Blazer

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
SUV

Fans of old-school trucks were disappointed by the reveal of the 2020 Chevrolet Blazer, which shuns its body-on-frame origins in favor of a more popular car-based unibody architecture. Sadly, it doesn't appear as though Chevy will release a Bronco/Wrangler competitor any time soon, but those who are craving the feel of an old-school K5 Blazer will love an example that just sold at auction.

A 1972 K5 Chevy Blazer was just auctioned on Bring A Trailer and this one is far from ordinary. It was built in 2019 by award-winning tuning shop Ringbrothers, makers of legendary muscle cars like the Mustang-based UNKL, and the Camaro-based Valkyrja. It isn't often that a Ringbrothers car becomes available, so all of the crossover haters got their checkbooks out on this one.

Although it looks a lot like a standard 1972 Blazer, this Ringbrothers car has extensive modifications. The factory body, for example, was acid-dipped and refinished in period-style black paint. Ringbrothers then added a fabricated roll cage, custom carbon-fiber hood, and a black soft top. Power comes from a 350 cubic inch ZZ430 V8 featuring Holley Dominator fuel injection mated to a Bowler Performance four-speed automatic transmission with a dual-range transfer case.

A carbon-fiber hood with vents helps keep the engine cool and BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires put the power down to the pavement (or dirt). Ringbrothers ditched the factory suspension in favor of Bilstein shocks and a front sway bar, so it should handle much better than an original.

Inside, the cabin is trimmed in blue vinyl with houndstooth by Upholstery Unlimited. Machined-aluminum door handles and dashboard components give a hand-built feel and even though the interior mostly looks original, an integrated Alpine touchscreen stereo gives a touch of modernity.

Building this truck wasn't cheap and with only 450 miles showing on the odometer, it nabbed price tag. This particular example was never shown publically but it is similar to the "Seaker" model shown in 2018. With just over four hours left on the auction, the highest bid sat at $179,999. By the end, it had sold for $300,000.