Let the badge engineering commence! That was certainly the way of the ’70s with domestic cars. Take your pick of manufacturers, they all did it be GM with the Nova, Omega, Ventura, Apollo X-bodies, or Ford with the Maverick/Mercury Comet mashup. The ignominious Chevrolet Vega and Chevette were countered by the Pontiac Astre and T1000. And of course, the Plymouth Duster/Valiant was offset by Dodge’s Demon/Dart. When did all of this rebadging start? I’m not certain but 1970’s GMC Jimmy, such as today’s find, which was a grille-enhanced version of Chevrolet’s 1969 Blazer, is a good starting point. This first year Jimmy resides in Lander, Wyoming and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $12,151 with the reserve not yet met.
For 1970, Chevrolet moved about 12,500 Blazers while the Jimmy upstart is estimated to have experienced about 4,500 copies. All were 4X4, whereas the Blazer was now available in two or four-wheel drive configurations. Really, the biggest difference was the Jimmy’s grille and quad headlights and that’s about it; any other differences i.e. trim or interior were subtle. This example has an aura of originality to it.
The odd hue, a sorta brownish something or other, is faded and the driver’s side rocker panel, as well as the floor pan, has a Swiss cheese thing going on. Beyond that, it shows as being complete but there are dents and I don’t know what’s up with the Bondo lump on the driver’s door. The seller claims that the frame is sound and the hardtop is excellent. I find the rear step bumper to be a bit unusual, they’re commonplace on a pickup but I believe this is the first Blazer/Jimmy that I’ve spied that is so equipped.
The “Interior has been updated, rear seat has the original upholstery” states the listing – and I must say that it belies the exterior’s condition. That said, it seems a bit like “sweeping it under the carpet” by laying out such a fresh and clean interior over a holey floor. As nice as the environment appears, it will have to be undone to effect repair and then put back together. OK, not a huge task but it seems like unnecessary work. As for the cargo area, the deck shows signs of surface rust but it looks sound and would appear to have experienced general use.
Motivational force is provided by a 255 gross HP, 350 CI Chevrolet V8 engine coupled to a four-speed manual transmission. The mileage is unlisted and the seller claims, “Vehicle runs, drives and stops very well“. What can be seen under the hood shows as original and not modified.
As stated in previous reviews, these and their Chevrolet cousin, are a hot property right now. And even with the rust damage, this is still a reasonable example though it’s unknown if it is reasonable enough to draw its reserve. What’s your thought, a sound example or better to keep looking?
I like this. Minimal rust, and mostly original. Someone ordered this truck with just what they needed: 350 , 4 spd, gauges, locking hubs, and HD rad. No power brakes or power steering. The rally wheels from a later model look nice, but probably take a lot of effort to steer when parking. I would likely add PS.
This is a very nice project If it were closer to me, I would consider it.
10 bucks says the driver side door caught a nice gust of wind or the side of a garage and fli
Does anyone else look at these bumps and dents and wonder what stories they have behind them? I myself caught the door on a tree while backing my grandfather’s F100 in the yard. Fortunately a sympathetic body man charged me $10 and unsprung the hinge. 1982
GMC. The one brand that GM kept during the great purge of 2010, that still has me scratching my head. They kept the fluffed up Chevy trucks, but deep sixed Pontiac and Saturn.
My brother had one in late 70s about 3in. Lift,35 gumbo monster mudders,6cyl.3 on tree,was very cool.
I guess being an old guy I look at this through a different lens. I always viewed the Chevy pickups as downgraded GMCs.
I thought that a GMC was a Chevy with lock washers.
“Professional grade”
Essentially it was a political decision – made by representatives of Commerce or whatever department was tasked with the bailout. Remember, it was done extra-legally, bypassing normal bankruptcy procedures.
The thing they were hepped on, was, too many dealers, they said (I don’t know why that’s a problem; dealers are a manufacturer’s customers) and too many brands. Again, why would that be a problem, per se? The government officials wanted GM pared down to Chevrolet and Cadillac. GM, still with Wagner at the top, said, no. Buick makes money; and GMC is the most-profitable division in the company.
The Finance people provided the figures, and the officials relented on GMC. They wanted Buick and Pontiac killed. GM accepted Pontiac’s being terminated, but fought on Buick. It’s the best-selling car in China, they said. Kill it in the States, and even if the brand is kept alive in Europe and Asia, the Chinese buyers won’t want it. Buick, said GM, represents America to Chinese buyers.
So, the government relented.
IMHO, and my opinion is free and worth exactly that…my take is, this was all wrong. The problem with multiple brands was, badge-engineering. When the market-segment cars from various divisions are alike, there’s no point in duplicating them. True enough; and someone should have realized that when they moved engine and chassis development into GM Corporate.
Why not split them up by market segment? Cadillac with the big barges. Chevrolet with what’s now called midsize. Pontiac with the sporty and personal-lux cars. Buick with large cars, overlapping Cadillac, but focused on engineering.
