Small, cheap, body-on-frame 4X4 SUVs are pretty much a thing of the past. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe S10 Blazer happens to be just such an old-school off-roader. Let’s see if its price will get it a pass.
Jay Leno once told me that, out of his vast selection of exotic, esoteric, and classic cars, the one his wife liked the best was his stodgy old 1925 Baker electric. Back when the Baker was new, electric cars did prove popular with genteel folks of either gender as they were easier to operate, didn’t require cranking, and didn’t smell like a hot fart.
Today, pretty much everybody but an oil company exec loves electric cars. That was shown yesterday in the comments on our 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric, which many of you praised for its size and efficiency. At $4,050, that former college kid commuter also proved a likable deal, earning a narrow but decisive 55 percent Nice Price win.
Not everybody can do electric cars quite yet. There are those of us living in nearly 100-year-old abodes with 100-amp 110-volt electrical service and we just don’t see home charging as a time-effective option at the moment.
Then there’s all the folks living in apartments with no home charging options at all, as well as those who, for whatever reason, like to live “off the grid.” Do you know what grid they’re talking about? I have to assume part of it has got to be the one that provides electricity.
For all of those folks, today we have this 1993 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer four-door SUV. And if you’re into this but still jonesing to live in the future, well, this truck has a super cool and very futuristic digital dash.
The ‘90s Blazer was, as the name implies, based off the S10 mini truck. First made available as a two-door sport truck in 1983, the line was expanded to include a quattroporte version beginning with the 1991 model year. That was Chevy’s answer to Ford’s wildly successful Explorer SUV and featured a six and a half inch-longer wheelbase than the two-door. Chevy hedged their bets a bit by styling the four-door truck to look like a two-door, effectively blending the rear door window into the side glass.
This Blazer comes to us in Standard Red over a grey mouse fur interior and with over 220,000 miles on the clock. The ad says it’s equipped with “all the options except for leather,” which at this point in time is a plus since ‘90s leather never seems to hold up very well.
The bodywork looks reasonably solid, although there are signs of rust poking through on the door edges and the rockers. This is a body-on-frame design so it could theoretically be Swiss cheese and still be drivable. Breezy, but drivable.
There’s an external spare placement in back, which is the pop-up headlights of the SUV crowd as it’s something you just don’t see on new trucks all that much anymore. Some of the side door window trim is wonky but other than that it doesn’t seem all that bad. Plus, bug deflector!
The interior is really nice and that vacuum florescent display dash is said to be in fine shape with the exception of the odometer. There’s a small industry in repairing ‘80s and ‘90s digital dash components so that shouldn’t be impossible to correct if it makes you crazy.
Under the hood lies a 4.3-litre Vortec V6. These put out 160 horsepower standard but could be had with a 200-ponies as an option. If you can tell which one this is, you’ll get a gold star for the day.
Whatever the output, the seller claims that the engine, along with the 4-speed automatic and transfer case were rebuilt by a previous owner. An electronically-shifted transfer case divvies up the output to the front and back axles. It’s all said to run without issue now and farts through an aftermarket cat-back exhaust.
Other mods here include a Rough Country lift kit and new Goodyear Wrangler tires on 18-inch Camaro wheels. The seller says the Blazer was their daily driver until they purchased a new car. Now they’re kicking it to the curb. A clean title and the promise that it “runs and drives very good” complete the truck’s list of enticements.
Okay, well maybe there’s one more enticement to consider, that being the price. We’ll just have to see. The seller is asking $2,500 for the truck and at first glance that does seem like a lot of car for the money.
The question for you, however, is whether or not that’s a good deal considering the age, the minor rust, and just how clunky these trucks were to begin with. What do you think, could this Chevy be worth that $2,500 asking as it sits? Or, would you have to lit to pay that much for this Blazer?
You decide!
Denver, CO Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to S. Faux for the hookup!
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