I’m not sure what to make of this 1971 Chevrolet Blazer. It’s a Mexican barn find and appears to have been prepped for a Baja 500 run. It’s a bit banged up, as one would expect in the case of an off-road racer, and as the seller states, it has been sitting for years – more fuel for the degradation fire. Still, it’s an interesting find and not exactly standard fare here on BF so let’s take a closer look. Parked in El Paso, Texas, this old Chevy is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $12,900. There is a make-an-offer option too.

Said to have been registered in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1998, this Blazer has undergone substantial modifications, ostensibly for some hard chargin’. The seller makes no reference to Baja racing – that’s just my supposition, it may be a vehicle that was modified for non-competitive fun. I’m by no means an expert on off-roading but I see what looks like some significant suspension modifications that have occurred to this Blazer’s underside. I also see what looks like a lot of scale, and maybe frame deterioration so one more jump may not be in this Chevy’s future. The body appears to be straight and pretty solid but the seller indicates that there is rust in the rocker panels and one image of the driver’s side door jamb bears out that claim. The exterior appears to still be wearing what looks like an original “Ochre” finish, a hue that was popular in the early ’70s and is camouflaged by decals that have long since mostly dissolved. One notable body feature is the GMC “Jimmy” grille that somewhere along the line replaced the original Blazer piece.

Little is said about the powertrain other than a 350 CI V8 engine provides power. The original motor was a sedate 250 HP unit – this one has obviously been hopped up but beyond that, details are fleeting. The listing mentions, “We did start the engine by pouring gas into the carb and only had it running a few seconds” so I’d assume that this is a maybe runner that’s going to need work. The gear train is a Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission with a transfer case and what looks like standard Blazer differentials front and rear (though not the standard suspension components).

The interior isn’t exactly what I was expecting – at least based on this image of a three-across back seat, occupying a space where I assumed there would be nothing.

As for upfront, the buckets, which aren’t in very good shape, appear to have been poached from something with a more luxurious bearing – at least based on the electronic controls. There is a roll cage that has been installed but my initial thought is that it looks a bit lightweight. As for the dash, it shows like it was on the receiving end of a paintbrush dipped in a flat black mix – it’s fugley!

As I stated at the opening, I’m not certain what to make of this Blazer. The seller openly states that it “has definitely seen better days, it has been sitting for years and is in need of total restoration“. One could try to restore this Chevy back to stock, or something close, but it probably wouldn’t be worth the effort, time, and expense. Or, one could try to restore it to its desert running days but that’s a limited direction and probably a complicated and involved task too. So, which way would you take this ’71 Blazer?