Any 1st Gen. First Owners?

[Ryan B.]

I was just curious if any of the first gen Blazer/Jimmy guys around here are the original first owner of their 69-72 rig?

Last night I parked near another '72 K/5 and met the owner and BS'd with the guy for 20 minutes or so... I gave him a little flyer I made about ColoradoK/5 and told him to check it out when he gets the internet.
It turns out he was the original first owner of the Blazer and he's never taken the top off of it. It was in good shape.

Just got me thinking... now I'm curious if theres any other 1st owners here...

[REAL MEN DON"T CARE ABOUT GAS MILEAGE OR RAPID TIRE WEAR!]
Ryan B.

 

[Ressurection]

Ryan, I sort of am the original owner. Here's the bio from my profile:
I bought my '72 in '95 from my great uncle, who bought it from my Dad in '73. Dad sold it (to him) because he liked the new body style. I'll be doing a frame off, it won't be a trailer queen, I'll play in the woods, but no beatings! As a sideline: Dad still has the '73, which I drove thru High School (the top came off at least 1x/wek during summer!). I took the top off my '72 for the first time in it's history this summer. What a rush!


"High compression engines take longer to start!"<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Ressurection on 12/20/01 09:14 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[Steve_Chin]

I know that someone said they bought one new. Maybe it was Harry?

 

[OO70K5]

My '70 K5 was our first new car. My wife and I bought it from Val Strough Chevrolet in Oakland, CA in 1970. I'm working on it now trying to have it to serve this winter. I took the top off once when I had some body work done and had it painted, A big mistake! The paint not the top. Still have the same wife too.

 

[OO70K5]

Trim wise was the cheap model. Painted bumpers, rubber matts, no extra stainless trim, basic interior. In fact the dealer somehow ordered the back seat but not the passenger seat. Tires were 9.00 or 9.50x 16.5. It has a 350 4bbl, 4 speed, posi rear end. 305 gears, heavy duty radiator (stock Jimmy). It had a GMC horn button. It has gauges instead of lights. Now it has a stock tach. It did have a heater and radio. Back then everything beyond what it had to have to be legal was an "option". I bought Vic Hickey skid plates for the tank and transfer case, a tow hitch, a roll bar, and an outside spare tire mount with spots for two Jerry Cans. I now have a Sidewinder winch that will go on soon. It now has power steering. My thumbs demanded that. It will get a power booster for the drum brakes. When it was new with the 16.5" wheels you might have just as well drug you feet as use the brakes. Too much rotating mass for the same brakes that are on my '53 pickup. Much better with regular 15s. It has 50,007 miles on it. I have replaced the heads and the rear end. Some of those were hard miles. It has done a lot of what it was built to do. It has been on it's side once. I hurt it more gettin it back on it's wheels than I did tipping it over.

 

[Gibby56]

Trim wise was the cheap model. Painted bumpers, rubber matts, no extra stainless trim, basic interior. In fact the dealer somehow ordered the back seat but not the passenger seat. Tires were 9.00 or 9.50x 16.5. It has a 350 4bbl, 4 speed, posi rear end. 305 gears, heavy duty radiator (stock Jimmy). It had a GMC horn button. It has gauges instead of lights. Now it has a stock tach. It did have a heater and radio. Back then everything beyond what it had to have to be legal was an "option". I bought Vic Hickey skid plates for the tank and transfer case, a tow hitch, a roll bar, and an outside spare tire mount with spots for two Jerry Cans. I now have a Sidewinder winch that will go on soon. It now has power steering. My thumbs demanded that. It will get a power booster for the drum brakes. When it was new with the 16.5" wheels you might have just as well drug you feet as use the brakes. Too much rotating mass for the same brakes that are on my '53 pickup. Much better with regular 15s. It has 50,007 miles on it. I have replaced the heads and the rear end. Some of those were hard miles. It has done a lot of what it was built to do. It has been on it's side once. I hurt it more gettin it back on it's wheels than I did tipping it over.

Reading that made me smile. I love the history and memories these rigs are a part of

 

[CrpMag122]

Reading that made me smile. I love the history and memories these rigs are a part of

That what it’s all about and I wish I could get my wife to understand that. I guess it will just be me and the kids making memories in our rig.

 

[OO70K5]

There is an old stage road between Virginia City and Sutro Nevada. It is pretty good though rough in spots except for a narrow rock canyon for maybe 1/4 mile. I took the Blazer down that by myself during deer season one year. I had to put rocks under the wheels to drive over then move them in front of the wheels and go a car length at a time. It took a couple of hours to get through. I promised myself and the Blazer that we would not go there again. Twenty years or so later with fresh paint and no more brains we did it again. That old rig has gotten me out of a lot of things that I got us into. Lots of adventures. My wife and I spent our first anniversary in a campground in Bodie California, an Ghost town now a state park. It was August and the Desert water bag on the car froze solid. The toilet seats were metal and we feared we'd freeze to them. Much worse that getting your tongue stuck to a pipe!

 

[ekajkrats]

There is an old stage road between Virginia City and Sutro Nevada. It is pretty good though rough in spots except for a narrow rock canyon for maybe 1/4 mile. I took the Blazer down that by myself during deer season one year. I had to put rocks under the wheels to drive over then move them in front of the wheels and go a car length at a time. It took a couple of hours to get through. I promised myself and the Blazer that we would not go there again. Twenty years or so later with fresh paint and no more brains we did it again. That old rig has gotten me out of a lot of things that I got us into. Lots of adventures. My wife and I spent our first anniversary in a campground in Bodie California, an Ghost town now a state park. It was August and the Desert water bag on the car froze solid. The toilet seats were metal and we feared we'd freeze to them. Much worse that getting your tongue stuck to a pipe!

My dad loves Bodie and when my mom was alive they may have spent an anniversary there too. I know they stayed near there, but not sure it was camping.

I really enjoyed the memories you've shared. I was also able to pick my dad up in Sacramento and drive over to the Mammoth area and do some offroading a few times in my '72. What a beautiful place!

 

[OO70K5]

If they stayed near Bodie it may have been in Bridgeport or one of the small resorts between the two. That is all beautiful country still. LundyLake is at around 9,000 ' and several more high mountain lakes are within a few miles. My friend and I were deer hunting in the Blazer near the Nevada/California line east of Bridgeport. On our way in on Friday night we were about 10 miles from pavement and broke the steering box. We hunted Saturday and Sunday morning and then tried to get back to the highway by turning the wheels by hand. Bad idea. We hid most of our gear, took our guns and walked out. We caught a ride about dark and made it back to his house a couple of hours from mine. This was before cell phones. My wife came to get me. After work the next day I picked up a box from the core pile at a local salvage yard and my wife, very young son , and I went back to get the Blazer. I got the box on a little before dark and we made if home. There was a nice 4 point buck standing above us on the hill but I just didn't have time. Isn't that the way? This thread is bring back stories I haven't thought about for years and reminding me of how much the old K5 is part of our lives.