As SUVs have grown in popularity, they have spawned a seemingly endless supply of niches and sub-niches around them, bigger than big sport, sports hybrids like the Chevy blazer extreme, as you know that very few of the people who are buying SUVs are taking them off-road, as some folks also do not want or need four-wheel drive. The extreme targets those that like the SUV look, but would gladly trade the backwoods traction and chunky styling sameness of most cars for something a little different and the Blazer extreme is a sharp looker, playing to a very specialized audience.

The Chevrolet Blazer is one of the most popular SUVs for five consecutive decades, though its name was shared by two completely unrelated model lines, as Chevrolet first started affixing the "K5 Blazer" designation to two-door convertible vehicle versions of its big trucks starting with the fabulous Chevy blazer parts.

As an inexpensive choice for a small or midsize SUV, a second-generation Chevy Blazer might be worth a look, as one of the reasons so many people use a sport-utility in place of a car, it will do everything a car will do, and almost as well. Plus it adds almost unstoppable mobility in the worst weather and the capability to go where the roads don't and the vehicle is able to pass efficiently at highway speeds with the long-term reliability of this generation cars.

This car brand has remained a mainstay of the midsize vehicle market by providing durability, utility and especially last year with the newly introduced Trailblazer, a touch of luxury appointments, its traditional contours are overdue for reshaping, indeed, a Blazer new from the ground up is not far away but this classic rectilinear shape model attached with the Blazer parts appeals to those who like a truck that's shaped like a truck and not something squeezed out of a toothpaste tube.

Even the loading for a big trip makes it easy for the owner, as the access to the commodious cargo compartment is via a rear lift gate and the cargo cover is standard; unlike those that require you to climb into the cargo area to unreel them, the Blazer's cover goes from side to side, nothing is in the way when you want to lower the rear seats to load large cargo: the cargo cover reel need not be removed and become another piece of cargo.