When (And Why) Did Chevrolet Discontinue The K5 Blazer?

The Chevy K5 Blazer is often credited for laying the foundation for Chevrolet's modern SUVs as well as revolutionizing SUV design in general by pairing pickups and SUVs and, in so doing, setting the standard for comfortable cruising and rugged off-roading. Rear-wheel drive versions of the iconic Chevy K5 Blazer were based on the C10 pickup truck platform while the four-wheel drive variants utilized the K10's chassis, both with a shortened wheelbase of 104 inches (versus 115 inches for the pickups).

The full-size, two-door SUV was also initially available with three engines at its April 1969 launch, including an optional four-barrel 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) small-block V8 that sent 255 horsepower and 355 lb-ft of torque to the wheels via either a four-speed manual or Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. Paired with the Turbo automatic transmission, a 255-horsepower 1969 Chevy K5 Blazer could scoot to 60 mph in 11 seconds when specified with the available 3.73 gears or 14 seconds with the standard 3.07 gears, according to MotorTrend. Top speed was around 100 mph for the 3,875-pound SUV. Those were impressive numbers for its day.

Along with other cool and unique features of the K5 Blazer – such as the removable hardtop; available air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes; and even the generous interior space and payload made possible by its truck platform – it not only took on already established utility vehicles like the International Scout and Ford Bronco, but it was also popular with consumers. In fact, demand for the K5 Blazer was so massive that its sales were five times higher than the Ford Bronco's by 1972, per CJ Pony Parts.

In all, the Chevy K5 Blazer was sold across three different generations from 1969 right up until production ended after the 1994 model year. The Jimmy was its GMC counterpart.

[Featured image by 79k5driver via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

Chevrolet ceased production of the Chevy K5 Blazer following the 1994 model year to make way for the rebranded Chevrolet Tahoe. You could say, however, that as far back as 1991, Chevy aficionados who kept a close eye on the full-size Blazer would have expected that the moniker would soon be on its way out the door. That was the year Chevy began building the third-generation Chevy K5 Blazer ahead of the 1992 model year. The third-gen models were based on the then-new GMT400 platform, which underpinned the fourth-generation Chevy C/K pickup trucks. They also didn't feature a removable hardtop. And so, GMC wasted no time in rebadging the GMT400-based Jimmy line into the GMC Yukon in 1992 to give the SUV a new identity.

Chevrolet, on the other hand, stuck with the K5 Blazer – named Full-Size Blazer at the time – for another three years. But because consumer interest in family-friendly four-door SUVs was on the rise, the Full-Size Blazer was finally scrapped after the 1994 model year, resulting in the SUV being named Chevrolet Tahoe for 1995. With the introduction of the Tahoe, Chevrolet began offering four-door models of the full-size SUV alongside the usual two-door variants. The Chevy Tahoe was based on the same GMT400 platform the outgoing Full-Size Blazer rode on, but the four-door Tahoe model was dimensionally taller because its wheelbase was extended to fit the rear doors. Following the 1999 model year, Chevrolet dropped the two-door Tahoe models in an effort to focus fully on the more popular four-door versions.

[Featured image by Rutger van der Maar via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]