You can order one yourself and be put on the waitlist, or you can drive this supercharged 4×4 home today.
You might remember the custom-built 2023 Chevy K5 Blazer from this year’s SEMA show. Y’know, the one that’s based on a Silverado with a supercharged 5.3-liter V8, Dirt King suspension, and 37-inch Nitto Trail Grapplers. It’s a slick rig put together by Flat Out Autos in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and they’ll even build one to your specs if you have the money and the time to wait. Or, you could skip the line and buy the OG show truck for $199,000.
As they say, it’s a beaut, Clark. Flat Out built several modern GMC Jimmy four-wheel drives before but this is the shop’s first Chevy Blazer project. It rolled off the production line as a single cab, short bed Silverado and quickly became a ZR2 clone of sorts, only with more power and long-travel suspension instead of Multimatic DSSV shocks.
The truck’s Fiberwerx widebody looks especially sharp, and it’s complemented by Glacier Blue Metallic paint. Sankuer Composite Technologies provided the carbon fiber roof for the back half, and yes, it is removable. Then, a roll cage keeps it rigid while also adding to the old-school feel. Aesthetically, man, it gets everything right.
I’m not sure how much power it makes exactly but you can bet it’s a lot. A stock 5.3-liter Chevy small block makes 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque, and this one’s been fitted with a Whipple supercharger. HP Tuners got it running right and according to Flat Out, it’s ready to hit the trails. I’ll just say it wouldn’t take much convincing for me to go wheeling in a 500+ hp machine like this.
Whether you live near the forest or the desert, the beach or the mountains, this is a sweet 4×4 that looks good anywhere. The “real” Blazer that Chevy sells today is nothing like this, and while it certainly has lots of high-dollar extras, I can’t help but think the Bowtie brand could sell tons of trucks like these if it would just reverse course. Every time photos of it get posted online, commenters cry out for an official factory version. Meanwhile, Flat Out is building the machines of people’s dreams and this is a prime example.
Flat Out hasn’t shared pricing for its custom-ordered K5s online so it’s hard to compare the cost. That said, this one is available right now and that alone is worth a lot to folks who have the cash. For those of us who don’t, at least we can still drive it in SnowRunner.
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