Kitty had wanted a monster truck ever since she saw Bigfoot at a local publicity event in her youth.
She was immediately mesmerized; being one of the typical kids, dwarfed by the wheels alone much less the magnitude of the entire truck, and wanted one of her own. That size of monster truck is obviously a little too big for daily driving, so all we had to do was choose a body style we liked in a much more practical size.

When it came time for us to find a winter-ready, family rig I set out in search of a K5 Blazer. Having had a slightly modified 1985 K5 Blazer in the past, I knew another would serve us well. Soon we found ourselves with a decent 1981 K5 Blazer that served as our only driver for a few sub zero winters. This 81 K5 being her first taste with a big 4x4, even though it was bone stock it only fueled her desire to have a monster truck. Due to a lack of smog equipment and too many vehicles, the 81 K5 (like her old 1949 Ford F1) did not leave Wyoming with us.

Back in California, we found ourselves needing another reliable daily driver for Kitty.  The Chevelle wagon was falling apart faster than I could fix it, and the el Camino isn't capable of serving as a family vehicle. Besides, since we had to sell her 49 F1, we needed another good project she could call her own. A late 50's sled is a lot more project than practical as a daily driver, which left us looking for another Blazer.

The new Blazer, a 1974 K5, which was unknowingly the start of Kittys Krawlers. It was big, burly and a bit ugly, but it ran good. A few months later, a bent axle caused the rear end to blow up. We did not want to invest into rebuilding a 12 bolt because we were already planning on swapping in a 14 bolt anyways. So we started looking for a good donor parts truck.
Oddly enough we found another 74 K5 Blazer tub. It was cheap because it didn't have an engine, but the tub was in much better shape and the rear end was decent, which was good enough for us. Between the two we assembled a Beastly looking new Blazer, barley matching in color thanks to cans that rattle. A few years later the half ton running gear is wearing out again, but this time its the drive shaft and the rear end gears. At this point it was time to search for another parts truck.
We found yet another, what we thought was a 1975 K5 Blazer, and it was a Beauty. While checking all the paperwork for accuracy we discovered it was actually a 1974. Needless to say it was not a problem, but ironic to us that they are all 74s. The latest 74 K5 had a few serious problems preventing it from being driven. However it came with most of the parts needed to repair it and a few other of its more minor problems, and still left me scrounging for garage space to store the remaining parts, even giving some away. Within a short time the new Beauty ran as good as it looked!

The names Beauty and Beastly came to exist because of the need to easily establish which 1974 K5 Blazer was being spoken of at the moment. And so on with Kitty and her Krawlers.

This is the point where this web site was created. More detailed Specs, History, and a Photo Gallery of Kittys Krawlers can be found within their individual profiles.

The el Camino and Chevelle Wagon

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