Driven: Velocity’s LT1-Swapped K5 Blazer Is the King of Restomod 4x4s

On the former site of a factory that once manufactured airplane parts, the team at Velocity Restorations takes a handful of timeless classic American vehicles and restores them not just to their former glory but well and beyond past it. With a gracious invite from Velocity themselves, autoevolution was proud to spend some time with the team down in the small Floridian town of Cantonment near Pensacola to take a look at their world-class restomod production operation.

It should go without saying, this isn't your average restomod shop that'll spend half a decade building wholly bespoke custom builds out of whatever scrap pile gets dragged in on a flatbed. Of all the classic American iron you could slap a new drivetrain and modern hardware into, Velocity Restorations specializes in exactly six of them. A classic Bronco, fifth-generation F-Series trucks (F-150 and F-250), late '60s Mustangs, International Scouts, and K5 Blazers are the only choices you'll find coming out of Velocity's front doors.

Even so, we can't imagine the average restomod shop that takes all comers can turn out a product in even a fraction of the time it takes a Velocity build to finish. From the first deposit to the day you pick up your custom build, Velocity can do it all in as little as 14 to 16 weeks, depending on the model and the options selected. With the ability to manufacture their own interior and exterior trim pieces through 3D printing or in-house metalworking equipment, there's no reason a Velocity build leaves the shop until its multi-point inspection is complete.

Its team of 160 or so super-skilled craftspeople oversee each phase in the slow-but-sure assembly line process that looks like an old-time Henry Ford product slowed to take place over three months and change. Depending on the model, Velocity can even supply you with an entirely new chassis built to the specifications of one built by the Illinois-based Roadster Shop but designed to feel completely OEM on the road. It's that fine balance between the new and the old, melded onto a timeless classic platform, that Velocity turns into an art form.

There aren't too many clues about what kind of monster lurks under the hood of this Blazer apart from the fancy alloy wheels and the particularly high-quality leather upholstery sticking out. Unless you're practically visually interrogating the thing as you look at it, the common person's just bound to think it's a very nicely restored old K5 with some shiny wheels. But then again, that's what you're after when buying a restmod, isn't it? You're paying to have all the power and luxuries of a modern drivetrain and a modern interior but all the looks and charm of the early 1970s.

In this regard, this Velocity K5 Blazer Signature Series is already off to a fast start, and that's before you even open the door. Mind you, the custom-made billet aluminum door handle, crafted in-house here at the Velocity shop, is enough of a treat to play with on itself to satisfy the crowd for whom tactile feedback is like a drug they can never have too much of. Seriously, after a lifetime of pulling door handles made from plastic and cheap paint, pressing the door button made of billet aluminum is like buying a brand-new Rolex after a lifetime of wearing used Apple Watches from eBay.

I could've spent all day latching and un-latching the driver's door to this K5. But regrettably, I had a job to do. Still, it's not like what awaited me on the other side of that door didn't amaze me in its own right. Classic Blazers and Broncos weren't exactly known for their world-class interiors when they were new. Back then, Americans were more than content with bargain basement vinyl seat covers and the most basic carpets available so long as the engine was packing heat.

You can always choose to have some plush leather seats made fresh by Velocity's team of artisan leather workers. But with the spirit of adventure native to a 4x4 like this in mind, a high-quality, marine-grade vinyl seat package over Procar front buckets and rear bench seats is what was specked on this one. With the option of either a classic or fancier diamond-stitch pattern available from the factory, there's enough customization in the seats alone to get you salivating. The rest of the interior is equally fantastic, with a great deal of care given to make small interior trim pieces that even GM themselves might have slacked on back when this left the factory.

We can't imagine 1970s General Motors could've matched the pizzaz of this K5's LED-backlit Dakota Digital gauge cluster; the touchscreen BlueTooth radio with built-in iOS Car Play and Android Auto would've also made a 70s GM engineer blush. The Focal Audio sound system won't leave anything to be desired either. Add on one of the best aftermarket HVAC systems money can buy from Vintage Air, and the cockpit of this K5 is the absolute perfect balance of classic and modern. The power-actuated folding step from AMP Research is just the gravy on top.

