(first posted 5/21/2016) How could I resist these shots by Curtis Perry of a Vega “Nomad” wagon in front of McFeely’s Bar in Walla Walla, WA? It’s been a fixture there, in the historic McFeely Hotel building, since 1948. Sadly, it seems to have closed in the last year or so. But this was shot a few years back, and presumably, the Vega’s owner was relaxing freely.
The Nomad appearance package was apparently an aftermarket affair, and is mostly associated with 1976 Vegas. But this a 1974 or 1975, and I suspect some folks added it after the fact. It’s obviously just some filler panels on the door and side window to evoke the classic ’55 – ’57 Nomad. Frankly, I’m somewhat surprised that Chevrolet didn’t offer this themselves.
A little Googling turned up this matchbook cover from McFeely’s Tavern, and it turns out the original slogan was “Drink Freely At McFeely”. I guess that became a no-no at some point in more recent history.
I was a bit intrigued by the McFeely Hotel building, and dug up a bit of history on it. Here’s a shot of it under construction, in 1911. It was built for some $13,000 by John McFeely, who had done pretty well shoeing horses since moving to Walla Walla in 1891. He also owned a cafe and 800 acres of wheat land, but it appears he may have lost it all in the Depression, as he had mortgages on all of the properties.
The hotel had forty rooms, with running hot and cold water, steam heat and even a phone in every room. Rates were $1.00 and $1.50.
I remember paying $2.60 for a room at the Hotel New Boston in Salt Lake City in 1971, when I was returning from my months-long hitchhike out West. It was a similar vintage hotel, which by 1971 found itself in the middle of SLC’s skid row. The desk clerk sat behind a glassed-in office, and there was a prominent sign that said “Manager Is Expert In Karate”. The sheets were threadbare, but it was a restful night. Come to think of it, it was the only time I ever paid for a room on that whole trip; I either camped or crashed with young folks I met along the way. I was getting precariously low on money, but there was no other option in SLC; it was not hospitable to a long-haired hitchhiker in 1971. I’m sure that hotel has long been torn down and redeveloped.
To use an over-used expression, I digress. The Hotel McFeely has seen better days, as have so many small town downtowns. But I’m sure McFeely’s closing was missed by more than a few old-timers.
Oh, how I love Curtis Perry’s photos. I still want to see him do a coffee table book!
These Vega wagons, even with this Nomad package, are the best-looking subcompacts of the 1970s. In fact, I actually like them better with the bigger bumpers. This is a nice colour too.
That’s a variant I’ve never seen or heard of. Not bad looking, especially if you remove the roof rack.
Not bad but (imo of course) not an improvement over the normal Vega wagon.
I think these were “aftermarket” only in the sense that the conversion work was jobbed out (to Motortown, I believe, who also did the Pontiac CanAm and others). They were sold complete through Chevy dealers.
Since when brand new, I’ve ALWAYS wanted one of these with a transplanted SBC and automatic transmission.
Even here is benign, road salt free New Orleans they were serious rusters.
If I could go back in time I would buy one new, in a dark color enamel (NO peeling clear coat!) and drive it directly to the nearest Ziebart franchise and have them apply EVERY package they offered.
Except if all Ziebart jobs were like the one on our Rabbit, it’s completely ineffective and money (and hopes of keeping your car from becoming a rust bucket) down the drain.
I owned (or did they own ME, HaHa) a 1974 Fiat 124 Spyder convertible and a new(er) 1980 Fiat 2000 convertible. Same basic cars (other than fuel injection on the ’80 model).
The ’74 was 5 years old when I bought it; the ’80 3 years old when purchased.
The ’74 had very little (in)famous Italian rust on it; the ’80 was already a serious ruster. Even here in salt free New Orleans, LA.
By virtue of being newer, one would assume that the ’80 model would have less rust?
The only difference I can figure out is the Ziebart treatment on the ’74 model.
The story about McFeely’s reminds me of the old Night Gallery episode, “They’re Tearing Down Tim O’Riley’s Bar”.
Wow, I thought of that episode too! I hate to see places go when they survived so long. New “trendy” places come and go every five minutes, I’m not a trendy guy. When I go to a bar, it’s always one of these old bars. I don’t need a “club” or a “sports bar”( those that amount to Chuck E. Cheese’s for adults.).
Yeah, Dave and Buster’s’ being a prime example.
He,he, I actually called “Dave & Busters” “Chuck E. Cheese for grownups” when they first arrived here!
You mean “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar” – a classic that I saw first-run in the early 1970s. (Beware the abbreviated syndicated version for broadcast; the original is about 40 minutes including commercial breaks. I believe one or another streaming service offers Night Gallery.)
This one appears to be missing the little strips on the tailgate that were supposed to evoke those of the original 55-57 Nomads. It does have a chromed grille, which I’ve never seen before, and really improves the front end appearance, to my eyes anyway. A friend of mine had a red 74 Kammback that she abandoned on the Belt Parkway. It was so badly rusted that she had bumper stickers all around the windshield in an attempt to keep the rain out…
If Chevy had this on the earlier Vegas,with Camaro-style bumperettes and a healthy Cosworth engine and upgrade the interior, as was done on the original ‘Nomads, you’d have a pretty comprlling alternative tothr Volvo 1800 ES.
The cutlines are a bit jarring but I like it. Curious about how the conversion looks from the inside though
Didn’t GM also offer a similar package on the Astre wagon….as a Safari? I seem to remember seeing a Vega-Nomad or an Astre-Safari while living in Memphis in the late 80s/early 90s.
