Looking perfect for the Las Vegas desert, this 1977 Chevrolet Blazer Cheyenne Chalet camper 4×4 rig looks great. It doesn’t hurt to have fantastic photos for a change, either. Nice job, seller! About the only thing missing is a photo with the top up. They have this all-in-one camper listed here on eBay in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the current bid is just $2,705, but the reserve hasn’t been met.
Wearing huge new BFGoodrich all-terrain tires, all-new brakes, and new front and rear driveshafts, this unique Blazer Chalet camper sounds like it’s ready to hit the road, the trail, or the campground. Or all three. MPG notwithstanding, this is the one I’d want. It’s nice enough yet enough of a project, mainly due to its Southern California heritage and the related sun damage, that it would be fun to tinker with the restoration while using it on weekends.
We’ve seen 15 Blazer Chalets from 1977, and they were made for two model years only, 1976 and 1977, with a very cool camper specially-made for dropping onto the back of a second-generation Blazer or GMC Jimmy. The GMC version was known as the Casa Grande, and we’ve seen a few of those, too. I love the monotone color scheme here; it fits right in for desert camping. We don’t know too much about the history of this rig, other than that this truck/camper combo is from Southern California originally. It looks rock solid underneath, but as far as the Blazer’s sheetmetal, that’s a mystery. Clearly, it’s been repainted at some point, but there was a Buckskin color available.
This Blazer is a posh-trim Cheyenne model, so you get the cool plaid seats. There would normally be a console between the front seats, but maybe that was removed for the Chalet, so folks can move between the cab and the camper without scrambling over a console. Here’s a 1977 Chevy Blazer brochure, and it shows the Chalet on page 4.
Other than some heat and/or sun damage in the cab, the camper portion looks great to me, at least from what we can see. We don’t get to see it with the top raised, unfortunately, and they say, “Camper is in decent good shape for being 50 years old. Interior is in good shape for its age also.” You’ll need to find a tree for your restroom duties, but otherwise, it’s fairly well-equipped for at least weekend camping back there. With the top raised, there should be a good amount of space back there for daytime and for sleeping.
The Chevy Blazer has a 350-cu.in. OHV V8, which was rated at 160 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a THM-350 automatic and transfer case sending power to all four wheels as needed, the seller says it runs great and shifts well. I really like this one, I wonder what the reserve is?
Was previously advertised with a $12,500 asking price.
Where did you find that, bull? I searched and didn’t see this one listed on Barn Finds before.
I’m not aware of this one being listed that way recently anywhere, either. And I try to find every online sales listing out there to preserve as a paper printout — I’m the current caretaker of the VERY old blazerchalet website (paying the annual fees to keep it online), who also has the mega-spreadsheet list of 690-ish of these which I can individually ID so far, in pursuit of the fun but otherwise impossible goal of tracking and documenting every one of these ever produced. So if you could tell us where that was at, I might be able to find it, and/or someone who copied it and posted it at some Chevy / camper forum.
What I do know of this rig is that a person alerted me to it in 2020 – possible a new owner at that time – and I learned it was serial number 1533. We designate these by the last four digits of the longer serial number hand-stamped into the little rectangular metal plate under the black plastic oval plate by the back door. Prior to this seller and the prior owner, this rig was owned for around two decades by the legendary southern California surfer Henry Ford ( https://www.internationalsurfproperties.com/henry-ford/ ), who I exchanged emails with back in the mid 2000s
Russell C, that is amazing info, and what a great website! Thanks for mentioning that, that’s locked in on my bookmarks now!
Pretty sure your correct….
That’s one way…
Nice rig for a Chevy!
Unlike the $23k Volkswagen camper from a couple days ago, this actually makes sense as a camping rig, with tons of appeal to an avid back country fisherman. And it looks that way. Nothing fancy.
The lack of A/C in the camper makes it a high-elevation mountain rig.
Current bid is US $7,600.00. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
I was wondering how high it got. I bid on it but they canceled the bed and it just shows the 500 starting bid so I don’t know if eBay’s going to have a wait for you to be able to find how high it got or not but anyway I was curious. really pisses me off when they do that. No explanation no information just gone
The campers are junk after almost 50 years. This is a tailgate, with glass, and top away from being a Blazer.
… a tailgate, with glass, and top away from … losing its collector value when you ditch the factory original camper unit. Blazers of this vintage are a dime a dozen without all the bother of downgrading this one that way. A niche market segment wants to find these in good condition intact, so that they may restore them back to dealer showroom new.
Missing major parts for the A/C under the hood.
The seller ended the auction due to the item being “lost or broken”.
Wow Well I didn’t even get that notification. It just got canceled
I really like the look of this camper and as someone mentioned, would be a great backcountry rover for fishing trips. Being 6′ 3″ I thought at first glance that I would be a bit cramped, until I saw the top pops up. Looks like a great project with good bones. The camper looks to be in good condition.
Blazers Camper is built by Chinook and well respected for quality and longevity. I figure this rig like most needs the canvas top replaced evident by the lack of photos and the lift bar laying across the upper bunk. The canvas for the tops is being reproduced with outstanding results by Bear Creek canvas in Wisconsin for around a grand shipped, Bear Creek has the template. Respects to Russell Cook, the archive keeper of the remaining Chalet/ Casa Grande units.
I didnt think the Chalet wasa ‘slide out’ (or ‘in’) model but integrated preeminently. This isnt.
Both those correct aficionados?
“Yes” very different froma Rialto (or even a vixen or GMC). My ’66
bronk even hada ‘camper’ model…
The camper units on these definitely do not ‘slide in or out.’ Would’ve been smarter on GM’s & Chinook’s part to make them that way with quick disconnect wiring harnesses Some guy might think that just by unbolting where these bolt in through the standard truck cap is enough to let ’em loose, but these are also bolted down through the dinette frames into the Blazer frame. One guy told me those ended up so rusted, he had to slice those with a cutting torch. Another horror story I got from a junkyard seller about having to go repossess his #0443 Chalet from teenagers is that they just wanted the truck, and when the camper unit didn’t come loose like they expected, they ran a chain through the windows back to a big tree and tried to yank it off. Imagine what kind of resistance a sturdy chain has with thin aluminum frames and fiberglass …….
No slide in.
Bolted to the Blazer.
Fiberglass shell with no floor.
Fiberglass shell with a fiberglass floor with 3/4″ marine grade plywood, same over the cab area. I just replaced the wood in mine.