In my last COAL, I shared that we were a Ford family, but that the Ford motor company was really failing out of favor with all of us.
So when we needed our next car (we drove a couple of older, used cars- one being a 1974 Caprice left to us from a family friend when he passed) Cindy and I decided to look at Chevrolet. We had more or less settled on an Astro van, but we were having a hard time finding one that we really liked.
We took an evening drive to Ed Morse Chevrolet in Fort Lauderdale to see what they had. And, after looking for about 45 minutes, we were about to “settle” on one that was very strangely optioned. It had two gray and silver paint, power locks but no power windows, and dog dish hubcaps.
So as we were circling back up to the office, Cindy pointed at a row of 4-door S10 Blazers. The salesman said he had one in particular that he could make a great deal on, especially since we wanted to lease it. The depreciation wouldn’t be as bad due to the fact that it was totally loaded.
He pulled up to the office in a dark carmine red Blazer Tahoe Sport. It was really sharp, with dark grey cloth buckets that had “Blazer” embossed in bright red at the top. It was loaded with everything but leather and had a new version of the Vortex 4.3 engine.
Interesting to me was that this engine was not officially offered in the Blazer that year. It wasn’t shown in the sales brochure and a check with the manager by the salesman confirmed that the unit had been a special order. For 1993 and onward, that was the standard engine, but this first year was only shown available in the Astro and Safari vans.
So a deal was struck and we were on the road. That vehicle drove very, very well. And little did we know at that time (end of July 1992) that it would be driven a bunch. The engine, though coarse, really had some great power. In fact, I could get it to squeal the tires shifting from 1st to second!
I mentioned that the Blazer would get pressed into service, and it really did. My dad passed away on New Year’s Eve day in 1992 and was to be buried in Ohio. We couldn’t get a flight, so my mom, Cindy, Jacob (our two and a half year old son), and I started off to Ohio.
After we the funeral we got back home to Fort Lauderdale and Cindy and I had an early February trip planned to Fort Wayne Indiana. Mom agreed to watch Jacob, and we were back on the road.
Trip after trip was made in that truck. Plus, mom didn’t drive, so we were fast becoming her only method of transportation. Thankfully she could walk to the grocery, but needed rides to the doctor and for other shopping.
Image from 1992 brochure. Author’s had the 4-spoke steering.
We really enjoyed the Blazer. It was very nice on the road; it had an unusually loud muffler that was not easy to miss when we drove it, and it filled the void of a minivan. I especially liked the digital cluster. It was a family favorite, and it’s one we still hold in high esteem. In fact, my son (in the lede picture) cried when we sold it.
No vehicle is perfect. We did have issues with the ABS that Chevrolet covered. It also did burn some oil due to the valve guide seals being hardened, and it was repainted at the behest of GM. Apparently they had peeling issues and tried to take care of the vehicles before that happened. They didn’t do a great job and it netted us the promise that we wouldn’t have any fines or negative equity by the manager of Ed Morse.
At the three year point, we were at 56,000 miles in a 5 year 60,000 mile lease. So we moved on to our next car. I made a deal and then asked about the trade-in value. The salesman told us that we were about $1800 upside down. I mentioned Dan, the dealership manager. He went upstairs, told the man I was trading in my Blazer, and he was told to give us full value and not change the selling price on the new car, so a win!
We would have two more Blazers, both solid vehicles.
So, yes we finally got one that was well screwed together. And we had many more, which I’ll share in upcoming COALs!
**update **
Sorry, but I forgot one thing:
Paul, my father in law whom you’ve met here laughed at Cindy and I for “buying a truck!” And he went on and on for a few weeks to give me spoon fulls of mustard over its lack of luxury and rough ride, blah, blah. Then, he borrowed it…
He needed to move some books for his aunt for a fund raiser. That was over the weekend.
Tuesday morning, he pulled up in a 93 four door S10 Blazer! He ended up having three total.
Yeeeaa, don’t judge the book by the cover! I love you Paul
“The salesman said he had one in particular that he could make a great deal on……..”.
And it turned out to be the loaded one. Who knew? !!
My first lease was an 88 Blazer, 2dr, 2.8V6. A bit of a dog, but it was a good truck.
My husband and I were able to use a black Blazer from his boss for a while. ( Sorry I don’t remember all of the details on style, year etc) The younger people we’d drive by would turn there heads to look at us. Apparently it became popular with this younger group of people . I didn’t know I was driving a “cool” ride
Those were great engines, 3/4 of a V8.
Great looking Blazer! These wheels and pinstriping, added a lot of elegance and modernity, to an already familiar design.
I had a bright red 2-door Baby Blazer, stick. Sadly 2WD though, so just about SALEPROOF round these parts. But drove great and was a useful size.
But wow a 5 year/60k mile LEASE?? Wouldn’t that work out better as an outright purchase?
An interesting feature of this four-door Blazer is that it was based on the two-door. Thus, as an afterthought, the chassis was lengthened. The result is that this model has exceptional second seat area leg room. Its successor does not have this much.
It has been said that the 4.3 V6 was basically a 5.7 liter V8 with two cylinders lopped off.
I had an ’88 4.3 S10 Blazer for about 4 years. Other than a near day one “WTF, how did that happen?” oil leak (the filter adaptor cracked), and the tiny little starter motor died, the thing was bulletproof. Everything we had any problems with was covered under warranty, including the failed headlight switch (That switch is a terrible design) that died just as I was about to sell it to a friend of mine. It was covered too. After he bought it, it had a long long long, but hard life. All three of his sons learned to drive in it. None were born until after I sold it to him. It was stolen twice and trashed both times. It was sliced open when a guy driving a flatbed truck had some sort of diabetes issue and sideswiped it when it was parked. The whole rear quarter was exposed, and we were impressed, no rust was visible at 6 years of age in NW Ohio. It had a couple of transmission rebuilds, a couple of valve jobs, a cam, a transfer case rebuild, but still had the original short block in it, along with both front and rear differentials. It drove on and on. The last couple of years 5 people were driving it, it rarely got more than 12 hours sitting still. The speedo died at 460K+, and it went on at least another 18 months before the roof and windshield area rotted to the point it was time to let it go, a slight rain was like being in a shower of rusty water. It went to the scrapyard under it’s own power at 22+ years, and at least 500K miles on it. He really loved that thing. It came in a close second to my ’82 K5 Blazer in reliability. I know several people who had 4.3 S10 trucks and Blazers, and all of them loved them.
I had been wondering how many problematic Fords you were going to suffer through before you made a change – and now we know!
The only experience I had with one of this generation was a late 80s 2-door version that was bought used by someone I worked with. It was a solid vehicle for him and I recall that he sold it for near what he had paid for it. I remember seeing these on the roads for years and years after they stopped being made.
I always thought Chevrolet stylists did a clever job making a 4 door out of a 2 door.
*Vortec, but autocorrect I assume. While my sister got the family car in the early 2000’s, I had to borrow the 1989 2-door we had to get to work, so I could save money to buy my own car. So naturally it was an S-10 blazer as well, though a 4 door and a 1992, as I’d become fond of the 4.3. I paid $800 for it, got 30,000 miles out of it, and sold it for $500. Just simply didn’t need it since I had a daily driver nissan and my beloved 1991 camaro, which I’ve kept to this day.
The C..L.A. bought a bunch of V6 powered S-10 Blazers, they were crude but that’s what trucks are for .
Yellow with beige (“biscuit’) bio degradable interior, many were 4X4, all were still running strong 15 + years later when they went to salvage .
-Nate