Chevrolet Nomad Association
Nov/Dec 2003 issue
Captured in Ink! By Devin Tornow
My father, Don Tornow #58, introduced me to cars through his various accounts of his youth and great memories. I enjoyed painting my own pictures of the '34 Fords racing down Ridge Road with loose wheels passing by as competition roars, chopped coupes, leading body seams, and lighting the last coat of a lacquer paint job and watching a car go up in flames creating that perfect paint job. I also remember the one about the turn signal lever that my mom would have to pull out of the sun visor of our '57 Chevy and reinsert into the steering column when a change of direction was required. I fostered my interests by begging my mom for the latest edition of Popular Hot Rodding and other car magazines. I continued to dream and dream and got really hooked on Nomads by a December 1975 issue of Popular Hot Rodding that featured the 1975 National Nomad Club convention in Memphis, Tennessee (I still have this issue that is now well tattered). We managed to hookup with a NNC member, Dan Calvano of Waukesha, Wisconsin, who we talked into showing us his '55. Now my dad was right along side me and I was only 12 years old!
We managed to spot a '55 Nomad in our local paper that was only six miles away so off we went! It was a well-worn ex-race car that was resurrected, from a farm field in the Carolinas (read rusty, patched floor board, and missing tire well). Our '55 Nomad was purchased and quickly had started having problems that turned out to be spun bearings in the Corvette 327 engine. What started as repairs turned into a restification that was finished three years later that included a time my father was recovering from lung surgery and back problems. Talk about therapy; try replacing floorboards in a body cast! Considering a carpenter and his teenage kids did most of the work the Nomad gained much praise wherever it traveled! This was a significant accomplishment since very little aftermarket parts were available at the time thus requiring a good amount of scrounging to get the job done! The Nomad was given the name "Mom's Mad" and she attended many Nomad conventions accumulating a few trophies.
During the first restification I created my own rendition of Dave Bell's 1957 Nomad Hi-Boy (jacked-up with a straight axle in the front) that was featured in Street Rodder magazine, another favorite magazine. My version was a 1955 Nomad since that's what our family owns (see artwork). Ever since my first issue of Street Rodder I have always loved Dave Bell's illustrations including the infamous "Henry Hirize"! Street Rodder would not be the same without his talents!
Determining presents for my father gets tougher as years go by so I figured that I would contact Dave Bell to see if he would do something special for my dad! We talked for over an hour about cars, politics, painting, pin stripping and everything else! I sent Dave details about the Nomad, pictures and magazine articles the car had been featured and gave him a few ideas. Time passed and FedEx package showed up and I could not believe my eyes! "Mom's Mad" 17" x 24" in beautiful indigo ink like I had never seen! My dad is now the proud owner of an original piece "Dave Bell" artwork that is more prized in the heart than the value on paper. Thanks Dave for capturing a part of our family past, present and future in indigo ink.
Mom's Mad is now undergoing its second restification that will be even better than the first thanks to my dad's persistent hard work. Since we now live 160 miles apart and I cannot be there for my dad, I do my best to act as a consultant with our baby and a weekend helper. Things are finishing up and "Mom's Mad II" will be at the 2004 convention. Grab your keyboard and surf over to http://momsmad.homestead.com to see what she looks like!
Devin Tornow
