End Of The Line for Another Off-roader

[Thai]

Gas-Guzzling Hummer H1 Dumped By GM

POSTED: 11:23 am PDT May 12, 2006

DETROIT -- The 2006 model year will be the last for the Hummer H1, the hulking, gas-guzzling status symbol that has attracted celebrities and off-road enthusiasts but has drawn the ire of environmentalists.

General Motors Corp. announced plans Friday for the H1, which is the foundation for the automaker's Hummer brand. Based on the military's Humvee, the about 12,000 put on the road since 1992 defined the Hummer name.

"It's a reflection of where we're going with the Hummer brand," Hummer general manager Martin Walsh said of the decision. "The Hummer DNA still resides in the Humvee. ... It will always be the core from where we come."

GM expects the last H1s to be built next month.

Walsh said Hummer plans to focus on models with broader appeal instead of the niche-market H1. Since taking over the Hummer name in 2000, GM has introduced the still hefty H2 and a midsize H3 sport utility vehicle.

The H1 gets about 10 miles per gallon, but Walsh said rising gas prices didn't factor into GM's decision. He noted that H1 buyers typically have been less sensitive about gas prices than most other drivers.

The H1 attracted well-heeled drivers looking for a military-style vehicle with an intimidating stance. For the 2006 model year, the H1 was offered as a high-performance H1 Alpha that costs about $130,000 to $140,000.

The vehicle first was marketed to the public as the Hummer in 1992 by AM General, which also makes the military version. Under a 1999 deal, GM bought marketing rights to the Hummer name and called the vehicle the Hummer H1.

Last year, GM sold 374 H1s, down 16 percent from 447 in 2004.

AM General, which builds the H1, H2 and Humvee in Mishawaka, Ind., said in a statement that it doesn't plan to cut any jobs as a result of the decision. GM said workers there were expected to be shifted to military production.

 

[Thai]

If only i had the money, then i would definitely get the last H1 Alpha! H1 is the only true Hummer...it's just so sad to hear this! And i hear that the US Armed Forces are planning on replacing the Humvee over the next few years for something that is lighter and more bomb resistant.

I will move this post to OFF-TOPIC tomorrow....

 

[Kmvreter]

If only i had the money, then i would definitely get the ... H1 is the only true Hummer...it's just so sad to hear this!

I agree. I guess I'll have to win a lottery real quick...

 

[sharp4runr]

As funny as it may seem, I've actually seen more H1s lately than before. I would think the H1 owners would be keeping there trucks in the garage when gas prices are so high, but what do I know right!

 

[Falls]

As funny as it may seem, I've actually seen more H1s lately than before. I would think the H1 owners would be keeping there trucks in the garage when gas prices are so high, but what do I know right!

If you can affford an H1 you probably are'nt worried about the price of gas....lol

 

[sharp4runr]

Yeah I suppose you're right

Maybe they're running their H1s on Ethanol

 

[kimboy]

The H1 is one capable human transport device.

Yesterday, I saw a lifted H2 Hummer (with at least a 6" lift kit, w/ special shocks and springs), it also had a special exhaust, and its tires stuck out of the wheel well by 5".

Talk about overkill for the road. To bad their diesel engines weren't that popular.

I'd love to go out the Las Vegas and run one of these things hard.

 

[Jay]

If i had the money i would get a mitary version, the hummvee. You dont need all the luxuries of the H1 for pure off road driving.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

If i had the money i would get a mitary version, the hummvee. You dont need all the luxuries of the H1 for pure off road driving.

But luxuries aren't bad to have when out in 100 degree heat or 20 degree freezing air. Comfort isn't a bad thing and for that much money it better have AC.

 

[TeCKis300]

But luxuries aren't bad to have when out in 100 degree heat or 20 degree freezing air. Comfort isn't a bad thing and for that much money it better have AC.

Trust me...I've spent my fair share of time cooped up in a stretched (3 rows of seating) H1 Alpha with all the works. The word luxury does not apply in any way to this vehicle unless you are strictly talking about A/C. The interior is rudimentary at best. Function over form.

You better *really* like offroading because humvee, H1, H1 alpha or whatever variation would suck royally for daily driving.

