5k: 4th of July Camper: 1977 Chevrolet Blazer Chalet
The Fourth of July is days away, so why not start celebrating freedom with a little freedom from boring? It would be easy this summer to head to your local RV rental place and pick up some late model motorhome, but rental cost can be downright ridiculous, especially once they start tacking on all sorts of misc fees, like cleaning fees, waste disposal fees, taxes, nude cheeks on the couch fees — so why not skip the fees and get something that won’t charge you when you unzip? Find this 1977 Chevrolet Blazer Chalet
currently bidding for $3,250 in Concord, CA via ebay with a few hours to go.
This 2nd generation Blazer is a rare factory Chalet optioned Blazer. If you were not familiar with the Chalet, you won’t be alone because only about 1500 of these pop-top classics ever left the factory production lines. Read more about the funky looking classic at the aptly named BlazerChalet.com website.
From what we can interpret from the Chevy factory sales literature, the Chalet was the perfect camping vehicle for the turtleneck loving couple consisting of the shortish haired lady who likes to cook for her man, and the longish haired man who likes to put on his galoshes and go fishing/hunting at night while his lady reads a book of Blazer sales literature.
A quick peek in the inside shows a strange heater/pet storage box and miles of beige/brown 70s colored interior pieces. The seller admits it is a bit of a project, but the bidding reflects that reality.
What is the one thing that is better than a Blazer with a giant matching colored camper shell? A Blazer with a giant matching colored pop-up camper shell.
See a vehicle more ready to spread freedom from sea to shining sea? Send us your 4th of July tips! tips@dailyturismo.com
Maybe it's just that I'm getting older, but I've got my galoshes ready for some night-hunting. The acres of beige are, well, beige-y, but somehow acceptable. Sadly the auction closed too early.
Have to say, I like these. Although given the rear overhang and the Family-Trucksterish double tail lights, I can't understand why they didn't just build it on the 6' pickup truck bed.
This thing sits nice, it looks like the axle upgrade has addressed the weight issues these have. This would have been a great one to buy: mechanicals are done, all you need to do is Tiki the hell out of that interior!
There are more scattered around the country, this one was owned by a member of our owner's & enthusiasts forum, but had to be sold at an estate sale. Around 60 of our members own at least one, it is a free-to-join forum: groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ChevyK5BlazerChalets/info We maintain a reasonably up-to-date list of all the ones that have come up for sale in recent years, many are still available, but sometimes getting info from sellers about when their rigs are sold is like herding cats……..
Russell — good to know, a thriving owners club is excellent news, even if it is only 60 members. With the boom of the internet, ever make/model has a google presence, but it is good to see an active forum because that means that your problems will be only minutes away from advice and experience of folks who have owned these before. Thanks for taking the time to maintain and run this kind of thing.
Click on this link to get to the Blazer Chalet yahoo group homepage.
Vince
DT Editor-in-Chief