1971 Chevrolet K5 Blazer

This truck, Lot 428.1, sold for $53,900, including buyer’s premium, at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach, FL, on April 12–15, 2018.

The Willys Jeep CJs, Toyota FJ-series Land Cruiser, International Scout, and the Ford Bronco all did their part to establish the popularity of four-wheel drive in America. The Blazer was late to the party, but it super-sized the segment and took it mainstream.

With the relative success of these other light trucks, it’s surprising that GM waited as long as it did to enter the multipurpose utility 4×4 market. However, they already had something of a toehold on it with the pickup-based Suburban carryall. Prior to 1967, those had two doors, and since 1957 were also available with factory-optional four-wheel drive.

With GM’s all-new 1967 models came a growth spurt that made the Suburban an enormous wagon, growing in overall length with the addition of a second-row door on the right side, for a total of three. The ’67 Suburban continued to be available as a 4×4, but it was primarily marketed as the ultimate two-wheel-drive family hauler.

Along these lines, the introduction of the four-wheel-drive K5 Blazer for 1969 was likely to augment the super-sized Suburban while simultaneously providing a vehicle to compete with the swath of smaller 4x4s on the market.

Too big for trails, just right for sales

Initially, die-hard off-roaders who had small 4x4s generally wanted nothing to do with the Blazer. To them, it was too big and ponderous for serious trail work.

But the dirty little secret with CJs, FJs, Scouts and Broncos was that the majority of them never even saw so much as a gravel road. They were bought due to their ability to go off-road in all weather — but not necessarily because their owners wanted to.

While priced slightly higher than the utilitarian Suburban, the Blazer was equally marketed as a weekend getaway machine and work hand. Also like the Scout and the Bronco, it had a hard top that was marketed as removable, or could be optioned with a soft top. In reality, the hard tops on all three were not easily removed or installed, plus the soft tops were rarely optioned, so most kept their hard tops on from day one.

Yet unlike those two competitors, the Blazer could be equipped just as lavishly or austerely as the pickup it was based on, sharing most options and trim levels. In northern and mountainous western regions, the K5 Blazer sold reasonably well as a truck that could get out in any weather.

The two-wheel-drive C5 Blazer was introduced during the 1970 model year but was first officially cataloged for 1971. Sales were meager compared with the K5, which more than doubled in sales from 1971 to 1972. Clearly, Chevrolet had a dialed-in combination.

GMC insisted on its own version, getting the badge-engineered Jimmy in 1970. Chrysler Corporation followed lock-step with the W-100-based Dodge Ramcharger and Plymouth Trailduster for 1974. Yet the ultimate example that proved the Blazer won the war was when Ford reimaged the Bronco for 1978 based on their F-100 pickup platform.

Climbing in the market

As both a sales success and something of an aspirational vehicle, the Blazer has always sold better than the commensurate GM pickup.

Since K5 Blazers were generally bought to deal with the elements — especially winter — the war of attrition from rust culled the herd early, making survivors all the more valued.

When the vintage-pickup market started to climb a decade ago, Blazers continued maintaining higher values in lock step. Within the past year, they’ve started changing hands regularly for $50k — in one instance for four times that amount — and folks have been really taking notice. Yet all they have to do is look around and see that it shouldn’t be too surprising.

While the FJ-40 Land Cruisers had the pricing trajectory of a Minuteman III missile, Gen I and Gen II Broncos as well as Scouts have been moving consistently and markedly up in prices — occasionally going over the $50k tree line. With the wildly popular 1967–72 Chevy pickups also occasionally topping $50k, a ’71 K5 Blazer doing that is now almost a foregone conclusion if it’s in top condition, as our featured unit is.

Spec’ed out pretty much as most buyers then and now would want one, this one was done up in its original and popular orange with a 350 V8 under the hood and an automatic behind it. The later GM light truck Rally wheels and modern sound system are the only obvious deviations from stock. Yet once again, this is how most buyers want one today.

Continued interest

While there may be some folks who feel that this was strongly bought, or at least at the leading edge of that market, today’s reality is that it was bought within the range of the market. Not only that, I don’t foresee prices retreating anytime soon.

SUVs and crossovers are driving new-car sales today, to the point that some makers are focusing their efforts there at the expense of traditional sedans, so we are entering an era where up-and-coming collector vehicle enthusiasts are used to these vehicles.

Even I recall a neighbor of ours who had a near-identical K5 Blazer to our featured example, save for a white roof and full wheel covers. The 40 through 65 age bracket — where the bulk of the buyers are — has legitimate nostalgia for these, which drives pricing. If anything, I’m more surprised that it didn’t sell closer to $75k.

Like it or not, this sale was market correct for 2018, and it may even look well bought in the not-so-distant future.

(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-Jackson.)