For 1973, Chevrolet carried the two-wheel-drive Blazer it had first offered in 1970 over onto the all-new squarebody. The 1973 K5 Blazer 2wd was a quiet but significant line on the order sheet, one that changed who the truck was built for as much as any styling update that year. As a researcher who spends a lot of time with period build documentation, I find this option sheet decision more revealing about Chevrolet's strategy than almost anything else in the 1973 redesign.
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The 1973 Two-Wheel-Drive K5 Blazer Arrives
The K5 Blazer 1973 2wd option broke a four-year 4x4-only tradition, opening the nameplate to buyers who wanted the size without the trail hardware.
Why Chevrolet kept offering two-wheel drive
When it launched for 1969, the K5 Blazer was a 4x4-only proposition, built and marketed against the Ford Bronco and International Scout as a genuine off-road vehicle. That positioning worked, but it also capped the truck's market. Buyers who wanted the size, the visibility, and the growing cabin comfort of a full-size SUV, without ever needing low range or a locking transfer case, had no reason to choose a Blazer over a station wagon or a two-wheel-drive Suburban. Chevrolet answered that gap with a two-wheel-drive Blazer for 1970, and the 1973 redesign, with its larger cabin and longer, stiffer frame, gave that version far more room and comfort to sell on. Offering the K5 in two-wheel drive opened the nameplate to a meaningfully larger customer base without touching the 4x4 model's core capability.
Dealer materials from the period frame the 2wd option as an efficiency and cost play as much as a market expansion move. A two-wheel-drive K5 Blazer was lighter, simpler to build, and less expensive to buy, which mattered to a suburban buyer weighing the Blazer against a two-wheel-drive wagon or full-size car with comparable interior space.
What actually changed underneath a 2wd K5
The most obvious difference sat at the front axle. Where the 4x4 model used a solid front driving axle, the 2wd K5 used a simpler front suspension without driveline hardware running to the front wheels, shedding weight and mechanical complexity. No transfer case, no low range, no front driveshaft. The result was a lighter truck with a lower center of gravity up front, which period reviewers noted gave the 2wd model slightly sharper on-road manners than its 4x4 sibling, a fair tradeoff for a buyer who was never going to leave pavement anyway.
Fuel economy also improved modestly on 2wd models, a detail that mattered more with each passing year through the 1970s as fuel costs and availability became a genuine national concern rather than a background consideration.
Reading a 2wd K5 correctly today
For collectors and buyers researching the model today, two-wheel-drive 1973 K5 Blazers are considerably less common than their 4x4 counterparts, which were the truck's bread and butter throughout the squarebody run. That relative rarity has started to draw interest from collectors who value an unusual factory configuration over outright capability, though the broader market still generally prices 4x4 examples higher given the model's core reputation. Verifying a genuine factory 2wd build means checking the build sheet or cowl tag rather than assuming, since decades of parts swapping and repairs have occasionally moved axle components between trucks.
Exact factory production splits between 2wd and 4x4 K5 Blazers for 1973 are not something Chevrolet published in an easily verifiable form, but surviving registry data and the relative scarcity of 2wd trucks in the collector market today both point the same direction. Whatever the exact ratio, documentation consistently shows 2wd production was the minority path for the nameplate, which is part of what makes a well-documented surviving example worth a second look for a collector chasing something outside the expected 4x4 script.
"The two-wheel-drive Blazer is easy to overlook because it runs against everything the nameplate is known for. But it tells you exactly how far Chevrolet was willing to stretch the K5 to reach a buyer who never planned to use a transfer case."
- Sarah Whitfield
How the 2wd option fit the broader 1973 redesign
Taken on its own, the 2wd option might look like a minor line-item addition. Placed inside the full context of the 1973 redesign, larger body, longer frame, more comfortable cabin, it reads as part of a coherent strategy to widen the Blazer's appeal without diluting the 4x4 model that had built the nameplate's reputation. Chevrolet let buyers choose exactly how much truck they needed, a flexibility the original 1969-72 K5 simply never offered. For the complete account of that redesign, the 1973 k5 blazer story covers everything Chevrolet changed that year, and the full story traces the nameplate's arc across its entire production run.
If a two-wheel-drive squarebody has you curious about what has survived, classic K5 Blazers on the market is worth a look for comparing 2wd and 4x4 examples side by side.
A configuration worth documenting carefully
Because 2wd K5 Blazers represent a smaller slice of total production, provenance research matters more, not less, when evaluating one. Original window sticker information, cowl tag decoding, and dealer invoice paperwork, where they survive, all help confirm whether a given truck left the factory as a genuine 2wd build or was modified later. For a truck this uncommon within its own model line, that paperwork trail is often the difference between a documented piece of Blazer history and a truck whose origin story cannot be verified.
Who actually bought the 2wd K5 in period
Dealer sales patterns from 1973 point to a buyer profile distinct from the traditional Blazer customer. Suburban families, small businesses needing cargo space and visibility without off-road use, and buyers cross-shopping full-size wagons made up a notable share of 2wd orders, according to period dealer correspondence. This was Chevrolet testing whether the Blazer name alone, divorced from its off-road capability, could sell on size, style, and interior room. The answer, based on how the configuration persisted through later squarebody years rather than being quietly dropped, appears to have been yes, even if 2wd trucks never approached 4x4 volumes.
Fleet buyers also showed interest in the 2wd configuration for applications where the lighter weight and lower cost outweighed any need for off-road capability, further widening the truck's practical customer base beyond what a strictly 4x4 lineup could reach.
Comparing 2wd and 4x4 on the used market today
When evaluating a period-correct 2wd K5 against a comparable 4x4 example, condition and documentation matter more than the drivetrain configuration alone in most price discussions, but the rarity factor does shift how serious collectors approach the two. A 4x4 example in mediocre condition is still easier to sell than a comparably rough 2wd truck, simply because demand runs deeper for the configuration the nameplate is known for. A genuinely clean, well-documented 2wd truck, however, can appeal to a buyer specifically looking for something the majority of other Blazer owners do not have, a distinction that carries its own kind of value in a hobby built partly on standing out from the crowd.
That is the case for the 2wd K5 as a research subject as much as a purchase. It is a footnote to most casual fans of the nameplate, but a genuinely informative data point for anyone trying to understand how far Chevrolet was willing to bend its own off-road identity in pursuit of broader sales in 1973.
Sources and notes
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About the author
Sarah Whitfield
Third-generation classic car collector specializing in pre-war American and European coachbuilt automobiles. Researcher and concours enthusiast.
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