Owners' boxy behemoths, reviled and revered, are part of exclusive club - San Diego Union Tribune

[maybe some day...]

HUM DINGER

Owners' boxy behemoths, reviled and revered, are part of exclusive club

By Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 8, 2003


CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune
At Vessels Stallion Farm in bonsall, Hummers cruise along a 40-percent grade that could cause other vehicles to flip. The boxy behemoths, reviled and revered, are part of an exclusive club.
BONSALL – The trail was lunar landscape, a steep, back-country fire break with rain ruts deep enough to swallow a group of backpackers. Kevin Brennick easily drove his $50,000 Hummer H2 up, over, around and through it, grinning like a 10-year-old at a birthday party.

He rocked the Hummer across a craggy field, then coaxed the steel monster sideways down a 40-degree slope like an expert rider on a mountain pack horse. Brennick next aimed for a narrow, deep, sandy hole that appeared to eat the 6,400-pound beast.

But the Hummer charged up and out the other side, a lurching fun-house ride with one wheel 3 feet off the ground as the other three, working independently and at weird angles, pulled it free.

"Yeah, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about!" shouted Brennick. "Feel that suspension articulate? What a great feeling! There's going to be a lot of people here with faces sore from smiling."

It was Hummer Day at the 2,000-acre Vessels Stallion Farm, a private gathering for proud Hummer owners featuring fly fishing, cigar rolling and golf lessons in addition to trips through the backcountry challenge course.

Even the quarter horses and thoroughbreds paused to stare at the huge machines that have suddenly become the hottest-selling road warrior in America.

"Everywhere I go, everybody wants to look at it, especially kids," said Hummer owner Kenneth Martinez, who splits time between a home in North Park and another in the New Mexico mountains. "I hear it over and over: Can you give me a ride? Can I sit in it?

"I get some negative comments. People have hollered, 'Hey, Gas Hog!' or, 'When are you going to war?' But plenty of people have flashed me the thumbs-up, especially during the (Iraq) war. This is like patriotism on wheels."

General Motors has been selling about 3,000 Hummer H2s a month since first rolling them out nearly a year ago.

The boxy behemoth – it looks like a cross between an armored car and a tank, a small cottage rolling down the road – is the only Detroit vehicle currently selling without incentives, such as zero-interest financing.

Hummer owners inhabit an exclusive world. It's a confident place where knowing you own the best damn thing on the road means you can look down on mere mortals in their ordinary SUVs, the way Harley-Davidson riders consider other bikers.

"It's already becoming a true American icon, the next Harley for sure," said Ryan Wilson.

His Hummer supply shop in Vista sells all sorts of accessories to civilian owners and customizes Humvees – the original thing – for the military with add-ons such as weapons platforms and special seats. Wilson said his catalog of Hummer accessories includes "TV screens mounted anywhere you like."

Brennick, who owns a crane company, bought a heavy-duty winch and mounted it on his Hummer's front bumper. He's used it once so far, "to pull a Jeep up a hill, which pleased me greatly."

But some people consider the Hummer as a different kind of icon: A symbol of America's wretched excess, the newest reason "why they hate us."

These folks wonder what a quasi-military vehicle is doing on America's roads and streets and in parking lots – the original Hummer H1 is 86.5 inches wide, not including the retractable elephant-ear side mirrors. (By comparison, the 3/4-ton Chevrolet Suburban is 78.9 inches wide.)

And environmentalists are outraged that the most popular vehicle to come down the road in years gets just nine or 10 miles per gallon at a time when fuel efficiency overall for America's vehicles is at a 22-year low. The Hummer performs poorly even compared with SUVs, whose average fuel efficiency was 17.3 mpg last year.

"It's a poorly designed vehicle that we are opposed to based on its overuse of gasoline and its pollution," said Gary Skulnik, spokesman for the Sierra Club, which is about to launch an anti-Hummer media campaign.

