This Jimmy has been parked here too long and is at risk of being towed away. Will the world shed a tear if there’s one less Jimmy?
The interior was filled well above the gunwales with stuff, so this is likely someone’s (non)rolling home. The passenger side rear tire was flat. And on the roof, a wood stick has been strapped on. It’s purpose will remain a mystery.
Why GM failed to properly develop the S-10 Blazer and Jimmy quickly enough to keep it competitive with the jeep Cherokee and Ford Explorer will always remain a mystery too. I called it a Deadly Sin for that; these trucklets had a head start, arriving in 1983 in two door form. And they were madly very popular at first, until the Cherokee’s four doors and other advantages quickly relegated it to also-ran status.
It took almost eight years for GM to add the second set of doors, by which time its early momentum was spent. GM failed to believe in this category, and Ford and Jeep walked away with the gold. Yes, GM still sold a healthy number of them, but they had become known to be generally inferior in a number of ways, and so were sold at lower price points; the same issue that affected almost all GM products during their protracted slide.
These are quickly disappearing from the streets, although not necessarily being towed away. Undoubtedly Cash For Clunkers was a significant factor in the reduction. Well, I’m sorry someone’s at risk of having their Jimmy towed, but I won’t exactly miss it.
The stick is obviously the truck’s power source. Capillary action drives a sap exhaust, and the reactive force moves the truck forward. Very slowly.
One of GM’s early environmental efforts, tradenamed Dyna-Phloem.
“It took almost eight years for GM to add the second set of doors…”
GM had the old think of “two doors are sportier”, so they dragged their feet adding rear doors to the S10 Blazer. And they looked like afterthoughts. Same thinking with the first W bodies being coupes, they were seeing the market like it was ’76, but ten years later.
They sold bucketloads of these to fleets , cheap but reliable , they were hard to kill .
If some one is living in it , I hope they get the tire(s) aired up and move it a bit .
-Nate
They were good looking, boxy but just enough style for brand character and to avoid looking like a UN aid vehicle, as did some of the Japanese competitors.
Nobody will miss it. Just a shipping crate for a 4.3L engine, in my opinion. Worked on these piles of poop way more than I should have had to when I moonlighted at the used car lot as a mechanic.
I was 19 or 20 when these first came out. Having ridden in the back seat of a “real” Blazer (a 76) for a few long trips, I was curious, so when I saw a new one in a dealer showroom, I stopped to look.
It was red, and I really like the looks! I like the size too. I didn’t care for the instruments (GM’s goofy “tech/modern speedometer), but the biggest thing was…the price. I think it was around $9-10k, which was a lot IMO in the early 80s.
In the late 80s I drove one for the first time–my neighbors. It was an 85 or 86. It looked nice, but I didn’t like the way it drove–felt numb and slow, and this was a V6, and I didn’t like the instruments. A few years later, I drove a Saudi-spec Cherokee, in Saudi, with a 5-spd and inline 6. Even with the shift knob missing (which required extra care, so as not to stab one-self), I like the way THAT drove! Peppy, and not thirsty
These trucks looked nice when they were new but that slowly faded as time went on. They were known for rust and poor workmanship. The ones I rode in always rattled and shook, not very refined at all. Sadly GM knows how to make a good engine, but the body integrity and such simply couldn’t hold up well enough to make these anything worth having for the long haul.
I feel sorry for anyone that has to rely on one of these as a home. The instrument cluster looks neat and some people customize the 2 door versions, but those are not common around here. Interesting name for sure, calling it Jimmy.
I bought a used 87 S10 Blazer 2 door in early 1990….It only had 15,000 miles on it despite being 3 years old….It had the 2.8 V6 and automatic….That truck was the slowest and thirstiest vehicle I had ever owned….You had to tip deep into the throttle just to get it moving….and constantly had to drop down a gear or two to get any sort of speed out of it…..It got 10 mpg town and 17 highway…..I traded it in two years later for a 1991 full sized Blazer with 11,000 miles on it….That truck got 10/17 mpg as well….but with much more power and usable space….I kept that truck for nearly 9 years and was much happier with it compared to the S10..
The S10 was the only vehicle that I have owned that I regretted buying.
10/17 mpg. I’m really surprised here. I can get better mileage out of a 350 ci ’79 Caprice.
Back then, the S10 Blazer had a standard 13.5 gallon gas tank with 20 gallon optional….Later on the 20 gal became standard….I was filling the tank every 100 miles in around town driving…On. longer trips, I would stuff the tank….fill it right up to the filler cap so probably got 14.5 to 15 gallons squeezed into the tank…..The only result of that was that the needle stayed on “F” a bit longer…but as soon as that extra gas was burned, the needle fell toward “E” like a rock…..No matter how I drove it, it never got any better than 17 mpg….The 2.8 was just not enough motor for the weight it had to deal with.
Dave, those 2.8’s were slow, but there was probably something wrong with yours. I have found the thermal vacuum advance switch tends to stick and the distributor advance weights seize. This will make for a sluggish, thirsty car.
If mine had issues with the vacuum advance, it must have developed early on…because it was sluggish from the day I bought it at 15,000 miles until I sold it at 41,000…..The first time I test drove the Full sized Blazer, I almost gave the car salesman whiplash….because I was so used to tipping into the throttle on the S10 to get it moving, I did the same thing with the K Blazer the first time I stepped on the gas and it whipped forward with its 5.7 V-8.
“I GOT MY JIMMY WHACKED SEVEN TIMES LAST WEEK, BITCH!!”
