Hummer Guy

Hummer fever has reached the Middle East – A group of owners in Qatar recently held a get together called “Hummer Base.” It started off as an off-roading trip and “turned into an impressive Hummer road parade on the Khor Al Udeid highway.” From the looks of it, the groups are going to be dealership sponsored. I guess this is the Middle East’s version of Hummer Happenings!

This video looks like a Hummer H1 sales video produced in the mid-90s by AM General. It’s got me ready to sign up! That is, if I still could…Anyway – the video has some great off-road footage and information on the Hummer H1. Enjoy!

At first glance it looks like your ordinary Humvee – except it’s not. The design cues are all there – but every piece has a little touch of something else. That something else is the spin Chinese manufacture Dongfeng put on its version of the Humvee. It was recently seen out on an off-road test area pushing its limits. According to Autoblog, the company originally tried to work out a licensing deal with AM General, and some parts were even supplied from the original U.S. Humvee maker.

Hummers have always been known for their toughness – and safety! The Hummer H3 continues that legacy in both 2006 and 2007 production years. Safercar.gov gave the H3 5 star safety awards for both Front and Side impacts. Check out the Hummer videos that show the H3 taking the impact like a champ and keeping the passenger compartment just fine!

Hummer recently decided that it will no longer offer Yellow and Twilight Maroon Metallic on the H2 line. The Maroon color comes as no surprise – it was only recently introduced in 2006, and was met with a not so excited Hummer crowd. On the flip side, yellow Hummer H2s have become a staple in Hummer marketing campaigns. Print ads, television ads, and news articles always seem to use the familiar site of a bright yellow Hummer. The last few will roll of the production line in the next few months – this news comes after the announcement they will no longer offer yellow Hummer H3s in mid January.

We don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but Motor Trend’s Truck Trend just released an article saying they heard “there may be some plans in the works to bring back another Hummer H1 by 2010.” This would be exciting news – but we’re going to wait until we hear more about it to get TOO excited. We realize we’re only pulling out one line on the entire article to focus on, but we feel it’s pretty important! The Hummer H1 ended production in June 2006 due to low sales volume.

In 2001 a group of Hummer owners were having an off-road event in West Virginia, when the weather near-by took a turn for the worse. The entire area was damaged by floods, and rescue crews struggled to reach certain areas. The Hummer group volunteered to help get needed supplies where they needed to go, but were turned down by agency after agency because of liability issues. After this, a group of the owners partnered with the Red Cross and founded HOPE: Hummer Owners Prepared for Emergencies. By becoming certified in CPR, First Aid, and other first-responder training, members of HOPE become full fledged Red Cross Volunteers. Members are also required to receive an off-roading trail endorsement to ensure they know the limits of their Hummer. Should the need arise to get emergency supplies to a hard to reach area, members are called to volunteer their medical and Hummer off-roading skills. Hummer liked the idea so much they donated $6 Million to the Red Cross, along with several vehicles. This is a great group – and if you own a Hummer, you should think about volunteering your time. Most volunteering would be in your state and community should the need arise – further training and registration is required to deploy to disasters outside of your state (i.e. living in Texas and deploying to the region affected by Hurricane Katrina). Check out HOPE’s new website for all the details. They have a great video on the home page, and a good FAQ section for those interested in finding out more.

I found some pictures on my hard drive that I thought some of you may find amusing. These are from a trip I took to a wild-life park here in Texas, where they’ve got all kind of animals that come right up to your car in hopes you’ve got feed for them. Most of the animals are low enough to the ground to not have any cause for alarm (especially in a Hummer H3) – the ostriches however, are the perfect height to go exploring in your car and find the entire bag of feed. Luckily we were at the end of the course, but that punk grabbed the whole bag and started stomping on it! Lesson learned. Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

An interesting looking vehicle? Yes. Will it put a dent in world-wide Hummer sales? Unlikely. The Ukrainians have never exactly been a powerhouse in the automotive field, and I don’t think the new VEPR Commander is going to help them with that goal. The diesel beast holds an incredible 15 passengers and is longer than an H1. No word on any sales numbers as of yet…

The wait is finally over – the newest Limited Edition H2 from Hummer is here! Victory red is one of those colors that is sure to go over well – and with only 695 made, will certainly go quickly. The first victory red Hummer H2s have landed in Dallas, TX with many more hitting dealerships nationwide. If you’re interested – you better get to your local dealer soon!