Bruce Willis’ 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad Hides 327 Corvette V8 Power and 15-Inch Cragars

I often say that the 1955-57 Chevy is probably the best classic car of all time. Absolutely everybody loves this, from rappers to retired army veterans and even the Ford guys. However, I really didn’t expect Bruce Willis to be on the list of owners for the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad.

Nowadays, all celebrities seem to care about are the latest Lamborghini or Rolls-Royce SUVs. However, Willis represents old-school Hollywood, and there are subtle hints of him being a classic and muscle car fan.

The seller on Bring A Trailer has some amazing photos of 55 Nomad, but not a lot of information. There’s no certificate that says “Bruce Willis” on there, at least not in the documentation they provided. Fortunately, the proof is not that hard to find.

The 1955 Bel Air wagon with chassis number VC55L056989 was sold by Barrett-Jackson in 2014. And while the price isn’t available, we believe it was about $75,000. Regardless, the Die Hard actor probably hasn’t been behind this steering wheel for at least a decade. However, he’s had a number of other cool cars over those years, like a 1968 Dodge Charger in “Bullitt” spec that he got from Demi Moore, a 1968 Shelby GT500, and a couple of early Corvettes.

In fact, he’s such a fan of the Corvette that he wanted to experience some of that sports car power in this car. The original 265 cubic-inch V8 of the 55 Bel Air was swapped out in favor of an L79 (code V0822HD) which we know came from a 1966 Corvette.

The 327 V8 block retains its factory original high-performance aluminum intake manifold with a factory-correct Holley 4 barrel carburetor and “window-type” Corvette distributor. And this famous 350-horsepower Vette motor comes with a matching 3-speed automatic transmission.

Even though the engine isn’t original to this car, Bruce Willis’ vision is actually what the 2-door wagon should have been. The Chevrolet Nomad was first shown as a concept at the 1954 General Motors Motorama and it was basically a Corvette front end with a practical shooting brake body at the back. This concept proved so popular that they added it to the Bel Air family, and it was successful even though this was one of the most expensive Chevy cars to buy in 1955.

Everything else, inside and out, looks very original here. For example, the Fisher body tag indicates this left the Cleveland (CL) factory with India Ivory and Cashmere Blue paint (682), plus beige vinyl with a blue waffle pattern (542). Obviously, the 15-inch Cragar wheels aren’t original, but no self-respecting classic car fan is ever going to complain about that or the upgraded front disc brakes.

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