New El Camino, Nomad? No, it's just paperwork, GM says
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Aficionados of the long-departed Chevrolet El Camino and Nomad have reason to hope: General Motors has applied for trademarks on the two iconic vehicle names.
But it says it's just a routine business move and there are no plans to bring back the quirky cars right now. "We trademark these names as needed to protect them as a matter of practice," a spokesman said.
Still, enthusiasts want to believe that GM plans new versions. Each has a storied history.
The first El Camino "sedan pickup" appeared in 1959, the last in 1987. The body style lives on at GM's Holden unit in Australia as the Holden Ute. GM showed a coupe pickup concept based on the Ute at the 2008 New York auto show, branded as the Pontiac G8 ST. But the idea faded away when Pontiac bit the dust.
The original Chevy Nomad, a sporty two-door hardtop wagon, debuted in 1955 and had a three-year run. Chevy resurrected the name several times, but the vehicles never had the flair of the original.
A 2004 concept based on GM's Kappa platform that also was the base for the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky convertibles used the name, but GM never built the new Nomad, much to the disappointment of enthusiasts.
