Steve’s Auto Restorations

Portland, OR View More Vehicles

1955 Chevrolet Nomad – NewMad

Vehicle Quick Facts

Profile ID: 44607
Year: 1955
Make: Chevrolet
Model: Nomad
Markets: Rod & Custom
Vehicle Type: American
Contact: Steve’s Auto Restorations

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Vehicle Story

This Custom Rod of the Year winning ’55 Chevy was designed by Chris Ito and required 24,000 man hours to build.  Almost every panel on the channeled and lengthened custom was hand-fabricated in-house.  All trim pieces were also hand-crafted in-house from brass, and the glass was all specially cut.  The incredible machine rides on a custom built chassis that uses 2000 Corvette suspension front and rear, and is motivated by a 496 cubic inch, all aluminum Arias fuel-injected big-block engine producing 475 horsepower and 500 ft. lbs. of torque.  As recipient of hundreds of awards and accolades, the NewMad has proven to be one of America’s best and well-known custom cars.

SHOWS AND AWARDS

2001

  • St Ignace, MI – John Moss GM Invitational display
  • Custom Rodder Top Ten, Goodguys Custom Rod of the Year Finalist and Custom Rod of the Year winner, Goodguys Heartland Natls,Des Moines, IA
  • Boyd Coddington’s Pros Pick winner, Goodguys Columbus, OH
  • SAR display, Goodguys Puyallup, WA
  • Absorber Display, National Street Rod Assoc (NSRA) Nationals Louisville, KY
  • SAR display, Goodguys Pleasanton, CA
  • America’s Best Custom. Also ‘Big Bucks & Bitchin’ and ‘Long Distance’ winner, Seaside Roadster Show, Seaside, OR
  • Mother’s Wax Innagural ‘Shine’ Award – Best of Show; Super Rod Magazine Ten Best SuperRods of the Year, Speciality Equipment Manfacturers Assoc (SEMA) Show, Las Vegas, NV
  • Tri-Five Class Gold, Best of Gold Custom and Outstanding Workmanship winner, Super Chevy Show, Tucson, AZ
  • Boyd Coddington’s Pros Pick, Goodguys annual Judi Murray Award, Goodguys, Scottsdale, AZ

2002

  • Custom Sweepstakes, Best of Show Display, Grand Nat’l Roadster Show, San Mateo, CA
  • CA Custom Sweepstakes, Best in Class, Outstanding Engineering, Best of Show Display, Sacramento Autorama, Sacramento
  • P Silver Cup, Display award, Portland Rod & Custom Show, Portland, OR
  • Best of Show Custom, Best in Class, Display award, Detroit Autorama 50th Anniversary, Detroit, MI
  • Gold Cup, Display Award, Seattle Roadster Show, Seattle, WA
  • Outstanding Elegance Award, Fresno Autorama, Fresno, CA
  • Custom De Elegance finalist & winner, Nifty-Fifty Pick, Award of Excellence, GoodGuys 20th All American Get-Together, Pleasanton, CA
  • K&N Best of Show, Goodguys 2nd Del Mar Nationals, Del Mar, CA
  • GoodGuys Great Northwestern Natls, Spokane, WA – Display only
  • Goodguys 16th West Coast Natls, Pleasanton, CA – Display only
  • America’s Best Custom, America’s Best Custom Seaside Roadster Show, Seaside, OR

Publication Coverage:

2001:

  • Super Rod August 2001 – 12 pg technical article, cover & centerfold, SAR ad
  • GoodGuys Goodtimes Gazette September 2001 – 10th Heartland Natls participation, Custom Rod of the Year winner
  • Chevy Nomad Assoc ‘Nomad Post’ September 2001 – 1pg technical article
  • Bodyshop Connection November 2001 – 4 pg technical article
  • Rod & Custom December 2001 – 3 pg technical article/pic shot at Columbus, OH (GG event)
  • Super Rod December 2001 – Ten Best winner, Cover, Centerfold
  • Street Rodder December 2001 – NSRA Nats participation (Absorber Booth display)
  • Old Cars Weekly News December 2001 – SEMA Show participation, Mother’s Shine Award winner

2002:

  • Custom Rodder January 2002 – 9 page technical article/pic (shot at GG Des Moines, IA), Calendar, Top 10 winner, Dave Bell Character page
  • Popular Hot Rodding January 2002 – Cover, 6 page technical article/pic shot at Columbus, OH
  • Super Rod January 2002 – 10 Best/Top 100 winner
  • Drive! Event Guide January 2002 – Grand Nat’l Roadster Show participation
  • Rod & Custom January 2002 – Top 100/Best of the Best winner, Absorber ad
  • Drive! Event Guide February 2002 – SAR/NewMad article
  • Grand National Roadster Show Program 2002 – SAR/NewMad show participation
  • Rod & Custom April 2002 – 4L80E Automatic overdrive transmission use in NewMad
  • Chevy High Performance April 2002 – ’01 SEMA Show participation & Mother’s Shine Award winner
  • Chevy Nomad Assoc. ‘Nomad Post’ April 2002 – Cottage/Garage/NewMad article
  • Super Chevy May 2002 – Nov ‘01 Tucson Super Chevy Show participation
  • Rod & Custom May 2002 – 53rd Grand Nat’l Roadster Show participation
  • GoodGuys Goodtimes Gazette May 2002 – 4th Southwest Nationals participation
  • Chevy Classics (Super Chevy) Spring 2002 –3pg technical article/pic shot at Columbus, OH GG event
  • Goodguys Goodtimes Year Book –2001 Custom Rod of the Year article/pic shot at GG Des Moines, IA
  • Popular Hot Rodding June 2002 – 50th Anniversary Detroit Autorama participation
  • Super Chevy July 2002 – Goodguys 2001 Southwest Natls (Scottsdale, AZ) participation
  • GoodGuys Goodtimes Gazette June 2002 – Cover, 20th All American Get Together Pleasanton event, Custom D’Elegance award coverage
  • Car & Driver June 2002 – 50th Anniversary Detroit Autorama participation
  • American Rodder July 2002 – 50th Anniversary Detroit Autorama participation
  • Street Rod Builder ‘On the Road’ Summer 2002 – 4pg technical article
  • Goodguys Goodtimes Gazette July 2002 – Del Mar event participation
  • Rod & Custom August 2002 – Goodguys DelMar event participation
  • Chevy High Performance August 2002 – Goodguys DelMar event participation
  • Custom Rodder September 2002 – Goodguys Pleasanton participation, Custom D’Elegance award
  • Chevy High Performance Sept 2002 – GoodGuys Pleasanton participation, Custom D’Elegance award

Other Coverage:

  • SEMA’s www.enjoytheride.com website May 2002 –‘A Completely Modern ’55 Wagon’ article on NewMad
  • Mother’s Polish Website, www.mothers.com January 2002. SEMA Shine Award coverage
  • ESPN Mother’s Polish Car Show Episode#106, Dec 8, 2001. SEMA Shine Award, Las Vegas, NV
  • TNN Horsepower TV Show aired March 2/3, 2002. SEMA participation.
  • KSBW Channel 7 (San Diego, CA) Morning Show April 5, 2002. Goodguys Del Mar Show coverage featuring 2002 Custom De Elegance winner (NewMad) and Rod De Elegance winner (Chevy Master)

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