The stick on the roof is symbolic; a hat tip to old boxcar hobos. This SUV is some modern hobo’s version of a bundle tied at the end of a stick. If there’s a zigzag painted on the fender, it means the occupying hobo is friendly and may provide fellow travelers with water and fresh glad rags. A square with the top missing signifies proceed with caution, this hobo may be hopped up on gristle jigglers and rat biscuits.
Cockroaches of the road, these and their S10 pick up brethren were. I won’t miss them, but I like them better then the next gen jellybean Jimmys/Blazers, often found resting at your local trailer park or discount liquor mart.
What made the Explorer better? I’m not saying these were good, but they were a solid class up on the Explorer in terms of ride and handling. The 4.3 was a better engine than most Explorers had too. I don’t recall Blazers and Jimmys being weapons of corporate mass murder either. At one point about twenty years ago I was splitting my time between traveling with two regional UPS directors. One had a second generation S10 Blazer or S15 Jimmy and the other one had an Explorer. Neither was something I wanted, but the GM one was so much less uncomfortable that it seemed like a quality vehicle when I closed my eyes.
Actually, Car&Driver tested all the mid-sized SUVs several times over the years. I “seem” to remember that when they tested the Blazer and Explorer in the mid 90s, they placed the Blazer AHEAD of the Explorer. The engine had a lot to do with that ranking as this must have been before the Ford got it’s OHC engine and 5 speed automatic transmission. I think even the controls were ranked better in the Chevy.
How ironic that the Japanese manufacturers were “forced” to switch to 4 door SUVs due to high tariffs, yet GM couldn’t be bothered to see where the market was going…..or was too stretched financially.
I don’t think it was a case of GM being too financially stretched or not being too bothered to see where the market was going.
I think it is a case of GM really not caring about the small 4 door SUV segment.
They were making a butt ton of money on the fullsize Suburban and their pickup trucks. The small SUV market was still a niche market even with the successful 4 door Jeep Cherokee.
To be honest even with 4 doors, the Japanese SUV offerings were were nothing for the Big 3 to really worry about as not many were sold each year(I think GM sold more S-10 Blazers in 2 years then Toyota sold first and 2 gen 4Runners combined.
It was not until the Explorer arrived on the scene that SUV sales exploded(no pun intended) Then GM had to do something.
I had a 1992 GMC S-15 Jimmy 4×4 4 door that I bought from my Grandmother’s estate back in 2004. It only had 33,000 miles on it but sat out in the PA weather exposed to sun/rain/snow/ice/heavy winds etc so it looks pretty weather beaten for a 12 year old truck with low miles.
It had the 4.3l V6 with auto trans and 4 wheel drive but nothing else(including factory AC)
It was a pretty good truck for the 5 years I owned it. I only needed to replace a wonky door handle, a bent rim(my fault) and both front wheel bearings, couple of sets of tires(regular maintenance) and regular oil changes(regular maintenance)
It was a pretty good truck. i got about 23 miles to the gallon. I only got rid of it because I wanted to buy a new car and could only keep one car at my place at the time. so I turned around and sold it to a friend that was in need of a truck and it is still on the road.
Yes the truck had rattles and could be a bit harsh to drive(due to noise or vibration) but so was the 1992 Explorer and a lot of other truck based vehicles(it is a truck and not a car)
I had a friend who bought a 2 door in 90 or so…. I watched that thing go from okay with a cheap plastic interior to POS status in about three years. Paint faded, interior got that ratty rattle look, but it didn’t give him any mechanical trouble that I remember. Classic case of ‘GM cars run bad longer than most cars run at all’.
I would. I though the Chevy was better looking – which is why I bought one new in 1991. I always thought they were sharp-looking little trucks. I was always happy with the performance (4.3l V6) and for want of a better word, its handling. I knew I was buying a truck and that is how it behaved.
235,000 miles and ten years later I stopped driving it. It sits in my spare garage waiting until I have the funds, time, and inclination to fix the rust and repaint it (or my daughter has it towed away after my demise.)
I smile any time I see an S10/S10 Blazer/Jimmy/S15 of this vintage on the road – and as common as they once were around here they are now almost extinct – hard use and winter salt likely did them in, and their competition – I have not seen an early Explorer in the wild for years – and forget about the Bronco II.
I always thought the 4-door Jimmy & Blazer were good looking rides, but they were pretty subpar in the quality & reliability department, I knew a handful of people who had these when they were new and they were always complaining about issues, usually electrical gremlins or rusting, though the drivetrains were pretty solid.
As a former owner all I have to say is that these where reliable og fairly comfortable. One of them passed 200.000 miles when I sold it. Rust was the only problem with these cars.
Today I’m driving an 93 Grand Cherokee. It is more comfortable powerful (even with the I6), maybe a little more quiet, but most of all it’s a lot better off road than the Blazer.
The new Blazer who came in 95 is much more quiet at the road than the GC though.
A friend in college had one, probably about 10 years old at the time. It rattled, shook, wheezed, groaned, and generally conducted itself like a vehicle 20 years old rather than 10, and looked the part as well. He had enough eventually and convinced his parents to co-sign on a new Escape, and never looked back. Another friend who had an S-Blazer experienced the same sort of poor durability.
They weren’t bad looking, but the only vehicle on this platform I’d have any desire to own would be a Typhoon. And even those were a little iffy quality-wise, but the performance makes up for it.
Hmm, these first-gen Blazer/Jimmies don’t seem so rare around here. I remember driving one when they were pretty new; 2.8 and 5 speed and I thought it was great compared to my 4 cylinder Datsun pickup. Remember, the early Cherokees used the same GM 2.8 V6, and the first Bronco II’s with the carb’ed 2.8 were nothing to write home about. And in near-CC-effect fashion, there’s been a very clean and straight first-gen S10 pickup parked across the street from my house today, complete with intact dog-dish hubcaps.