinking and came up with a a neat solution for front buckets. He used a set of power seats from am 1986 Chevy Celebrity. The rear seat is a stocker. Nick did the upholstery himself. He’s handy with a needle because he worked as a parachute technician in the US Army for oh, a couple of decades! The classic tuck and roll is looking appropriate here.

A stock, but downsized steering wheel is Nick’s tiller of choice and the stock dash has been left unmolested. We like the fact that it’s not all cut up and digitized. The less doodads the better when you are dealing with a truly classic design like the tri-five Chevy dash.

We live in a world of “textured” plastic interiors, which for the record suck. Climbing into the Nomad is like entry into a time capsule with the great stainless steel ribbing on the roof of the passenger compartment.