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.
GREAT! Here I am in Phoenix AZ. and the car is now in the east, maybe Chicago. WTF!
The 4.3L V6 became available 1988 in the S Series. Someone below mentioned this is a 2.8L V6 because the lack of the remote oil filter. This is a 4.3L V6; because it is a 2WD, no remote oil filter. Another way to identify a 4.3L is by the location of the alternator (driver’s side) and A/C compressor (passenger side); It’s just like the Chevrolet small block setup of 1989 (4.3L V6 is based on the 5.7L V8 – identical bore and stroke).
Mom had two of these in different years of 1984 and 1986 and both of them were red and black with the black one having a spare tire trunk switch on the back of it. To see one of these in red takes me back to the red one we had after I was born.
Ah, the S-15,,,a S-10 with lockwashers, I can say without reservation, I liked the concept of these, properly equipped. I was unfortunate enough to have the 2.8, the 4.3 was a remarkable improvement. I knew someone with a 5 speed, it was a nice truck. Thing is, these dispelled all the myths of 4WDs. They didn’t roll over as easy, rode nice, went through the snow, great heat/ac, gas mileage was still so-so, but a V6 4Runner wasn’t any better, at over $2600 more( $14,761) than the Jimmy( $12,173), but the market was big, and while 36,000 4Runners were sold in ’89, almost 50,000 of these( and 180,000 S-10sBlazers) were sold. Once again, Mr. Rust decimated so many, like it was almost planned( cough). Regardless, someone is going to get a great vehicle, I really liked mine, but try and find one. It won’t be here long.
GM hit it out of the park with this one! It had a resemblance to the full size Jimmy, compact on the outside for easy maneuvering in the city, yet roomy inside.
That is a 2.8 not a 4.3. As such, it is a dog. The 4.3 don’t come til later and the oil filter was on top of the engine. In the 2.8 you needed a special tool to get behind the left front wheel to change the filter.
In 1985 the SUV that was on fire was the Jeep Cherokee, with an Inline 6 and 4 doors. The first midsize suv with 4 doors. It took GM and Ford a minute to catch up.
You are wrong
This is the right age to have a 4.3 V6. The ’85 Cherokee still ran the GM 2.8 V6 until 1987.
I had an 88 S-10 “Tahoe” (I bet few have ever seen one) shortbed with all the trim and fixins. It had a 4.3 litre that had an early version of a Hyperchip downloaded to the ECM. That was the first year the 4.3 was available in an S10. Also added a shiftkit to the 4L60 transmission and it would bark a nasty 2nd gear shift! Surprised a few at the stoplights with that truck. It was red with a set of 8″ Corvette rally wheels and BF Goodrich tires. I only kept it a couple of years but wish I had tucked it away in the garage.
Not that it’s of any particular consequence but this Jimmy’s license plate might’ve been transferred. However, I’ve never seen an Arizona plate as deteriorated as this……nor a plate from any other state for that matter.
Living in AZ sine 1992 I have to agree with you.
One of my favorite vehicles was a red 93 S10 Blazer Tahoe edition. 4×4, spare was in the rear compartment. Great replacement for the station wagon we had been driving. Comfortable, fun to drive, all the options including leather seats, heated mirrors, digital dash, etc. Drove it over 100k miles and it had over that on it when I bought it. Great family vehicle!
The popularity of 2WD in any kind of truckish vehicle varied greatly by state. Our Pennsylvania dealership never stocked one and never had a prospective buyer order one. Having said that, that would be my choice for a vehicle I didn’t have to drive in snow.
My experience with the 2wd S-Blazer was that the front suspension seemed dance over broken or pockmarked pavement. Oddly similar in feel to cowl shake, only in a solid roof vehicle. This 4wd version never felt that way.
I don’t recall these sending people to the morgue as the Ford “Exploder” did.
No, nothing like that. IIRC, one of those Explorer crashes happened not far from here. The front end shake just seemed strange to me. They were from the fleet pool, plated for public roads, not some kind of test vehicle. Maybe it wasn’t on all of them.