Chevrolet Yeoman - The "e" is silent
A Chevrolet station wagon from the 1950s with two doors and only moderate sales figures - it doesn't necessarily have to be a Nomad.
After the sporty, impractical luxury station wagon had become an ordinary station wagon with twice the number of side entrances for the 1958 model year, the position of the two-door niche station wagon for the individualist remained vacant in the Chevrolet range - at least at the upper end of the price list. Fortunately, however, there was an alternative at the very back of the brochure that remained almost as rare: the Yeoman.
Or rather: the Yeoman 2-Door. Because while the glazed fast delivery van with rear bench seat led a shadowy existence, the full rear version of the Chevrolet Delray sold quite well as a family-friendly four-door model. With the six- and nine-seater Brookwoods and the classy Nomad, it had to fear far more competition in-house than the only two-door model.
However, this unique selling point seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help, even if it meant a price reduction of 54 dollars and made the Yeoman 2-Door the cheapest station wagon in the entire GM range at 2413 dollars. Of the 187,063 Nomads, Brookwoods and Yeomans built in 1958, only 16,590 were two-doors - making it rarer than today's coveted Bel Air Nomad.
The Yeoman did not get a chance to improve. The name of the medieval yeoman disappeared from Chevrolet brochures as early as 1959. Irony of history: today, the few surviving Yeoman 2-Doors are traded for around 40,000 dollars - making them the most expensive Chevrolet station wagons of their vintage.
