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A modern day K5?

Z

ZombieBlazer

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I have 2 questions for everyone... my apologies if this has been hashed over countless times already.

1 - what modern vehicle now do you feel embodies the elements of the old Blazer you personally know and love and why is that?

For example... for me it would be a Hummer or the new Toyota FJs. Though I haven't done much research on the FJ especially so I could be wrong.


2 - If you could make a modern version of your favorite old Blazer what would you want to see done differently? What would your ideal update be?

For example I really love how they designed the doors on the FJ. I would love it if I could convert my Blazer to that same type of door system but still maintain the removable top somehow. The small door and window in the Blazer bug me a bit. It would be nice to be able to access the interior easier.

I would also love to see the 6.2 Diesel improved with modern engineering if possible as well and yet still maintain the simplicity of the older style if doable.

There's a ton more stuff I would like to see upgraded or modified but these are just a couple ideas of things I think about. What kind of stuff do you think about? The more unusual ideas the better.
 
Full convertable H3 with either a 5.3l or the baby D-max GM was working on. I don't think it could get closer without a new full size based platform.
 
TerryD said:
Full convertable H3 with either a 5.3l or the baby D-max GM was working on. I don't think it could get closer without a new full size based platform.
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that would be about perfect:waytogo:
 
With all the "retro" builds the Big 3 have done lately you'd think a modern K5 would be on the design table somewhere. Along with the Chevelle since '14 is the 50th anniversary of the 64. And if Chevelle is rebooted Skylark GS should be too. GM should do the square bodied Blazer and the older Sedan Delivery models too....and NOT that damn rounded minivan from a few years back.
 
That concept hummer is cool but I think the Avalanche is clearly the modern day embodiment of the k5. It has 4 doors out of modern necessity which is necessary to make it a thriving (more or less) model.
 
The answer to question one is NO "modern" vehicle comes close to the old K5's as far as styling and utility,durability...todays tupperware trucks are not even trucks any more,they have sissified them too much with IFS and cushy interiors...more like caddilacs with an 8 foot bed than trucks..

I wish GM had some cahonies and build a few "retro" vehicles,and yeah,not the HHR's,what a POS those things are,they were just a copycat move to compete with the PT Cruiser (another POS,its just a Neon with a somewhat cool looking body slapped on it)...the other thing GM made that looks like an old Studebaker truck looks cool,but is useless as far as hauling anything...

They should bring back the first and second generation pickups and K5's,maybe upgrade them to 4 wheel discs and keep solid axles under them,the 14 bolt being the smallest available option!..with a newer V8 or a inline diesel drivetrain (Like the big Isuzu box trucks used that some have put in older GM trucks with good results) would be cool...
I bet a lot of older customers like myself wouldn't mind a plain old 350 with a 4 bbl being under the hood either...the new 6 speed manuals and automatics would be a nice upgrade...

Maybe I'm just nostalgic,but I wish we could walk into a GM dealer and plop down some cash,and drive off in a "brand new" 1969 GTO, a Chevelle SS 454,or a 70's vintage K5...I bet they would be surprised at how many they'ed sell....
 
evolve991 said:
With all the "retro" builds the Big 3 have done lately you'd think a modern K5 would be on the design table somewhere. Along with the Chevelle since '14 is the 50th anniversary of the 64. And if Chevelle is rebooted Skylark GS should be too. GM should do the square bodied Blazer and the older Sedan Delivery models too....and NOT that damn rounded minivan from a few years back.
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This is exactly what I was thinking, too. I wonder what the price of an old K5 would be relative to this time?

I wish car manufacturers would think of simplicity. What I love about vehicles like the old VW bugs and the K5 is the relative simplicity of them and how they are kind of like a blank canvas where you can do so many different things with them. It seems like there are no vehicles today built like that but I might be wrong. Maybe there are some modern cars that can be easily tinkered with but I am not aware of them.
 
Great ideas, diesel4me.

diesel4me said:
Maybe I'm just nostalgic,but I wish we could walk into a GM dealer and plop down some cash,and drive off in a "brand new" 1969 GTO, a Chevelle SS 454,or a 70's vintage K5...I bet they would be surprised at how many they'ed sell....
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I remember reading something before that said the reason they can't do this is because of the modern vehicle requirements. I guess these older vehicles wouldn't pass the safety testing required now. The same is probably true of the engines too where the modern efficiency requirements force them to make all the seemingly bizarre decisions they do.

I am wondering if a way around this might be to make kit vehicles the way we want them and maybe these rules could be gotten around but I don't know for sure.
 
I 100 percent agree with everything diesel4me said. all new pick ups suvs made now a days blow. I call them cars with boxes and make fun of my buddies that have newer ifs trucks because theyre pathetic off the road. that is my opinion I don't own a newer truck so I could be wrong about some
 
Stomis said:
That concept hummer is cool but I think the Avalanche is clearly the modern day embodiment of the k5. It has 4 doors out of modern necessity which is necessary to make it a thriving (more or less) model.
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Good call on the avalanche! I wasn't familiar with it but reading about it it is pretty ingenious. It's too bad it's not a hair bigger but using the same design. I really like that removable back panel idea.
 
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I think the Jeep LJ is a good alternative.

Fun, great turning radius, optional convertable top. About the same room as a blazer
 
Not here--just leave the top off one for a few months and soon it'll have that genuine GM mildewed upholstery smell !..:D..

One old K5 I had stunk like old fogie's stogies,so some cigar huffer must have owned it..I stripped every peice of carpet out of it,washed the seats with lestoil and a pressure washer when I patched all the rot holes in it..after it was all back together with just a rubber mat,you could still smell a moldy White Owl stench ,I think the heater box must have had a few cigar butts in it..:doah:

I think they could make an old body style truck with safety features like side impact protection and air bags,if the wanted too,they do it to new trucks..the old engines will not pass emissions ,thats why they were phased out,not so much because they were not dependable or have a long service life,in fact those 2 things helped bury them,they simply didn't wear out fast enough to sell more new trucks..

Whether anyone could afford the price tag a upgraded "new old truck" would cost is another story..I'm sure the cost would exceed a typical 2013 trucks sticker price by quite a bit,(even though it wouldn't cost the manufacturer much more to make one)--and that will discourage any one who is old enough to have bought one new back in the day from feeling its worth that much..its hard to convince someone who paid 12 grand for one in 1971 that its worth 50 grand now...
 
El Caminos....miss them:rolleyes:
 
One vehicle I really dig is the old style Land Rover Defenders..

Stuff I really like about 'em -

- How the back area has more head room than the front seat area

- How utilitarian they are - lots of bare flat panels - easy to repair, modify and care for.

- They use lots of diesels in Europe



Bad things -

- Hard to get in the US

- They seem to have small engine compartments

- Not sure how big they are compared to Blazers

- Not as bomb proof as Blazers I am guessing
 
K5 X-prizes

In the aviation industry, throughout history, many people have put up competitive rewards where if you break some barrier you win a big cash prize. For example, right now there are x-prizes for privatized space rocketry where if people do things that have never been done they get a big cash prize for their efforts.

Let's say we used that same process for fixing problems with Blazers or off-road vehicles in general... which would you want to see rewarded?

For me I would like to see some method to prevent having to inhale noxious diesel fumes in all situations. For example when you have the back window of the Blazer open all the diesel fumes go directly into the interior compartment. haha
 
I heard about how some diesel cars have some kind of containment system that captures all particulates that are released and you can empty it when it is full after some long time frame.

I heard this reduced the odors they created. I need to look into that more and see if it could be used in Blazers. I guess it's like some kind of super powerful catalytic converter type thing for diesels.
 
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