I’ve had an obsession with these old squarebodies since I was little. I never had the chance to buy one until 2008, a 1986 K5 Blazer. In 2010 a kid pulled out in front of me and I t-boned him. It sadly ended the life of the K5. After things were settled with the insurance company, I found my Suburban sitting in Oak Grove, MO.  It was love at first sight, and after a little haggling with the seller I drove her home. I went through the truck a little better when I got home. I hadn’t realized there was a compartment under the front seat and in it were all the maintenance records from the original owner, including the original window sticker. It had been sold in Brownsville, TX for $25k and some change.

For several years my Suburban was my daily driver, with dreams of one day fixing it up the way I wanted to, to personalize it and make it my own. In 2014 I made a huge mistake and traded it for a pickup. I spent two years after that trying to track it down.  I got lucky and commented on a Facebook page that I wish I had it back, and shortly afterward I received a message from a guy saying that his cousin had it for sale. I told my wife that I found it and it was also for sale. She understood what it meant to me because I had it when we first started dating. I got in contact with the guy’s cousin and made arrangements to go out and look at it. Funny thing is, it was only 45 minutes from me.

When we got out to his house I noticed it hadn’t really been touched. The factory rally rims were gone and replaced with some nice aftermarket wheels and tires. The guy didn’t even bother to remove the stickers I had put on it the first time I owned it. He let us take it for a spin, and I knew once again that I was hooked. My wife knew it too and asked me what I wanted to do. We got back to his house and made a deal. We had some money set aside but not enough for his asking price. So we agreed to pay it in full over the next few weeks. A couple of weeks had gone by, and I came home from work one day and to my surprise, there it sat in the driveway. Come to find out, my wife had been in contact with him and made a deal with him to deliver it to the house to surprise me. It seemed like Christmas had come early for me. I got a second chance to make it my own. Slowly but surely, it’ll get there.

The ‘73-‘91 Chevrolet pickups and Suburbans are an acquired taste. You either like them or you don’t. The group I know and hang out with eat, sleep, and breathe this body style. Some of us either have a driveway full or just one or two, but we’ve all been bitten by the same bug. We might not agree with the direction somebody is going with their build, but we all have something in common. Keeping these vehicles on the road. Giving them the love and attention they need and deserve. With the help of fine companies like LMC, we’ll do just that.