The Chevrolet K5 Blazer is a full-size sport-utility vehicle that was built by General Motors. Being GM's smallest full-size SUV, the K5 Blazer is part of the C/K truck series. Introduced to the Chevrolet line for the 1969 model year, the K5 Blazer was replaced for 1995 by the Chevrolet Tahoe. In 1970, GMC introduced its own model of the truck, called the Jimmy, which was discontinued in 1991 and replaced by the Yukon. The "Jimmy" name was chosen to reflect how GM may sound in a similar manner to how Jeep was thought to be a pronunciation of GP in the competing market.[citation needed] Both were short-wheelbase trucks and available with either rear- or four-wheel drive. Despite all Chevrolet versions from 1969 to 1988 having the "K5" badge, GM never internally referred to the model as the K5 Blazer/K5 Jimmy. Officially, the vehicles have always been referred to as the Blazer/Jimmy, without the K5 prefix. After the release of the S-Series Blazer/Jimmy in 1983, the models were officially renamed "Chevrolet Full-Size Blazer" and "GMC K-Jimmy" (V-Jimmy from 1987-1991), though they are often unofficially still addressed as "K5" to avoid confusion.
The K5 Blazer and Jimmy had "full convertible" removable tops until 1975. For 1976, GM introduced a half-cab design that was less prone to leaks and slightly safer in a roll-over. These half cabs had the convertible top begin a few inches behind the driver/passenger doors and run back to the tailgate.
The Blazer's long-wheelbase relative, with an integrated rear body and doors for second row passengers, is called the Chevrolet Suburban.
The original K5 Blazer was built on the K10 pickup truck platform with a wheelbase shortened to 104 in (2,600 mm), designed and marketed to compete with the International Harvester Scout (which had been introduced in 1960 for the 1961 model year) and the Ford Bronco (1965/66) utility vehicles.[3][5] The Scout and Bronco were originally aimed at the Jeep CJ series and consequently all three vehicles were much smaller than the K5 Blazer. Because the Blazer was developed from a shortened pickup truck, this innovation both increased interior space and lowered the cost of production by using a shared platform.[6] The Blazer quickly became popular. For the first time, it married the off-road capabilities of competing utility vehicles with "luxury" features like air conditioning and automatic transmissions that routinely were available on pickup trucks.
