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Digital Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison Shows Another Missed GM Opportunity

After taking care of its near EV future with stuff like the 2024 Silverado, Equinox, and Blazer EVs, Chevrolet came back to the present day with updates for the 2023 Silverado roster.
Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8 9 photos
Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8Chevy Silverado K5 Blazer ZR2 Bison revival rendering by jlord8
Chief among them were the uprated 3.0-liter Duramax diesel engine and, of course, the tough $78,490 Chevy Silverado ZR2 Bison truck made in partnership with the expert folks over at American Expedition Vehicles. It is a nice, off-road-focused addition to the lineup, but many GM aficionados will probably feel tons of chagrin at the thought of a certainly missed opportunity.

This is because Chevy kept the Silverado ZR2 Bison with a naturally aspirated V8 engine good for a mere 420 ponies and 460 lb-ft (626 Nm) of torque instead of giving it the supercharged chance to fight the Ram TRX and F-150 Raptor R for full-size pickup truck supremacy. Well, as it turns out, that was not the only chance they passed, at least virtually.

Over across the realm of “imagination land,” Jim, the pixel master better known as jlord8 on social media, knows how to juggle with our car dreams, so he recently took a quick behind-the-scenes making-of swing at a cool yet tough SUV destined to travel on and off the beaten path. Yep, he sure did create a digital K5 Blazer revival out of the big 2023 Chevy Silverado ZR2 Bison. Now dubbed as the “Blazer ZR2 Bison,” it seems more than ready to fight off any tough terrain, as well as Ford’s reinvented two-door Bronco.

Sadly, even though a CGI expert only needed a few digital cuts here and there (like a smaller wheelbase, just two doors, and a big rear greenhouse), we feel this will pass as just another big, missed opportunity for Chevy to return to its glory K5 Blazer days. Alas, that road is closed in the face of Blazer EV's quests for sustainable glory, so this might forever remain just wishful thinking.


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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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