 

[sharp4runr]

TeCKis300 - I agree 100% about Luxury and H1 do not go hand and hand. Now my seat time was limited to just sitting in 2 of them at the Washington Auto Show. The seats (if you can call them that) are horrible!!!

Maybe if I had a chance to sit in a rapper's blinged out version with memory foam seats, video screens galor, and a fish tank in the cargo section I'd change my mind...

 

[RonMAIDEN]

Trust me...I've spent my fair share of time cooped up in a stretched (3 rows of seating) H1 Alpha with all the works. The word luxury does not apply in any way to this vehicle unless you are strictly talking about A/C. The interior is rudimentary at best. Function over form.

You better *really* like offroading because humvee, H1, H1 alpha or whatever variation would suck royally for daily driving.

That was my point exactly too since there's nothing wrong with off roading in comfort.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

Hummer H-1


You must realize that that model has had its run. Basically, it went mostly unchanged for about twenty years. I remember seeing my first one when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg during the summer of 1987.

The darn thing drove and rode like an Oldsmobile, when compared to the old Jeep that had been the mainstay of Uncle Sam's fighting men for so many decades.

Anyway, I don't think the EPA or the NHTSA would approve the military version for civilian use. Maybe they are not crashworthy enough for use as a daily driver (canvas doors & top, etc., etc.).

The Army versions are also diesel-powered (6.5-liter GMC/Chevy truck turbodiesel if memory serves me correctly) -- hardly what your suburbanite buyer will choose for shuttling Chip and Buffy to soccer practice.
:bash:

Nonetheless, they'll probably still sell all of the H2 and H3 models they can build. Still a lot of people with more money than taste!

 

[slimjim]

i hear that the US Armed Forces are planning on replacing the Humvee over the next few years for something that is lighter and more bomb resistant.

there is something more bomb resistant than the H1? are the armed forces going to drive around in the presidents limo? hehe.

 

[Thai]

there is something more bomb resistant than the H1? are the armed forces going to drive around in the presidents limo? hehe.

The problem with H1 is that it's wide flat underbody traps the explosion.

 

[Thai]

This is a funny story on another forum regarding the H1...i thought that it would be nice to post it here:

"Her [the poster's wife] father and his siblings live in every corner of the country, each extremely unique and very functional, even in what is now, their later years.

Last month one of these siblings phoned (she is 85 years old) to say that she had a little fender bender. "Just a small bump of another car...", which happened when she pulled back into the right hand lane following a pass on a two way, four lane street in a suburb near a large eastern city.

The 85 year old auntie was not aware that she had clipped the sedan, and continue to drive. Within a few miles of the "accident", a police car, with lights flashing caught her attention. She pulled off the road to see what the officer wanted.

He told her that she had clipped the car as she had executed the pass, and that he needed to see her insurance and license, etc. He gave her a ticket and told her that he would have to drive her home, and have her car removed by a tow truck. He vehicle had no damage, by the way.

She kept telling this story to me, and I had no idea what kind of car she was driving, as she just kept referring to it as "the old beater". Finally, after she told me that she was ordered to have a driving test AND and mental status examine, I asked her why they are doing this? She said it had something to do with her vehicle not being appropriate for her and that she was not making good judgements about her choice of cars. Naturally I was eager to know what kind of car we are talking about. It was then that I learned that Auntie B. drives as her most often used "car" a 1995 or 1996 Hummer diesel.

Her husband died a few months back and left her with several cars. He had been an adventurer and told her that she should drive the Hummer since it would be the safest car in an accident. So, for the months leading up to her accident, she had been driving this thing around town shopping, going to hair appointments, to the bridge club card parties, and when "the grils" go for coffee. She actually would go around town and pick up her girl friends and head out for lunch, etc.

Auntie "B" is less than 5 foot 3 inches, and a very small framed woman. She told me that she can not see OVER the steering wheel, so she just looks through the top portion of the wheel. The mental image of this little woman drving her OD green Hummer with a load of her shopping buddies, is just too much to grasp. But, it is true, or at least it was true until the state patrol in an un-named easter US state, stopped her from driving it."