RE: SOTW: Chevrolet Blazer

RE: SOTW: Chevrolet Blazer

Friday 12th October 2012

SOTW: Chevrolet Blazer

A proper Yank tank for Shed money? Step right up...



Blazers are cool, as anyone who has witnessed Garlick sipping a Pimms at the Henley Regatta will quickly attest.

There's another sort of Blazer though. It's more Willie Nelson than Lord Nelson, but the Chevrolet Blazer package of good ol' boy cruising, squishy steerhide seats, loads of toys and lolloping comfort for five plus medium-sized farm animals exerts a powerful allure. All at Shed prices, too. And in case you don't believe us, we've turned up not one but three of them.

Shed goes for lb per £ this week...
Shed goes for lb per £ this week...
The original breeze-block K5 'Jimmy' Blazer was launched in 1969 to take on the equally slabby Bronco, Ford's first 'compact' SUV (chortle). Unmessed-with examples of either Jimmy or Bronc now command big money in the classic truck market.

The S-10/T-10 Blazer you see here was a downsized, modernised, and (it must be said) sanitised K5. Launched in 1983, it was built in the States for over 20 years, and right up to 2011 in Brazil and elsewhere.

This rounded-out second-generation model appeared in 1995 with either two or four doors, and 2WD or 4WD. The two-door is rather cool, like a pumped Frontera. Sadly, it was dropped in 1999. This 2000-vintage RHD UK car has the standard 4.3-litre Vortec V6 and the commonly-optioned electronically-controlled 4WD. And that's good, because these beasts are by all accounts surprisingly capable off-road.

US owners seem to appreciate the Blazer's simple charms, praising its unstressed dependability and comfort, and the fact that many mechanical ailments can be fixed by nothing more scientific than a well-aimed kick from a dirty cowboy boot.

Honest and basic as mom's apple pie, etc
Honest and basic as mom's apple pie, etc
One thing though. The Friday afternoon 'lemon' car was alive and well in the US in 2000, and the Blazer line was not immune. If you're unlucky, there's a world of suspension, heating, cooling, electrical and transmission-related pain lying in wait. This one in Doom Blue looks honest enough, bar slightly wonky bumpers, an unthreatening-sounding oil leak and what looks like a slow puncture on the offside rear. The reg plate is worth money on its own, and with the owner inviting offers on £900, she's a tempter.

We know what you're thinking: running costs. In this case, we're talking about a realistic range from the high teens to the low 20s.

Fret not, however. The Blazer is perfect for LPG conversion, as illustrated by this one, also in death blue, and this cheery-looking red one that's on auction and therefore outside Shed rules but you could bag it for less than a grand if you're quick.

What's the deal with LPG nowadays? The bad news is that it's not as cheap as it used to be, and you need a larger amount of it to do a given mileage, relative to petrol. At the start of 2006, it was around 40p a litre. Now, it's closer to 75p. But that's still a bargain compared to unleaded which (you will note) is quietly creeping back up towards an average of 140p. That cost differential means you'll still save cash. For 10,000 miles a year in an LPG Blazer, based on a for-the-sake-of-argument average of 20mpg, your overall saving will be about £1,250 (£1,900 LPG, £3,150 petrol).

Cars like the Blazer are all about attitude and expectation. Don't expect Mercedes quality (though having said that, judging by the pics at least, turn-of-the-century Chevy rust protection actually seems superior to that of contemporary Mercs). Rattly plastics, busted seat recliners, kamikaze trim and panel 'fit' (pfft) won't give you a warm feeling inside - but rumbling along at 800rpm with Johnny Cash growling in your ear just might.

Advert is reproduced below:

hi im selling my chevy blazer the car is in good condition its motd and taxed so can be drove home if you insure it does have a slight dent on front bumper my fault opps a few scratches around oh and a slight oil leak the garage tells me its from oil filter or its housing bar these points car is great pulls well its never had tow bar so no excessive work anyway come and check for yourself its a cash on collection only please p,s anyone with less than 10 positive please contact me via ebay before bidding thanks for looking oh by the way it comes with a private plate worth the starting price

 

 

Author
Discussion

cnut

Original Poster:

142 posts

186 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
FAIL!

tomellingham

71 posts

164 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Friend of mine has a Chevy Suburban in the US and it has done well over 200k and still going strong.

Not sure about this one though.

crostonian

2,427 posts

171 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
If it had a V8 I might have woken up, back to sleep sorry

SmartVenom

462 posts

168 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
I saw one of these the other day, it was being used by travellers to dump a caravan on some green belt. Just the image I look for when I buy a car...

Cledus Snow

2,088 posts

187 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
I'd rather walk.

Bisonhead

1,567 posts

188 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Guys, guys, guys...this is not a car worthy of any award let alone SOTW!

Can we have a new one please? smile

Mark-C

5,010 posts

204 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all

Numeric

1,393 posts

150 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Something like a Suburban makes a lot of sense as they are true Yank trucks, feel the breadth not the quality and have a real trundle down the world charm - but these S10 based things were always horrid and really not very big especially inside! They did a model year in a crazy Peppermint green once, which was useful as when the weeds grew around them on dealer lots they kinda disappeared!

Only thing I would say in their defence was that the 4.3 Vortec V6 (was it 190hp?) had a certain energy, and was in many ways more useful than the 5.0 which pumped out a huge 180hp in sports car guise!


Ved

3,825 posts

174 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
An old boss had one. Utter crap. I wouldn't even use it as an actual shed.

F- must try harder.

LuS1fer

41,086 posts

244 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
I can't see the plate would be worth £900 unless those happen to be your initials but even then...actually these were an ex-employer's initials and he was the biggest tw*t in history.

Can't get excited about an old SUV I'm afraid. 2/10

Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 12th October 09:41

richb77

887 posts

160 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Epic fail!

Why have a yank tank with anything other than a V8?

The yanks amaze the world by getting relatively little power from high capacities and the V6's are the cream of the crop for underachieving.

This is almost (ALMOST) as bad as the Rover 400 turbo (that wasnt).

ITech

111 posts

153 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Cledus Snow said:
I'd rather walk.
+1

Looks silly on our roads, which are too small for a car this size and you will not get 20mpg on LPG in one of these.

Awful.

lordlee

3,137 posts

244 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Hero to zero in a week shed. Something tempting and German next week please

AC43

11,435 posts

207 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Unfortunately it fails the "Would Fred West drive one of these?" test.

marshall100

1,124 posts

200 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Computer says No.

Garlick

40,601 posts

239 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
tumbleweed

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
said:
FAIL!
Based on anything more than ignorance? Arrogance maybe? rolleyes

Great Pretender

26,140 posts

213 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Epic win!

Drove one of these from Denver to San Fran, with a spot of off-roading through Death Valley for good measure.

Loved it.

chazwozza

724 posts

185 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
Sorry PH but this is a massive fail. V6 yank just sounds wrong. First time I have really felt compelled to comment badly on SOTW!
On the plus side the only way is up...

tomoleeds

770 posts

185 months

Friday 12th October 2012
quotequote all
a mate of mine who buys and sells a few yank cars recently sold one of these,he had it a year.he gave me a lift in it,was better than i thought it would be,nice interior and reasonably quick. The number plate would not be worth much maybe £150, it would cost that to transfer it.people think plates from this era are worth £500 it makes me laugh when i see ads plate valued at £800,if it was worth that it would have been taken off and sold. i get emails from the dvla every 3 months for there auctions selling 200 new plates never been on cars with better reg than this one ,going from £250 inc transfer fee. and they much better than this, although some sell for up to £10k