Hummer
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HUMMER is a marque of vehicles sold by General Motors. For the military vehicles of which the trademark is based see HMMWV.
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History
Hummers are built by AM General Corporation, formerly the heavy industries division of American Motors. AM General had planned to sell a civilian version of the Hummer as far back as the late 1980s. In 1990, two matching white Hummers were driven from London, UK to Beijing, China over the rough roads of the central Soviet Union. The Hummers made the drive with ease, and highlights of this journey were broadcast on ESPN in the United States. The publicity would pale in comparison to the attention that the Hummer received for its service in Operation: Desert Storm the following year.
In 1991, AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) vehicle to the public under the brand name HUMMER. In 1999, AM General sold the brand name to General Motors but continued to manufacture the vehicles, which GM then re-sold. In the next few years, GM introduced two new homegrown models, the H2 and H3, and renamed the original vehicle to H1.
Evaluation
All three Hummer models are large, heavy vehicles with large engines and complex drivelines. They also feature aggressive styling and advertizing. This has made them a target of criticism especially because of poor fuel economy. Many people view Hummers as impractical, a criticism that has also been leveled at many "impractical" vehicles, from the Dodge Viper and Chevrolet Corvette to the Range Rover and Ford Excursion. However, the fact that the Hummer marque sells only heavy SUVs has made it a focus for this criticism.
Since both the H1 and H2 can weigh over 8,500 lb (GVWR), the United States fuel economy regulations do not apply to them. The company does not disclose expected fuel economy ratings—in fact, the company is not even required to display a Monroney sticker on these vehicles. However, expected mpg ratings can be derived from their fuel capacity and range ratings. These metrics show that the Diesel H1 is expected to reach 16 mpg (US), while the H2 should get 9.6 mpg. Car and Driver magazine observed 12 mpg with their H2 SUT. These ratings, while certainly low, are similar to that of other heavy trucks and SUV's, including the Dodge Ram and Durango, Ford F-Series, and Expedition/Excursion/Lincoln Navigator, and Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon/Cadillac Escalade.
It should also be noted that other than military units, only around 10,000 total civilian Hummer H1s have been produced. This is a stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands of previously mentioned vehicles such as the Dodge Ram and Durango, Ford F-Series etc. It is enough, however, to cause severe environmental promblems due to it's fuel guzzling nature and high count of highly polluting emissions.
Models
There are three current and possibly two future models in the HUMMER line:
General Motors has announced plans for a type of cologne branded with the Hummer name.
Famous owners
Rapper DMX owns a Hummer, as does President of the United States George W. Bush. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was the first private citizen to own a Hummer.
External links
- AM General official site (http://www.amgeneral.com)
- Hummer homepage (http://www.hummer.com)
- A HUMMER enthusiast site (http://www.humvee.net)
- The FIRST and LARGEST hummer on-line forum and mailing list (http://hummernetworkforums.com/)
- A Hummer Technical Info site (http://www.amghummer.com)
- Humorous short film featuring an H2 (http://williamsmedia.servepics.com/Hummer%20-%20Warning.html)
- A Hummer criticism site (http://www.flipoffahummer.com)
- An anti-fan site of Hummer vehicles (http://www.fuh2.com)
- Green Hummer Project (http://greenhummerproject.org/)
de:Hummer (Fahrzeug) no:Hummer pl:Hummer sv:Hummer (Bil) ja:ハマー (自動車)