Let's cut up some more cars! Chevy Nomads from 1955-57 have always been high on the hot rodder's butcher list. Custom, drag racing, Pro Street, Pro Touring-whichever way you wish to cut one up works great. And, of course station wagons in general have become popular for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that most were used and abused, so you just don't see many anymore. But most any station wagon past 1960, give or take a year or two, is going to be a four-door. I think some of the mid-'60s offerings from the former Big Three would make great Nomads, and it's a perfect opportunity for the skill-endowed hot rodder to take up the cause and create one since they didn't produce any.
What I'm proposing is to get a simple sedan of your choice, cut out the back window and surrounding metal, move it back onto the rear quarters, and then fill in the hole between the new rear window location and what's left of the top and sides-not Simple Simon, but doable.
You could have a working tailgate or not, but don't forget, we're after a cool look and not a lot of fab time. There may be working tailgates from the four-door wagons out there on eBay or from collectors. The same could be said for inner structure-maybe an existing four-door station wagon donor could provide interior wheelhouses and the requisite bed floor.
The great thing about these early to mid-'60s cars is that they were still utilizing flat glass for side windows. This makes it cheap and easy to make up some new glass for your New Nomad. And the curved glass you will probably need for the rear window is the original sedan rear window you're utilizing, so you're in there already.
I've included some color examples evoking modifications popular with this year of car; you can go as mild or wild as you wish. These cars have been fairly inexpensive for years, but just like every other collector car, the prices are getting up there. Still, you want to find the nicest one you can come up with. Drivetrain and interior condition are of little importance, but the body and frame have to be as top notch as possible. Rare options and matching numbers are cool, but don't pay for stuff that won't matter in the end. Just remember, you'll pay less to modify a good, clean car as opposed to getting a hunk for cheap, then spending thousands patching it up and still never getting it to the level of a good-but-higher-priced version.
Rod & Custom would be very interested in any New Nomad you can screw together, so don't be shy about your project! Let us know what you're up to.