One of the stupidest moves I’ve ever made in my automotive history was to sell a 1984 Dodge Ramcharger off. The only four-wheel-drive vehicle I’ve ever owned, the Ramcharger was found languishing on a used car lot, sporting a small suspension lift, a 360/automatic powertrain, and other than your typical paint fade and some very minor interior imperfections, was a really solid rig. Now, to be fair, I flipped it and made a small profit, but if I had at least one more functioning brain cell at the moment I would’ve kept it. And with western Kentucky once again a sheet of ice, I went hunting for a full-size SUV that would do the trick. And my, how things have changed on eBay, at least. Friends, do your SUV hunting on Craigslist…somewhere in the Pacific Northwest or Arizona, if you can help it. Ramchargers seemed to be somewhere between “trashed” and twenty grand, and that story repeats itself for most of the searches I did. So after an hour of hunting, this 1979 GMC Jimmy comes across to me as the best bang-for-the-buck find for a snow wagon. 
You really cannot go wrong with a square-body GM truck, and when they are as clean as this Jimmy is, you make the grab when you can. What’s not to like here? 350, automatic, a small lift, factory truck rally wheels on what look like reasonably useable BFG rubber, and an interior that is just about as nice as you can expect to find for under five figures equals a solid purchase. It’ll do whatever you ask of it AND it’ll double as an investment vehicle. (I hate saying that, but we all know it’s true, so…)
Now, at the time of writing the bidding on the Jimmy was at an even $8,000, and I promise you that figure will climb quickly. How quickly, I don’t know, so while I go start salting the porch in preparation for attacking the slick stuff later this morning, you can check out just how valuable this GMC is by how much that bid has jumped.
Craigslist Link: 1979 GMC Jimmy High Sierra
All though these trucks look boss with a lift kit, that is not the way to tackle ice and snow. You are guaranteed to give yourself a white knuckle ride. You would be miles ahead dropping it back down to stock ride height. In Toronto we get close to six months a year of winter. Most of the vehicles that you see in the ditches look like this.
I yearn for a K5 of my own. Although if I ever do get one, I could never expose it to the winter conditions where I live in Western NY. The copious amounts of salt that they spread on the roads here destroy vehicles in just a few short years. I’d hate to see a well preserved or restored classic truck end up in a dustpan. My two year old Silverado has more rust on it from winter driving than my 32 year old C10 that has never seen northern winters. As much as I don’t need another summer toy, I want a K5 in the worst way.
Makes mine look like scrap.
There was/is a K5 Blazer around the same year selling in the local C/L for $35K! I’d rather take this one.