In short, it's exactly what you're paying for if you're shelling out mortgage prices on a restomod. Better still, you didn't have the chance to ruin everything by trying to build it yourself. But the absolute highlight of this interior is actually something fairly mundane, that being the gear stick for the automatic transmission. When I tell you shifting between park, neutral, drive, and reverse felt like sliding the bolt action on a Vietnam-era sniper rifle, we mean it and then some. The sound of perfectly lubricated metal sliding behind the steering wheel as you shift almost feels like a video game sound byte to the average zoomer to whom their idea of ancient history is Green Day's American Idiot album.

It's hard to believe that all door handles and shift levers used to feel and sound like this. In that sense, Velocity is preserving an antiquated but much-appreciated manufacturing process that could've been lost to history without specialized equipment to make their billet trim pieces. But once you turn the key, the star of the show quickly stops being the interior, as all your attention turns to the drivetrain. I've stalled about it long enough. Let's take a look under the hood.

Yup, your eyes don't deceive you; that's a 6.2-liter LT1 V8, the same you'd find in a C7 Corvette Stingray in that engine bay. No turbos or forced induction of any kind here, just honest, naturally aspirated goodness linked to a tried and true GM 10L80 ten-speed automatic overdrive transmission. With 460 horsepower to play with on a wheelbase this short, it's hard to emphasize how much power's on hand for an old boat like this. But as I learned firsthand, Velocity did everything it could to make all that American beef under the hood accessible to the average lad.

With just enough boost in the power steering to not tire your arms but not so much that you can't feel the road at all, it was actually a treat creeping this K5 across Velocity's front dirt lot. With a six-lug Dana 44 front axle and six-lug Dana 60 in the rear riding on Fox adjustable coilovers and an Atlas 2 transfer case, I could've waded through the small pond next to the Velocity shop as well if they let me. Sadly, this very Blazer is headed to a customer very soon. So bringing back caked-in pond scum was probably not the most cordial thing to do.

Hapilly, this beached whale of an old American SUV has surprisingly brilliant on-road performance to match the hardware in the engine bay. A set of four BF Goodrich T/A KO2 tires might be the logical first choice for off-road junkies, their on-road manners didn't leave much to complain about. With factory-installed front and rear sway bars, the few long, banked corners my rep from Velocity Travis and I encountered on our ride were ironed out like they weren't even there.

So Travis said, the four-wheel drive setup and well-built chassis in this K5 make it nearly as capable in the corners as a low-to-mid-range sports car. Not quite a BMW M3, more like a Mitsubishi Evo X with a V8 on a lift kit, and you won't hear any complaints about said combination from us. But mostly, all I could say about the ride along bumpy Florida state roads is that the ride sure was a lot smoother than a 70s American product has any right being. No shade against OEM K5s and Broncos, but their factory disposition built for ruggedness and dependability didn't always lend well to smooth ride.

Not the case with this restomod, and again, that's what you're paying so much for. But in truth, what your really paying for is for the Holley stainless steel headers and exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers to play a symphony that ties the whole build together. With one mash of your foot and enough noise to wake a cemetery, there is no place in America where this Blazer won't turn heads. It'll make all the "normies" who bought a Lamborghini Urus or a used Rolls-Royce Cullinan in the hopes of appearing more interesting than they are less interesting than daytime cable.

But then again, the average person who buys a Velocity build isn't trying to flex on people. They buy it for the love of the drive and because their lifelong passion for fast cars and fine craftsmanship didn't end when they hunkered down and worked hard enough to buy one of these restomods. Better still, when that glorified Audi of a Urus or that makeup-caked BMW of a Cullinan bankrupts their owners with repair bills, we're sure the LT1 in this Blazer won't go on the fritz every five minutes. With so much refinement honed into such a desirable package, is it any wonder these Signature Series Velocity K5 Blazers start at $339,000? Five out of five, would bankrupt again. Many thanks to the Velocity team for hosting us, lord willing its the start of so many more restomod test drives around here.