Old Meets New – A Classic Daily Driver

My story starts a bit differently than most. I did not grow up around trucks or ever own one until COVID. Instead I grew up the son of an entrepreneur and small business founder and thus practicality reigned in our house. So my car history includes a short list of highly reliable, cheap imports. Nothing cool. This mentality kept me a distant admirer until just recently.

When COVID hit I found myself with a bit of extra time on my hands and a very odd car marketplace. You couldn’t find a new car and used cars were going for new car prices. Luckily my string of boring car choices had left me with some cash on hand. At the same time I was slapped in the face by a vehicle property tax bill for my wife’s new SUV. All of these factors drove me towards owning a cool but practical antique vehicle with some modern upgrades for a reliable daily driver that would appreciate in value over the course of my ownership. You can’t fight your roots, my practical nature still had a lot to do with this decision. The clear choice that met all of these criteria was a classic Chevrolet SUV, the K5 Blazer.

I got very lucky and found a clean 1984 K5 that was all original including the factory powertrain, a 305/700R. A local shop helped me with the heavy lifting of an LS swap (5.3+4L80e) and after working out a few common swap bugs I have a reliable daily driver, old meets new. Now this process is not for the faint of heart nor is it a fantastic investment, but it might just be the best option out there considering today’s crazy car market. It is the best of all worlds! The classic look and feel that my kids love, but with a dependable power plant under the hood!