When was the hummer created

Work began on a slightly smaller Hummer that was easier to drive, less expensive, and fit in a conventional parking space. But when placed outside the context of its oversized predecessor, the Hummer H2 was still massive. It was based on the Chevy Tahoe and used some heavy-duty pickup truck components for added strength. Under the hood was a big 6. Yet it could still handle severe off-road conditions. Four Wheeler magazine was impressed with the truck when they first had a chance to tackle a trail and said:.

In , GM sold 34, H2s in the U. The H2 was an undeniable success, and soon Hummer clubs began to sprout up around the country. Despite its smaller and lighter size compared to the H1, the H2 delivered atrocious fuel economy. Some Hummers were even vandalized and destroyed on dealership lots in the name of protecting the environment.

Car and Driver recorded a mph time of 9. A year later, GM continued its evolution toward ever smaller Hummers with the H3. Based on the bones of the mid-size Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck, the H3 weighed about a ton less than the gargantuan H2.

For many, this was the first Hummer that actually fit in the garage. And on the trail, it was no slouch. The top Alpha models with all the off-road goodies could take on rock crawling trails like a champ.

The best ones had locking differentials front and rear along with inch tires and a V8. Soon, the H3T pickup truck joined the line, making the H3 in many ways the best Hummer ever made. Still, the H3 was no Prius, achieving only 14 mpg city and 18 mpg highway—equal to many other midsize SUVs of the time.

In , J. Power found that the H3 was the most avoided SUV in its segment. Eleven experimental units were tested for over , miles in conditions ranging from deserts to arctic climes. The initial Mseries specs called for a pound curb weight, a pound payload, 16 inches of ground clearance, 5 feet of fording capability, both gas and diesel engines, and a three-speed automatic transmission.

They are likely to remain in some form of service—in disaster relief assistance roles, for example—until or beyond. In , AM General won the initial contract to supply 55, vehicles over five years. By , more than , units had been built for U. In , when the U. During the Gulf War, the need for greater protection from small arms fire became evident, resulting in the deployment of the M with added armor, a more powerful turbocharged engine, air conditioning, and a tougher suspension.

Added occupant protection consisted of hardened steel plating and bullet-resistant glass. During its distinguished career, the flexible Hummer platform has borne weapons ranging from machine gun turrets to surface-to-air missiles. In total, 11, H1s were sold during the year run. A concept shown at the Detroit auto show previewed the Hummer H2, aiming to take the brand mainstream given the rising popularity of large SUVs in the U.

The Hummer H2 debuted for the model year, keeping the H1's general design direction while using a GM truck platform, along with beefy V8 engines. The H2 was also offered as a four-door pickup, even though the H2T's usable cargo room was quite limited. The SUV and the pickup versions were both lifestyle vehicles, so on-road ability and luxury features took priority over many other considerations, including fuel economy and advanced off-road ability.

Sales were the strongest during the second, third and fourth years of production, but tapered off significantly toward the end of the decade. During the Iraq War, the vast majority of the Humvees deployed to the country were initially unarmored, and only received improvised armor Army mechanics created later on.

Even by the end of , the U. Army had 12, unarmored Humvees in use in Iraq, and only 1, armored ones. Still, there was only so much steel and ballistic glass that could be feasibly added to the exteriors and interiors in the field, so the vehicles were often vulnerable to small arms fire and IEDs.

Due to ongoing insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon began a program to eventually replace the Humvee with a new design, one intended to carry a lot of armor from the start and also offer increased protection against mines and IEDs. Military operations in the s also forced the armed forces to source entirely new and existing designs for MRAPs to perform patrol and other roles, often in short time frames. The gas crises in the mid s and the economic crash hurt the popularity of the H2 and H3, and they became to be seen as caricatures of an era of excess and cheap oil.

H2 sales had slowed to a trickle by , the last year of production. GM introduced the Hummer H3 starting in the model year, fielding a smaller and more nimble model based on a truck platform shared with the GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado. The smaller model was offered as an SUV and as a pickup. The base engine in the truck was also borrowed from GM's midsize offerings -- a 3. Both the H2 and H3 were also assembled in Kaliningrad, Russia, due to the high import duties at the time. The war on terror reinforced this anxiety and inspired men to gravitate toward traditional masculinity.

Joe doll in a toy shop — but the H2s were rounder and shinier, their magnitude more a symbol of early-aughts excess. Elwood Watson, a professor at East Tennessee State University who has written about masculinity in academic publications, books, and for the Good Men Project website, sees the morphing nature of masculinity as being linked to the relative youth of America. Different contexts merit different gender expressions, he says, and compared to much older Latin American, African, and European nations that have more fixed ideas of masculinity, the US is still figuring out for what, exactly, its context calls.

The nations that have more self-assured understandings of masculinity, Watson explains, ultimately create more relaxed environments for their men. Relative to other countries, American masculinity is a confused teenager, thrashing around in an attempt to find itself and feel understood.

Watson credits the 21st century with major advances in the reshaping of masculinity, the most dramatic development being the dialogue surrounding toxic masculinity. In a study published in , Marius Luedicke, Craig Thompson, and Markus Giesler examined the polarizing vehicle by interview interviewing owners and inspecting anti-Hummer forums, like fuH2.

Being accused of harming the environment made them laugh, as they thought the Prius driver does not understand the science, rather than reconsider their consumption choice.

It was uselessly macho, even if the features were technically implemented with the intention to be useful; for most drivers, the knowledge of its ability was more alluring than actually putting it to use. The average American, like the average American car, will never really have to enter battle. In , when Doug DeMuro wrote a series for his column at Jalopnik in which he allowed his audience to vote on which car he would buy and drive for months, the overwhelming consensus was that he buy a Hummer.

But nobody wants to personally own that.