A “virtual” friend of mine informed me recently that a fully restored K5 Blazer he sent to the Mecum Auto Auctions sold for a cool $80,000 at the recent event in Kissimmee, Florida. That gave me pause, and forced me to take a closer look at this rusty project-grade 1969 K5 Blazer here on eBay, with an opening bid of $3,850 and no action yet. Will the market for these old-school 4x4s be heating up?
This example has some significant needs, with the body pockmarked with rust and actual rot-through in places. Sheet metal isn’t necessarily hard to find, but these Blazers weren’t so limited in production that you can’t find a project in Arizona or Texas with a solid body. The interior may be destroyed, but unfortunately, this example looks like it will need a full cabin restoration as well.
The Blazer is located in Locust Grove, Georgia, which isn’t necessarily part of the rust belt but it also didn’t prevent this example from getting hit by the tin worm. The engine is present but the air cleaner has gone AWOL, which begs the question as to what else is missing. There’s zero mention of the engine health in the listing, or whether it’s a matching numbers assembly.
Interestingly, I spotted this Blazer project as part of the Barn Finds Exclusive for the Georgia collection we’re helping to wind down. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it actually has a far better body than the one seen here. It will need a front clip and engine, but drop me a line if this truck interests you. Do you think more fully restored K5 Blazers will be hitting the auction market soon?
Dreaming.
I agree.
Junk.
Take the wheels off and push it back into the swamp…
Better get a tetanus shot first!
The brother of a close friend of mine, had an orange and white one like this when I was in junior high. He was killed in a snowmobile accident ( it was a Kawasaki Invader to show you how long ago it was). Nobody ever drove it regularly again, they kept the battery charged and gas in it just in case. They used it in the winter to pull you out of the ditch if needed, but that was about it. It went from beside the garage to behind the barn like so many people do. It sits there to this day, as the family still owns the house. I think of his brother every time I see one. A silent memory of a lost loved one.
Is it just ne, or is tthis the pizza planet truck?
I had to look up Pizza Planet. But no, this is not that truck. The truck in the pics I found was an early ’90s Toyota with a white camper shell.
As far as the Blazer here, it may be in Locust Grove now but I’d bet it has spent some significant time in rust prone areas. Lacking a clear title, I’m hard pressed to find anything left of value here.
Blue one looks much worse.
While I believe in preserving good old vehicles and that they should be valued, it’s a shame to watch the big auction houses pricing everything out the stratosphere. A select few, with staggering wealth are bidding to the moon and killing the future of vintage cars. Everyone in the bottom 90% is going to eventually say “screw it” and lose interest in all things automotive just when the push comes for going completely autonomous. Which is about when the wealthy hoarders pass away and leave their $80K Blazers to their heirs who will have them recycled into driverless pod-cars and bullet trains.
PDXBryan, I watched somew of the first day and some of the 8th day of the Mecum auction.
I was surprised how cheap some of the cars sold for.
Fox bodied Mustangs have come down, but the most surprising was a 1959 Ford Skyliner that went for $26,000 in really pretty condition. It was announced the top needed to be fixed, but that won’t be too much with the parts available now.
Stupid price on that 80K Blazer. Bidder was probably drunk.
first Gen blazers have been high for a long time, but most knowledgeable buyers know that the ones that get the big money are either rust free and original with history, or high dollar restorations with every option available. This one is just another junker.
Too far gone. These can be had for $1,000 all day WITH a plow up north. Now, to find a nice one, that’s the trick.
This K5 will need comprehensive bodywork to ever be a safe vehicle.Biggest problem with these 1st gens is all the reinforcements in the floor to the rockers – due to the double floor ,water, dirt and moist will trap inside, resulting in massive rot inside out from the middle of the cab floor,via rockers and further into door jambs.Seems like GM didn’t do much to prevent that – when I ripped apart my 71 K5 almost 20 years ago there was NO trace of anti-corrotion protection present in these areas.
Good thing as of today is most Blazer-specific panels are available as repops.20 years ago one had to adapt PU panels.As for this I suspect one would need build an entirely new K5 body out of EVERY panel available! I’d hate to see it go to the crusher, but apart from the stick there’s no good here…
Restorable?
Who knows why these things post upside down!
Shaking the rust out of it!!!
any more pics of the Georgia Blazer?
A boat anchor that the hurricane washed up on shore.
I had one back in the 80s with the K.C. lighters and headers, and a fiber glass hood. I used to drive it from N.J. to the Carolina beaches for surf fishing. Bruce.
A mud bog truck at best. Or maybe , if it ran and moved possibly a farm truck to ride on a hill to deer hunt or something. That’s about it. I believe if it runs, 500 bucks is fair ,, I sold a 77 blazer for 1500 bucks and smiled all the way to the bank ..