It was the Chevy's answer to the Ford Bronco.
A fun having, carefree off-roader for the adventurer in all of us.
From conquering the rugged forests of the American West, to the mog in the deepest bogs of the South.
This thing, can do it all.
This is everything you need to know to get Up to Speed on Chevy Blazer
Driving today, one look around will show you just how plentiful SUVs and Trucks have become.
THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!
But rewind to the 60s, and things were a little different.
Trucks were used for work like on a farm, and SUVs pretty much didn't exist.
If you're a fun outdoorsy type like Bart, the best thing you could get was a Jeep.
Which is about as comfortable as going to war.
You know, that thing that they were designed to do.
The Jeep sold though, and soon others were jumping on the bandwagon.
First, the International Harvester Corporation with their Scout in 1960
and then Ford with their Bronco in 1966
With Ford joining the fray, it was only a matter of time before those bowtie boys at Chevy hopped in the game.
Come 1969
.... guys?
Chevrolet cobbled together their own entry into the new two-door off-road utility vehicle market
and decided to name it with something badass
The Blazer
Which coincidentally was my nickname in high school...
While Ford, Jeep, and International had all gone through trouble of designing specific vehicles
And platforms to use for their two-door off-road trucks
Chevy kind of phone'd in their design
The two-door Blazer as just a chopped down Suburban
which was a closed body utility vehicle, that was itself built of the light duty truck of the day, the K10.
By building the Blazer directly off of their truck line Chevy's two-door off-roadster was more robust and durable than its rivals
This macho-ness would come to represent what Blazer were all about.
Stump pulling, towing, and muddin'
The Blazer can do it all, just like a truck. While offering the style of two-doors
and the awesomeness of the wind in your hair.
While all first-generation Blazers had no roosvf??
... had no roofs.
Most arrived at Dealer Lots with either a softtop or detachable hardtop
People loved the combination of relative comfort and "go-anywhere" ability of the truck-based vehicle.
Customers would choose from a range of engines, from big straight-six at the bottom to an eventual 400 cubic inch V8.
The Blazer went from selling less than 5,000 trucks in its first year to nearly 45,000 just four years later
In 1973 Chevrolet released the new Blazer.
This second-gen Blazer had updated looks and maintained the same basic design as the original.
Two-doors, top that comes off, and most of all time - Four-Wheel Drive.
In 1976 Chevy decided to tweak the formula, by adding the roof.
With pesky concerns like passenger safety and weather proofing, Chevrolet fully enclosed the cab like a pickup.
Also in 1976, Chevy quietly introduced what may be the coolest special edition truck ever - The Blazer Chalet
These trucks featrued what was essentially dealer-installed pop-up camper. It's a truck you can smash in
1976 continued to be a big year for the Blazer as not only did it get a bed in its bed, it also recieved attention from the US Military.
After some tweaks here, and slap of a paint there, the US Military' M1009 military truck was born.
While the M1009 was slower than its civilian counterparts, the truck proved to be perfect for military use.
Chevy would go on to produce the second-generation Blazer for a total of 18 years, all the way to 1991.
That's pretty much "forever" in terms of a single model being produced.
Which is weird, because Chevrolet and GMC introduced a totally new Blazer version in 1992.
This truck was smaller, based on the S10 mini truck rather than the K10 full-size pickup.
This "baby Blazer", the reggae-themed sequel to 2017 The Boss Baby introduced a new formula to Blazer named "downsizing"
The S10 based Blazer was powered by either a 2 liter 4-banger or a 2.8 liter V6.
The customers like the downsized Blazer because of one important thing, it was still a Blazer - just smaller.
And in 1991 Chevy finally pulled production of the old K10, preparing to finally release a new Blazer based on their new truck.
At the same time, the S10 Blazer was the first Blazer to recieve four door to compete with new vehicle like Jeep's four-door, Grand Cherokee
To prove that the "S" in "SUV" stands for "Sport", Chevy produced a special-edition S10 Blazer between 1991 and 1993 called...
"....the luxurious high-performance Typhoon"
While badged and sold as a GMC, the Typhoon was Blazer through 'n through.
A major differmence between a normal Blazer and a Typhoon? A BIG HONKIN' TURBO!!
The Typhoon made 280 Horsepower and a ton of torque.
What did this mean? It means 0-60 in 5.7 seconds and a quarter mile in the 13s
This thing was faster than Ferrari at the time and it's a frigging SUV
More doors, more power, and more brands seem to be just what the people wanted
Because the S10 Blazer sales and SUV sales in general continued to increase
In 1994, Chevy customers had a smorgasbord of SUVs to choose from. So Chevy tried to simplify things
The full-size Blazer simply called a Tahoe, and the S10 Blazer got a redesigned and became simply called "Blazer"
This new Blazer was the same as the old S10 formula, the bodywork was refreshed, and the 4.3 liter V6 now become the only powerplant available.
The Blazer soldiered on essentially unchanged until 1999 when Chevy released the limited-edition "TrailBlazer Package" in recognition of the Blazers outdoorsy nature.
This special edition package would prove so popular that in 2002, Chevy would name the Blazer successor "the Trailblazer"
Why name it the Trailblazer instead of keeping the Blazer name?
Think about it, guys.
By renaming the SUV "the Trailblazer", the company was able to continue selling the older Blazer at the same time.
HAH!
Trailblazer lived up to the macho pedigree of previous Blazers.
Sure it had four doors and a roof to keep the rain out, but its off-road functionality
and no-nonsense suspension would keep the Blazer spirit alive.
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You liked rugged outdoorsy type cars? Check out this Up To Speed on the Land Cruisers
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