As far as year(s) produced, I seem to remember it as being mid/late 75 through mid 76, The Vega’s poor quality probably kept few folks from springing for the extra cost of the Nomad/Safari.
Interesting … I owned a Vega from ’76 to ’80 and thought I knew all the trivia, but don’t recall this version as being offered as a dealer option. Perhaps limited to certain regions? I do seem to remember a bicentennial edition in ’76, but just on the hatch.
I sure don’t remember them.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.410531972371442.94245.392225594202080&type=1
Interior photos of the hotel and tavern. Looks pretty grim….I think that orange on the walls of the bar is nicotine from decades of cigarette smoke.
Outstanding. Thanks for linking those.
I spotted this Vega Nomad in Fargo, ND in July 2010.
Here’s the picture.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4121/4754015270_b7471fbc86_o.jpg
Wow, Walla Walla Washington. It looks exactly how I always imagined.
It doesn’t look much like a Nomad, which had a skinny B-pillar and effectively no C or D pillar. Maybe it would have worked better if the kit had a black-out panel for the C-pillar, but it’s still a stretch.
P.S. Enjoyed the background on the hotel.
Loved this post, the history of the hotel and tavern, and more of Curtis’s excellent photography. $13,000 in 1911 translates to about $315K in present day – which still seems pretty inexpensive for even a moderately sized hotel. The hotel, if renovated, would have been a first choice for me to stay at. If not, nope – too fearful of picking up bedbugs. The tavern would have been another story – would have wanted to look inside if nicely renovated or still a dive.
As for the car, and as has been stated above, it’s fascinating how just a few filler panels transforms the profile of this Vega Kammback so effectively and dramatically. The backdrop of Walla Walla and the basic absence of other cars make these shots so all-American and melancholy in a David Plowden kind of way. Enjoyed this piece very much.
I like it.
The Vega and the Kammback, were clean and modern designs, as they were. Adding a clunky, dated roof style, makes it look clumsy. Gives it a slightly goofy ‘AMC’ quality.
“Whimsical”.
The wheels look just like the ones that were stock on my Opel Manta Rallye, except that the ones on the Rallye had black paint between the 4 spokes. I still have a pair of the wheels that we use to weigh things down that might otherwise blow away. They still have Fulda studded snow tires mounted on them that I bought in when I needed to use the Opel to drive to work. Later, I mounted them on my Chevette. Same bolt pattern, next size larger tire. Don’t see Fulda tires around here these days. They were good ones. My great grandfather was born near there. He came to the U.S. in 1892.
They may be the same wheels.
These seem to be painted chrome, lug nuts and all. And the brakes behind them a bit as well. (They couldn’t be front drums, could they?)
At least none on the tires.
Two of the front “spokes” on the front look different than the other two, which match the rear. They look concave like they’re missing “caps” or something.
I know nothing of this wheel type; these are just my observations.
Phones in every room (phone numbers just four digits back then!), but only one bathroom per floor it seems, according to their pamphlet. Pics posted by Daniel Wright above seem to support this.
I imagine scenes like this in my head when I listen to the song, “Sunday morning coming down”
It is now May 2022 and the current Google Earth image of the McFeely Building shows it virtually unchanged from how it looks in Curtis Perry’s photo. Street parking is now diagonal to the curb, not parallel.
I’ve been doing a deep dive on this place… apparently the tavern closed 18 years ago and the hotel a few years before that, although a caretaker named Bill Bates still lives in the hotel lobby and manager’s office next to it at least as of a few years ago. That’s because the building owners want to renovate and reopen the hotel & bar, but need to bring it up to code first with asbestos removal, an elevator, sprinklers, and such before they can do so. It’s being kept warm and occupied so the place won’t deteriorate further. The place was a bedsit, with a sink in each room but only one bathroom on each level (one men’s, one ladies), except for one fancy room with a private bath with clawfoot tub. I found some other photos online from different times with the red Vega parked in the same place (but with an assortment of other cars surrounding it) so I’m guessing that was Bill’s car. The lobby still has the same furniture (but painted white) that is seen in the B&W ad above.
Interesting. Thanks for the deep dive.
There’s a lot of old hotels like this in small towns out here that either are awaiting the some hopeful future, and of course some have already made the leap. And of course some are beyond hope.
I also learned the “Relax freely” rather than “Drink freely” slogan goes back to at least 1974, thanks to a pic of bartenders wearing 1924-1974 50th anniversary shirts or jackets that were printed up. The hotel goes back to well before 1924 though, so I wonder what was in the tavern space before that.
Here’s our “Nomad” again:
Once again I have been educated on CC.
Never heard of the Vega Nomad so I assume they never made it across the border to Canuck land. Just as well, its an acquired taste. I still miss my 74 GT fastback, dream about it sometimes. Last seen in 1990 when I was forced to sell it for a more reliable 2nd car. I still say, and I know some out there agree, the Vega whether hatch or wagon was a good looking car. It did have other good qualities and gave me a lot of pleasure for 80,000 plus miles.
Was there some fad I missed, like the “let’s paint over all this lovely old wood, say, in white, so it’s ugly and looks like a 1950’s hospital room?” fad? I DON’T approve.
Me neither. Also painted wall paneling, unless it’s really cheap stuff but if that’s the case, just remove it and paint the wall. And painted exterior brick – “Let’s turn this elegant masonry that lasts 75 years without maintenance into a cheap-looking surface that has to be repainted every ten years”
And for the record, I think this little in-name-only Nomad is cool.