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Dave Powell of Winsted, Conn. bought a brand new 1987 Chevrolet K-5 Blazer and still owns and drives it 30 years later. It's a pampered SUV that's kept in a climate-controlled garage.

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BY BUD WILKINSON | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

It was an SUV model that lasted for 25 years – 1969 through 1994 – but Winsted resident Dave Powell’s unrestored 1987 Chevrolet K-5 Blazer has lasted even longer. He ordered it new and has kept it on the road for 30 years with nary a spot of rust. It replaced a smaller 1984 S-10 Blazer.

“Really liked it but I towed boats and motorcycles, and my boats were getting bigger and so we had to upgrade the Blazer. That’s how I ended up with this one,” he said of the trade in Blazers to the beefier model with a 350-cubic inch (5.7 liter) V8 engine. “I ordered it specifically with the towing package.”

Powell never expected to own the K-5 Blazer for so long. “I figured was going to have this for maybe six, seven years because they rot out. I just figured I’ll use it up and get another one. It just worked out. It hung in there. I (took) care of it and there was no reason to replace it. Besides, the SUVs were getting more and more expensive,” he said.

Despite its size, Powell said the SUV is fun to drive. “One of the reasons it’s fun to drive is because of the condition and the age,” he reported. “I pull into a gas station and it doesn’t fail, people come up and say, ‘Wow, that is a good looking truck. They don’t make ’em like that any more.’”

From 1969 through 1975, Chevy made the K-5 Blazer with a fully removable top. For the remainder of the model’s existence only the rear half of the roof could be removed, provided the owner was willing to undo numerous bolts and perhaps use a pulley to lift it off. It’s not something Powell is prone to do. “The more you take them off, the more they’ll squeak on you. I don’t like squeaky Blazers,” he said.

Powell never intended to keep the Blazer for 30 years, but there came a tipping point when he realized that taking better care of the SUV might be a wise practice longterm. “What happened is it started turning heads,” he recalled, “and people would say to me, ‘Wow, there’s not very many of those left’ and ‘Wow, really nice truck. Did you restore it?’

The white Blazer is original. It has never had to be restored due to pampering as it got older. “I had a ’69 Chevelle that turned heads and I never expected this to be a head-turner,” said Powell, who explained that he got serious about upkeep at about the 20-year mark. “Of course, family wasn’t crazy about me getting picky with it because then they had to take their shoes off and couldn’t touch the windows and things like that. And the dogs, too. I had to cover everything up when I put the dogs in it.”

The Blazer’s biggest drawback is gas mileage. “It’s not as bad as my ’69 Chevelle was. That got like eight miles to the gallon. This, believe it or not, I can get 18 miles to the gallon. Yeah, it’s not good at all but it’s not like my Chevelle. When I went from the Chevelle, putting fuel in that to putting fuel in this, 18 miles to the gallon wasn’t too bad at that time,” he said.

Power appreciates the K-5 Blazer more and more with each passing year. “Every once in a great while I’ll run into one that has original, very low miles on it and it doesn’t have any rot on it but, for the most part, if I see them they’re pretty much a rat or they’ve been restored,” he said.

Having an original model makes it special. Powell takes the K5 Blazer to car shows and doesn’t plan to part with it. “It does everything I want to do,” he said.

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