Chevrolet Blazer Chalet Camper

Chevrolet Blazer Chalet Camper

c. 1976 Chevy 3/4 ton 4×4. This a unique 4×4 with both the Top-of-the-line “Cheyenne” trim package and the heavy duty “8400 GVW Camper Special” package. Blazer Chalet pop up fiberglass camper. Originally these truck were 1/2 ton, but some were upgraded to 3/4 ton to handle extra weight of the camper shell.

The interior features bucket seats and a wood-grain interior. The rear compartment has a gas stove , bunk beds, space heating, and room for four more seated passengers. It also has a dinette table, steel galley, LPG stove and icebox.  The engine is a 350 V8. Features trendy 70’s style earth tones with a flashy stripe scheme. 4 Wheel Drive Cabin in the Woods.

Tough 4×4 drive train gets you when you need to go.  It just like a home away from home camper.  The Chalet has a fiberglass reinforced plastic shell over a rigid steel frame. This unit will accommodate up to four people.
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The Chevy Blazer Chalet is a full size truck that came with a factory installed pop-up camper. Some of the other badges in included Jimmy Casa Grandes from GMC.  This was a limited run vehicle with only 1800 units made in 1976 to 1977.  The camper shell was installed by Chinook Mobilodge in Washington.

The amenities are adequate for weekend trip for a couple of people and not suited for a large family on a long term trip.Being this was only a half ton truck the US DOT took notice. This got GM in to some trouble with the government.  The axle rating being so low could allow for overloading.  The height of the vehicle also made it prone to rollovers.  And the camper seats did not have seat belts. To retrofit the tuck would be very costly to GM.  To avoid huge lawsuits GM pulled these off the market.

Blazer Camper

 

 

Truck Camper HQ Website moderator. Loves camping and especially love truck campers. If it has to do with a truck camper I want to know about it and share it with others.

7 Comments on “Chevrolet Blazer Chalet Camper

  1. Where do you get that this is a 3/4 ton rig? The Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Jimmy only came as a K/5, denoting 1/4 ton capacity.

    • Thank you for pointing that out, you are correct. This is actually a 3/4 vehicle. Some of these vehicles were upgraded to 3/4 ton. I updated the information.

  2. The photo you show is of Chalet #1741, a 1977 model, back when it was changing hands through a couple of classic car dealerships – at that time at Chicago Classic Cars in Glenview, Illinois. A more recent, but not current, set of photos of it is seen here http://offroadaction.ca/2013/07/23/1977-k5-blazer-chalet/ Last I heard, it was sold, off to Phoenix. It is not especially representative of a factory original with the extra items added to it and the missing camper stripes / logos (as seen in the vingage ad) / rear door logo decal. I’d also say the dealers had it priced about twice what it was worth.

    The Chevy versions were all in the Cheyenne trim, not Silverado, the factory interiors all had low-back cab seats, not buckets, and the dinette seats did each have a single set of lap belts.

    I currently manage the blazerchalet.com web site, but nearly all of the content was created years back by the guy who turned it over to me. I used to own Chalet #1747 ( http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/2/Chalet_serial_number_plate.jpg ), and I’m the #2 moderator at the Yahoo Chalet & Casa Grande owners’ / enthusiasts’ forum, free to join for all who like these: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ChevyK5BlazerChalets/info

      • Oh, more knowledgeable on these by accident, mostly, but not expert enough to know all there is to know about ’em. I also welcome any corrections or additional info on these, as they production details on ’em are still on the sketchy side.

        For the two years of production, ’76-’77, these campers were fitted to the regular Blazers that had the steel roof over the cab & the rear removable cap section. The Chalet / Casa Grande camper units bolted down to the stock cap holes, and if I have it right, to the holes where the regular 2nd-row stock Blazer seats were. It would be inaccurate to call the camper units “slide-ins” since they aren’t self-supporting like some of the aftermarket camper units are, and Chinook didn’t make the wiring harnesses from the camper to the truck easily separable. The ’73-’75s were the Blazers (& GMC Jimmys) that had caps extending to the windshield, such that when removed they’d give you a full open top ‘convertible-looking’ vehicle. Since I don’t follow later year stock Blazers much, I don’t offhand know when GM ditched the removable caps in favor of a permanent full roof.

    • I had one myself 4 years ago I Doug up out of a Hollar in virgina I was gona restore , then life hit me got hurt at work and among other things I had to sell it to a scrap yard seeing this one makes me very upset with life

  3. That is what I thought. That the standard blazer had a removable roof. I recall back in the day that there some Blazer that where “convertibles” that made the vehicle look more like a truck. So I guess it made sense to the the designers at GM to make a camper shell as a replacement for the original top.

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