With the success of the new Corvette in 1953, Chevrolet decided to try a new idea, the Corvette station wagon. The 1954 Corvette Nomad was designed by Harley Earl and his design staff, and debuted at the 1954 General Motors Motorama in New York City. Although the wagon possessed many design cues from the Corvette—and did make use of many Corvette components, the Nomad was actually built on a modified 1953 Chevrolet sedan chassis.

The Nomad concept was fitted with a 150 hp Corvette six-cylinder engine with a Powerglide transmission. This fiberglass show car had enough room to seat six passengers, and the tailgate had electrically-powered glass.