Two-door convertible SUV. Words we don’t hear in the automotive world that often. When we arrived at bike night this summer to the typical rows of two-wheeled steeds, it was our friend Wookie’s 1972 Chevy K/5 Blazer taking up space that got our attention first. A topless 4×4 wrapped in iconic ’70s lines all hugging a 350 V8 struck us as the perfect idea: a summertime, beach-going, drive-in date movie-taker/baby-maker and backwoods overlander all in one.
Of course, our friend had an even better idea that particular night, adding one more dimension to the Blazer by ditching the bench seat and dropping the gate for a little extra space. Now he had a two-door convertible SUV pickup, perfect for hauling a complementary ’70s enduro in canary yellow.
Released in 1969, the Chevy K/5 Blazer (now known as the Tahoe) was dreamed up by iconic automotive and 4×4 designer Vic Hickey as GM’s response to the burgeoning SUV market occupied by the Ford Bronco, International Scout and Jeep Cherokee Wagoneer.
Vic Hickey is recognized for his remarkable achievements as an off-road vehicle designer, helping design vehicles that are cultural icons today, including the Blazer, the Humvee, and legendary 140 mph off-road racer, the Baja Boot (captained by Bud Ekins, Steve McQueen and James Garner). He also had a hand in developing a slew of amphibious vehicles and improved independent suspension systems to be used on vehicles designed to explore lunar landscapes, leading the group that built the mobile geological trainer for the Apollo Space program and the moon’s Lunar Rover.
While there’s little evidence to suggest that Hickey himself was directly influenced by Jeep (c’mon though), there’s little debate that The General and the Big Blue Oval had their sights aimed squarely at Jeep’s smaller, open-air, all-terrain vehicles like the CJ series, which had been cutting trail since the ’40s.
The design began in Hickey’s head, where he envisioned a shortened K10 chassis. Platform-sharing, which was smart at the time, allowed the K/5 to share body styling with its pickup truck brother, cutting down on overall production costs. It was intended to be as versatile as possible, serving as car, truck, SUV, station wagon or convertible — an all-purpose runabout.
The public swallowed the hook. The Blazer offered the excitement and capabilities of the competitors with the added “luxuries” of the time, like A/C and automatic transmissions. By 1970, sales eked out the others fishing in the same pond.
But the question still remains: Save the Wrangler, is the convertible truck all but lost to the annals of history, or is there a manufacturer willing to mount an attack on the king of the Rubicon? Now is the time, as we may be in the last great era of emotionally guided vehicle design, and few vehicles stir the soul as intensely as a topless go-anywhere SUV.
Bring it back.
This article first appeared in issue 024 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license.
Words & Images Brett Houle & Gregory George Moore
