BLAZING A NEW TRAIL

Complacency is the ironic flip side of hot rodding.

For all the inspirational creativity and mechanical wizardry that abounds, trends often become clichés that are difficult to shake. So, given his trendsetting legacy with early F-bodies, the logical reaction to Pro Touring pioneer Mark Stielow’s latest build is, “that’s a funny-looking ’69 Camaro.”

But the visionary builder took a big step out of his comfort zone with an LT-swapped, two-wheel-drive 1978 K5 Blazer because, well … just because.

“I’ve always loved the design of these Blazers and I wanted to build something for long-haul drives—something that was comfortable, had room for a week’s worth of gear, and was forget-about-it reliable,” he says. “I didn’t build it to race; I built it to drive.”

In fact, Stielow had just tacked