Keep GMC for the trucks, but axe Chevrolet trucks.
AND…allow all GM brand dealers, to have two, maybe three brands. Chevrolet-Buick; or Pontiac-GMC. Whatever the dealer figures he can sell.
Now. How is firing your wholesale buyers, dealers, going to HELP a car company? If they’re giving too much incentive money, or have other costs, adjust THAT. Renault bought AMC for the dealers. AMC, earlier, in absorbing Jeep…it’s first step was to put AMC cars in Jeep agencies.
The franchise agreements could easily be modified, especially after a bankruptcy; but cutting retail points of sale OUT, makes NO sense.
I actually knew it all had to do with politics. But tried to play by BF’s rules. Two things. If GMC was GM’s most profitable division? Then, they were in much worse shape than the media led us to believe. And a certain President hated Pontiac and Hummer. That’s why those two brands got the axe, as well.
“When the market-segment cars from various divisions are alike, there’s no point in duplicating them.”
Yet, somehow, from 1978 – 1988, many thousands of Chevy Monte Carlos & Malibus, Olds Cutlasses, Buick Regals, Pontiac Grand Prix and Grand Ams were sold, every single year. Badge engineering gave the customer the choice of look & style they wanted their car to have. If there was no badge engineering, do you really think ALL of those buyers would have bought a Monte Carlo? More likely GM would have lost many thousands of buyers to other manufacturers.
The various pers-lux cars were, back in the day, made with divisional engines, different styling cues, and other cues that differentiated them.
Those were gone once the SBC became essentially the only V8; the corporate THM became the only transmission; and you had to look at the brand badge to know the difference (in some car lines; less so in the pers-lux category).
Would they all have bought Monte Carlos if the GP weren’t there? No, there wouldn’t be a Monte Carlo. Pontiac would have that segment covered. Would MC buyers buy a GP, if the MC were not available? Probably. They sure wouldn’t buy a full-size family station wagon.
Did the presence of badge-engineered clones sell more of any given segment in the market? I doubt it. It spread the profits from high-markup vehicles among several dealer groups; but that could have been accomplished other ways (multi-brand dealers, as mentioned).
I so agree with you about the problem being the badge engineering and not “having too many brands.” GM didn’t have “too many brands” when Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac accounted for 60 % of the market! And the reason they did was because they were not the same freaking cars except for their nameplates. When the “bean counters” decided to “save money” and insult the intelligence of their buyers by just slapping five different nameplates on the same car is when GM’s glory days were over. What do they have now 12% of the market? maybe 14%? How many cars does GM make that young people lust after the way they did in the 60s and 70s? GM is a pale shadow of what it used to be. Without the Chinese market and Buick over there, (certainly not Buick over here any more where it is basically non-existent) they would already be out of business and deservedly so for 30 years of building, essentially, crap.
Might just be me but the photo showing the drivers side I was wondering why the rear wheel doesn’t fill the rear wheel opening evenly . My sister owns one of these and I don’t see it on hers.
It’s the same on the right according to the eBy pictures. Probably a result of the lift kit. If you lift it you don’t want the drive shaft to pull further out of the gear box so sliding the rear end forward would solve that problem.
Excellent, thorough representation of a very desirable project .I wish it didn’t have a ding on every panel, but the GMC quad grill makes up for it .I may add it to my stable of Blazers and Jimmys for a future project.
I would be very leery of that nice interior as it is covering a lot of rust and thin metal! I had a 72 Chevy Blazer with the same damage to the rocker panel and floor pan and that was from a lot of use. I had over 200000 miles on the truck when I finally sold it. When we moved it out of its storage spot, the floor pan on the drivers side simply fell on the ground! I feel the current bid is a good one for a GMC in this condition. People are paying way too much for these old trucks. They are like boats; holes you pour lots of money in! That said, I would be interested in this truck as I am a Chevy/GMC truck fan.
People will continue to “pay too much ” .I’m on it ,and will be into the 20’s.
My wife will leave her new Range Rover at home every sunny day to drive our 72 Blue /white Blazer .Convertible SUV’s are ridiculous fun ,and the public LOVES them .When mine is on a 2 car trailer ,with my Ferrari ,headed to the lake for the summer, no one even notices the Eyetalian Stallion !
What a treat it must be, for the little people to gaze upon your trailer, and marvel at your possessions.
I had a ’70 Jimmy years ago-straight six and a three-on-the-tree. Didn’t keep it long.
GMC stopped being GMC when they stopped offering their own, in-house you-can-only-get-it-in-a-GMC V6 engine. That V6 was unlike anything else in the truck market and it came in a number of different sizes, all the way up to the monster V-12 that essentially was two big V6s end to end. Once they became nothing but badge-engineered Chevys they existed only to give non-Chevy GM dealers a way of selling Chevy trucks by trying to deceive buyers into thinking that they weren’t what they were.
My Dad had a GMC franchise in 70 to 82 and he always equated the initials with Got More Chrome.