While many of us begrudge the rise of the SUV and its overtaking of classic wagon and sedan models, the early days of this segment offered buyers plenty of interesting choices. From the Isuzu Trooper to the Toyota Land Cruiser, to the Ford Explorer and its oddball Mazda Navajo twin, it seemed like it was impossible to make a bad choice. They were all mostly capable and delightfully simple beasts, too. The GMC Jimmy and Chevrolet Blazer were two of the most recognized models, but you rarely see them today. This Arizona-raised GMC Jimmy S15 listed here on craigslist is likely one the cleanest ones for sale right now.
And really, where did they all go? This profile was once practically littered across parking lots and county roads. From farmers to pee-wee coaches, and even people whose daily responsibilities amounted to shuffling paperwork (the early days of sending repeated follow-up emails), these easy-to-live with trucks offered the best of both worlds: comfortable enough to commute in, and rugged enough to do some trail driving on the weekends. This Jimmy sports the rarely-seen accessory alloy wheels and the paint looks gorgeous for an unrestored truck – and for an extra bit of weirdness, it’s a 2WD model.
To go back to the topic of the growing market for trucks like the Jimmy, think too about how popular the Suburban and Jeep Grand Wagoneer were becoming. The signs were all there that we were marching towards an era of extremely expensive and complicated family-haulers. It’s a shame the space now occupied by the current-era “Blazer” is basically a warmed-over minivan meant to look like a truck but not have any actual off-road chops. As you can see in this spotless interior, there is no floor-mounted shift lever for the transfer case, and that’s because this is a rear-wheel drive model.
So, this may not be the one you take out to the canyons, but that’s also likely a very big reason as to why it remains in such nice shape. As an Arizona truck, 4WD was likely an afterthought unless the original owner planned to spend his weekends in the desert. While I don’t have production numbers in front of me, it would be interesting to know how many RWD trucks were sold. With the powerful and torque-rich 4.3L V6 under the hood, it will move down the road just fine thanks to its 160 b.h.p. and around 230 lb.-ft. of torque. The asking price is $9,700 and thanks to goes to Barn Finds reader Barney for the tip.
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