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Bronco vs Blazer: Death of the Bowtie

Paleos

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I've been a lifelong Chevy guy which may not make sense given that I am a new owner of a '22 BL SAS 7-spd but with what Chevy has done to the Blazer namesake, I just could not take it any longer. See below: an early Blazer vs today's Blazer. After pasting the two images into this thread, I want to cry.

This article reminded my of what I felt when Chevy introduced the 'new Blazer' a few years back. What an atrocity. Hey Chevy: the world doesn't need another bland, fake-off road, "driving appliance"...I've already got a dishwasher....thanks though.

Aside from the new 'Vette, there are precisely zero product lines holding that company together. What a shame. The Bronco will only aid in Ford eating Chevy's lunch for the next decade and beyond. I'm stoked to be in camp Blue Oval for the first time!!

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-photo/

1655148821549.png


VS

1655149180979.png
Look how they massacred my boy...

I had a 98' Blazer S-10 through Graduate school and I tore all over Utah, Wyoming, etc. with it. School was in Nebraska and it saw several winters, always getting me through the big snow embankments the plows would make at the ends of our side street. Those trucks were a beast even if the front wheel bearings would wear out all the time. These new models are just chonky hatchbacks...
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Paleos

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1655154804762.png


This is what I was rooting for.
Having a real Chevy Blazer back in the mix would really escalate a competition for these offroad capable SUVs. The Land Rovers are just too expensive and end up as parking lot queens for anyone to really be taking them offroad in the same numbers.
 

22OBX

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Bronco II or Bronco Sport…take your pick. Bronco II was never a real Bronco either.
 

Bdisco

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Mahk hated the 2019, pretty sure he’ll hate the EV too.


 

Bdisco

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this is close to what the new Blazer should have been. Maybe we don’t get the Blazer we want, we get the Blazer we deserve.
 

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The new Blazer looks like a touring vehicle. Older BMW's used to have fold back front seats you could sleep in kind of. Built for long road trips. It's certainly no Blazer.

Outside of Cadillac and Corvette I don't see much to love over in GM world. I guess GMC's are solid on paper but I don't find them attractive. The Hummer is interesting but almost doesn't seem real. Like the designer was looking at a Barbie's Dream Car toy. Desperate, it comes across to me as desperate, and they threw the whole kitchen sink at it to steal some Bronco thunder.
 

ckminette

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I feel the same way with the "Bronco Sport" they should have used another name for that model. I'm tired of trying to explain to people that those aren't really Bronco's.
When we pass a sport on the road, my three kids yell out "Fake One!"
 

ctandc

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I grew up mainly a GM person. However I've never had blind loyalty to any brand. In the 80s (when I started wrenching) and for the next 20+ years, it was hard to touch the small block Chevy when it came to AFFORDABLE, easy to build engines that made good power and had reasonable street manners.

That being said, I think it's more of a generational / mindset or personal experience thing. I see people posting in this thread about S10 Blazer variants - but hardcore K5 / Blazer people never considered the S10 a "Blazer". Funny how that works.

I do find it a bit odd directly comparing the early Bronco and the Blazer. When the K5 Blazer appeared in '69 - it was DEFINITELY not competing with the Bronco. The Bronco was TINY in comparison. In fact, I would argue it was the "Bring the family along" version of the early Bronco. I think people who haven't owned / driven 1st Gen Broncos forget how SMALL they were.

I owned a couple early Broncos. I owned more than a few 69-75 Blazers. When they went to a full roof and a removable rear top (like the 2nd gen Bronco that debuted in '78) I wasn't a huge fan. They were definitely DIFFERENT vehicles.

Marketing people in the car business aren't always (might even say rarely) "car" people.

See the Pinto based Mustang of '74-77. But they were operating in a time of uncertainty about gas availability, cost and the EPA ramping up economy and smog control.

When the 2nd gen Bronco appeared in '78 - the argument could DEFINITELY be made they changed the Bronco to compete with the Blazer / Jimmy from GM.

1977 - the last year of 1st Gen Bronco production @ 15,000 rolled off the line.
1977 - Chevy produced over 86,000 Blazers - not even counting GMC Jimmy production

The 1st gen Bronco was a niche vehicle. Just like the International Scout. The Bronco (and the Scout for that matter) were competing with Jeep CJ-5 / CJ-7 customers but it wasn't much of a competition. Jeep CJ sales dwarfed Bronco numbers from '66-77.

The highest production total for the 1st gen Bronco was '74, when they produced 25,000. That same year, Jeep produced 43,000 CJ5s. GM produced 56,000 (again not counting GMC Jimmy production).

So for me at least, directly comparing early Broncos and GM Blazers is apples to oranges.

As far as the Blazer nameplate - GM was simply doing what every car manufacturer tries to do....cash in on its heritage and history (and hopefully inspire brand loyalty) while trying to profit from current marketing / sales trends. CUVs and small SUVs make up a BIG chunk of new car sales and have for quite a while.

Same thing with Ford and the Mach-E.

From Ford's viewpoint it was a perfect time to bring back the "original Bronco" - which was a SMALL, off road capable SUV. Obviously this recipe was still working for Jeep. For GM - bringing back the "original Blazer" would have involved a bigger SUV to compete in a market already filled with competitors (not to mention its own models (Tahoe, Suburban etc).

Just my 2 cents.
 

Garemlin

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It's funny I read an article where a GM exec said he wasn't worried about the off-road market dominated by the Wrangler and Bronco. I call BS on that. I think it's back peddling because they screwed the pooch with the Blazer.

Well at least they still have a chance to get a piece of the pie. There is always the GMC Jimmy.
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