El Nomado – 1958 El Camino?

Your memory is fine and you’re not hallucinating. Chevrolet never built a ’58 El Camino. But Joe Cherry did.

The car that you see here is a unique creation that was designed and built by Joe Cherry and is called “El Nomado”. Although this car looks like it could have rolled off a GM production line in 1958 this is actually Joe’s take on what such a car would look like had they done so.

Joe used a 1958 4 door Chevy Nomad wagon and a 1958 2 door Chevy Biscayne to create the proportion of El Nomado.  The Biscayne was used as a donor vehicle for the longer doors that were not available on the 4 door Nomad wagon.
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>As you would expect from a vehicle of this caliber it has been given some modern upgrades to improve the performance and handling. All the braking system has been upgraded to include a dual reservoir power master cylinder and now has disk brakes all round that have been cross drilled to improve their stopping ability.

The suspension is now fully adjustable thanks to air bags fitted in each corner. The wheels are Boyd Coddington 18″ Crown Jewel Wheels that work perfectly against the perfect paintwork.

The interior of the car was designed by Brian Dering and Joe Cherry and matches the contoured design of the exterior. Inside you can see that all the interior metal parts have been painted to match the exterior and that the color is complimented by cream leather trim. The Leather trim also continues through into the pick-up bed.

The engine is a 348 cubic that is connected to a 2 Speed Powerglide Transmission both of which were available in 1958. The engine is connected to a Tire Warmer Exhaust System that features Flow master mufflers.

What Joe Cherry and his team of master craftsmen created is nothing less than a breathtaking example of what a 1958 El Camino COULD have looked like had GM decided to produce this car with the 1958 styling.  The result is truly amazing.