My first tri5

I have been here for a while but have been more of a lurker. Time to post a bit more.

I found this pic on FB recently, on one of our local hot rodding history pages.
It was taken in January 1976 of my first tri5. I wanted a Nomad but couldn't find one down here and ended up with this wagon.
It was almost finished at the time the pic was taken - note that it had a smoothy bumper way back then. It was not a perfect fit, and the chrome shop did a better job next time around - on my 56 Nomad and that's another story.
The 55 was painted a local GM colour Verdoro Green with a cream interior with a 283. The wires on it in the pic were replaced with a set of chromed rally wheels.
I bought my 56 Nomad later in 1976 and kept this wagon whilst I was building the Nomad, selling the wagon about 3 years later.
Cheers, Des

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Welcome to TriFiveChevys Des! We love Nomads... and owners of multiple Nomads are especially welcome. We look forward to your technical questions, updates, and answers to OUR technical questions. I didn't know you'd owned a 210 wagon before your Nomads!

Tell us more about yourself and your cars when you get a chance!.. The folks here would probably be very interested in your many trips to the states for car shows! :)

cool wagon, to bad you got rid of it.

Here's the reasons the wagon was sold. In late 1976 I heard a 56 Nomad was heading downunder. There was a 55 Nomad I knew of in Sydney but it was not available.
I knew the importer and arranged to see it when it landed, and then brought it home - behind a 64 El Camino, one of 6 imported by a prominent race car driver/car dealer.
Whilst building the 56, the 55 Nomad became available and it ended up in my garage. I bought the 55 as a basket case and threw it back together to get it on the road.
The wagon and the Elky went to other homes, the 55 became a daily driver and tow vehicle and the 56 was finished early in 1980.

As bamanomad hinted at I visited the US in 1979 and attended the Nomad convention, Classic Chevy at Reno and the NSRA nats. I went up to San Diego and bought a set of Zenith wheels and brought them home on the plane - 150 pounds of excess baggage at nil cost. I have had 5 more trips to the US over the years, have attended the Nomad convention each time, and have brought back some parts on each of those trips. I have also brought back a 55 2 door sedan, 65 Impala and 72 El Camino - all have found new homes.

In the mid 1980's I was looking for a 57 Nomad and finally bought the 57. It was built by a buddy and was almost on the road by around 1981 but he kept trading it for other cars. The price kept falling and I finally got it. It had a lot of custom touches and a Corvette rear. I have worked on it on and off over the years and have done a lot of work to it, just needs heaps more work.
The 55 was also and on and off project for years - I often refer to the sidetracks I have had with the other cars, travels etc. The body and paint have been done recently and it's almost back together. The interior kit is somewhere on the Pacific Ocean at the moment. All my buddies ask when will it be done - for a long time I have answered - "By Christmas", but then they started asking "which Christmas?"

By the way - all are Right Hand Drive. They were converted to RHD under the rules we had at the time. Nowadays we can leave cars LHD, and we have had large numbers of cars imported downunder in the past 10 years.
I feel that the RHD cars stand out as survivors down here.

Cheers, Des

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And here's a pic of my 57 Nomad.
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Sweet! Great history you have with these tri5's. Thanks for sharing.

I love the Nomads and especially partial to the '56's. Don't get me wrong. I love my 4 door. The '56 I had was a basket case and I just couldn't justify keeping both it and my '57 210 wagon. The 210 won out as it would he easier to upgrade.