| 2003
Hummer review
2000 Hummer review
1997 Hummer Review
Hummer still a rich man's
toy
June 20, 1998
BY AL HAAS: Philadelphia Inquirer Automotive
Writer
Here's a news flash: The Hummer isn't
for people who don't like to be noticed. So, if you do
wet work for the CIA or are paid to spy on married people
playing musical beds, you probably don't want to drive
to the job site in this huge, thinly veiled military vehicle.
With a price tag of US$85,961 on the
Hummer I tested, you also could say this is not a vehicle
for those of us who clip food coupons from our newspaper.
As a matter of fact, the Hummer is quite
literally a rich man's toy: The people who buy it are
almost all men who earn in excess of $250,000 a year.
In some cases, like that of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
who purchased five, the buyer earns well in excess of
$250,000 a year.
For those who spent the last six years
backpacking in the shadow of the North Pole, the Hummer
is the civilian version of an incredibly sure-footed military
pack animal called the humvee (for high-mobility, multi-purpose
wheeled vehicle).
Weighing in at more than three tons
and half again as wide as many cars, the humvee was developed
for the Army by AM General Corp. The military uses the
four-wheel-drive vehicle in 100 configurations, ranging
from personnel carriers and ambulances to mobile mountings
for rocket launchers.
AM General started building the humvee
at its plant in South Bend, Ind., in 1985. It began offering
the Hummer seven years later. This civilian rendition
is available in several hard- and soft-top models, including
the hard-roofed four-door pickup I tested.
At 37 inches in diameter, the tires
on Hummers aren't so much tires as rubber-coated Ferris
wheels.
There is little essential difference
between the Hummer and the military vehicle. The Hummer
is painted with automotive gloss finishes instead of the
flat olive drab and camouflage employed on the humvee,
and it has passenger car amenities such as air conditioning
and a stereo. But structurally and mechanically, it is
the same critter.
While Hummers, like other sport-utility
vehicles, spend almost all their time on the road, they
make a particularly wonderful rich man's plaything if
Mr. Portfolio happens to be an off-road enthusiast.
The Hummer is arguably the finest production
off-road vehicle in the world, and certainly the best
I've ever driven. I had the thing in deep sand and on
hideously rutted trails, and I never got close to sticking
it.
Most of the Hummer's off-road facility
is evident just from looking at it. It has 16 inches of
ground clearance, which is about twice that of a conventional
sport-ute. The all-terrain tires on the test vehicles
were the biggest I've ever seen. At 37 inches in diameter,
they weren't so much tires as rubber-coated Ferris wheels.
Also, the Hummer's short front and rear overhang give
it extraordinary angles of approach and departure.
Indeed, this vehicle will perform stunning
feats. Because it is so wide and stable it can traverse
grades that would send ordinary four-wheelers rolling
down the hill. Its great clearance allows it to climb
22-inch steps without bottoming out. It can also ford
a creek 2-1/2 feet deep.
Driving the rather hard-riding Hummer
on the road is less impressive. You are constantly aware
of its width on narrow city streets, and of the decibel
level of its 6.5-liter General Motors diesel V-8.
The folks at AM General made much of
the fact that the huge diesel had been quieted down with
additional sound insulation since the first time I drove
the Hummer in early 1996. Presumably, we should be thankful
for small things. Instead of being seated in the fourth
row at the heavy metal concert, we now have tickets for
row seven.
Because the vehicle is so wide and has
such a large drivetrain tunnel, the driver feels light
years away from the front-seat passenger. Granted, that
minimizes fresh behavior on the first date. But when you
couple that great distance with the engine's great noise,
you also minimize first-date conversation.
Some of the comfort and convenience
touches that have been installed on the Hummer -- including
air conditioning -- are welcome. Others, such as the clearance-diminishing
running boards on the test vehicle, are dumb. And still
others, including the ersatz wood trim on the tester's
dashboard, have the effect of emasculating the most macho
vehicle in the world.
Personally, I don't want the Hummer
to get too civilized. I don't want them to teach Genghis
Khan to use the right fork.
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