" Hey, Dook, this fella's got a Blazer." Dook, returning from taking a photograph, looked at me suspiciously. " You one o' them Moor-mons, son?" I explained to him slowly and loudly that his wife was referring to my car, not a sports jacket. " I guess you mean one of those little Chevvies " he said, as the dime dropped.
In the car park at Stonehenge it was about the biggest thing short of the coaches but apparently in the land of plenty the 4.3-litre Chevrolet Blazer rates as little more than a city car. No such likelihood over here. At 4.6 metres nose-to-tail and powered by a lusty V6 Vortec engine, the Blazer is just a few centimetres shorter than a Range Rover and has a similar level of home-spun elegance.
That's their home-spun, not ours. The specification is impressive but the ambience is more rodeo than Rodean and exemplifies the American knack of delivering unpretentious luxury at Walmart prices. Unlike the SE Vogue, the full-monty Blazer LT auto requires only one fistful of dollars. With a check-out price of just £24,295, the flagship model is less than half the price of the top-drawer Landie.
And in case you're wondering, no, the test car was not one of a handful of left-hookers brought over to spice up Vauxhall's press fleet. The UK cars are right-hand drive and legitimate contenders in our domestic sports-utility or off-roader market according to which page of the press release you read. Too big to be labelled an SUV in our terms, the Blazer is pretty much a full-blown 4x4. Its role in life is perhaps defined by its Autotrac transmission. Push-button operated, it offers a choice of traction-responsive, part-time four-wheel drive via a limited-slip rear differential, permanent four-wheel drive or the same thing through a low-ratio transfer 'box.
Chevrolet refer to the Blazer as a limousine, which sounds an exaggeration, but if you were strip the car of its large wheels (actually it's the tyres that are large, the wheels are only 15-inch) and jacked-up suspension it would take on the guise of an American Volvo. In other words, for day-to-day use the car fills the role of a well-appointed estate car with the high driving position as a bonus. And the clean, basic lines are a long way from brash, which should help it along amongst the county set.
As with most American cars, there are no optional extras. You choose the model, pay the price and get what you're given. All versions have the 193 bhp Vortec engine and the choice is limited to auto' or stick 'box in LS trim or the range-topping auto' LT as tested.
Never lacking in generosity, Chevrolet bundle the cheaper LS models with almost as much gear as the LT, which occupies the top slot on the strength of leather-clad power seats, a huge sunroof and headlamp washers. All models feature alloy wheels, twin airbags, electronic climate control, cruise control, an overhead console with an integrated compass, CD player, power-folding mirrors with what the Cousins call 'remote defogging', tinted all-round electric windows and a split tailgate.
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