This picture makes me wonder if Ford had used the Crown Victoria roof trim on the 1955-56 Parklane wagon, would it have given it the look that would have made it as popular as Chevy's Nomad.
That one's got a 'roof chop' on it as well, courtesy of the image manipulator. For comparison sake, here's a stock one, except for the wheels and rake: Ford probably would have sold more of them had they done the Crown Victoria trim treatment. Would have been a fairly small tooling investment - different quarter panel stampings, etc (could have used the CV doors). Would they have sold as many as Chevy did Nomads? You would have to do an analysis of their wagon sales for '56/'57 to form an educated guess. I'd like to see a P/S of a '57 Crown Victoria wagon, without the roof chop (I've got a general dislike of roof chops).
My uncle on mom's side had a 56 Crown Victoria he bought new. I loved it. He hated the 9MPG so traded it. His was the buckskin brown and white. Nice colors altho most called it t@tt** pink. I agree Willys but I couldn't afford to keep a Nomad so couldn't afford that if it were real.
in those days ford wagons were still pure utilitarian even the woody didnt show em people were ready for something a bit more sporty for the grocery getter... gm had a bit more vision i guess...
The Chevy Nomad wagons developed after they did a few concept cars based on the early Corvette. There were three as I recall - a 'fastback' with a fixed roof they called the Corvair, the Corvette Nomad, and one other I can't remember the details on. The Nomad had the Corvette front end, but was closer in length to a regular Chevy. (Had a back seat, IIRC) Chevy got so much positive comments on the Nomad, they decided to give it a go, but built it as a 'regular' Chevy. The other 2 vehicles in this shot are not the other Corvettes, obviously. LT one is some kind of concept Olds. RT one is a Pontiac.
Correct, the Nomad was originally part of the Corvette series along with the fastback model. They built the Corvette Nomad as a regular 55 Chevy Nomad using the new standard 55 sheetmetal because they were pressed for time and it would cost too much more to use the Corvette fibreglass front clip. That's also why they didn't use the sliding roof panel like Studebaker later did. No time to correct the leaks and too expensive at the time. But they kept the phoney roof ribs because it looked nice. In reality the Nomad became the Bel Air Nomad that's why 1955 wagons had no regular Bel Air designation.
Met this guy in 2011 at the Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise. We hung out and talked about our one of a kind ElCamino and Ranchero builds. He had the cool Crown Vic roof on his.
Very nicely done 56 El Camino and 56 Ranchero. I don't think I like the 1960 Dodge Dart tail lights on that Ford though.
Even so the Parklane is a pretty rare car and good looking body style,I slight chop would really make it stand out.
