The '70s must have been an interesting time for General Motors as its product planners were watching the recreational vehicle marketplace explode well beyond its Jeep CJ roots. Their first shot across the bow was the introduction of the '69 Chevrolet K5 Blazer, followed by the GMC counterpart, the GMC Jimmy. In their time, they were unique in that, instead of a purpose-built small SUV like the Jeep CJ or the International Harvester Scout, GM shortened its full-size C/K pickups to produce a unique, go-anywhere vehicle with its own singular set of attributes.
Dave Lindsley, a GM muscle car collector living in Southern California, brought this pristine example to our attention. "You must check out my friend Jack's truck. It's a '76 GMC Jimmy Casa Grande," he said. Not knowing what a Jimmy Casa Grande was but knowing Dave wouldn't turn us on to something that wasn't noteworthy, we made arrangements to photograph the truck. In the time between his phone call and our photo session a week later, we did our due diligence of the program's history.
The GMC Jimmy Casa Grande was a collaboration between GM and Chinook, a manufacturer of self-contained motorhomes and campers, being best known for their Toyota-based camper conversions.
The only instrumented road test of either the Blazer Chalet or the Jimmy Casa Grande was in the Feb. '77 issue ofPickups, Vans & 4WD, and the numbers were a bit surprising, considering that this was the era of diminished performance and fuel mileage. The Blazer Chalet could accelerate from 0 to 30 in a respectable 4.6 seconds, with 60 mph coming up in 13.3 seconds when equipped with the optional 400ci, 175hp V-8 that was also offered on the Jimmy Casa Grande. Top speed was 91 mph at 3,500 rpm. Fuel mileage was an entirely respectable 11.4 city/highway mpg combined. Not surprisingly, mileage off-road suffered, with the test vehicle measuring 7.1 mpg.