"I'm sure the war was a big sales boost, but the most patriotic response today would be to cut America's dependence on foreign oil. If General Motors wants to excite people, they can build cars and trucks with hybrid technology that get 50 or 60 miles per gallon."

Though salesmen report nothing but positive comments from new Hummer owners, a recent survey by J.D. Power and Associates of satisfaction during the first 90 days of vehicle ownership ranked the Hummer H2 dead last.

Among the problems cited were wind noise and small windows. But the number one complaint (from 22 percent of Hummer owners) was poor gas mileage.

It's hard to believe that prospective buyers didn't realize a Hummer is no gas miser, even though GM is not required to list mileage on the sticker since the Hummer is considered a truck.

"It's a truck, and it gets truck mileage," said Doug McGlone, sales manager for Marvin K. Brown Auto Center, one of the top-selling Hummer dealerships in America and sponsor of last weekend's Hummer rally.

"If you're concern is mileage, buy a Kia."

Built military tough

The new H2 is the progeny of the military's all-but-indestructible Humvee. Designed to transport soldiers and their weapons quickly in any terrain, the Humvee was introduced in the first Gulf War.

Arnold Schwarzenegger got things rolling when he convinced AM General, the Indiana-based maker of the military Humvee, to build a commercial version.

But the original Hummer H1 – which starts at $100,000 – was a poor seller, even though Schwarzenegger bought five of them. Billed as the greatest off-road vehicle ever, the H1 had a rough, noisy ride, an extreme military bearing and relatively few creature comforts.

Then GM bought the Hummer name and distribution rights in 1999 and brought out the more consumer-friendly Hummer H2 last summer. Sales went crazy, spurred on recently by TV images of Humvees rolling across Iraq.

Though only 900 or so H1s are sold annually, GM expects to sell all 40,000 of the H2s that the Indiana factory can make in this first production year.

A smaller version, the H3, is in the works, along with a convertible pickup model.

"If the H1 was a Humvee in a suit, the H2 is one in a tuxedo," said McGlone. "And it will do 80 percent of what the H1 will do off-road at half the price."

The H1, which has a V-8, 6.5-liter, turbocharged diesel engine, can scale a 22-inch wall, ford a 30-inch-deep stream, handle 60-percent inclines and 40-percent side slopes and is tracked by a global-positioning satellite (drivers can call anytime to report an emergency, or just for directions).

Off-road geeks get torqued up about the H1's heavy-duty power-train and suspension systems. But another feature is worth noting: the Central Tire Inflation System allows the tires to be deflated or inflated from the cab as terrain warrants. (It also has a run-flat tire system enabling the H1 to go 20 miles at 30 mph on tires that are completely flat.)

But by introducing the Hummer H2, GM went from cult status to mass market. The drive is smoother and quieter, the handling easier and the pickup extraordinary, thanks to the H2's 316-hp, 6.0-liter, V-8 gasoline engine.

And Southern California is the biggest Hummer market in the country, said Wendy Orthman, a GM spokeswoman in Detroit.

"The H1 Hummer is really a tight niche; it's meant to target different customers from the H2," said Orthman. "The competition for this purchase is a second home or a big boat. It's as much a recreational choice as a transportation choice."

The Hummer is not for everyone. GM reports that the average H2 owner is 41, college educated with an annual income of at least $215,000; 73 percent are men, 12 percent are Hispanic, 9 percent African-American; 44 percent are entrepreneurs, half are self employed.

"This fits the psycho-graphic of the Hummer," Orthman said. "They see themselves as daring, unique, self-assured, and they're looking for a vehicle that expresses those attributes. The Hummer is not for the shy, retiring type."

A bit of animosity has developed between H1 owners and those who prefer the comfort of the H2.

"Yeah, they think we're a bunch of mall crawlers," said H2 owner Kevin Brennick.

"But I think that's turning around, at least when (H1 owners) see us doing stuff like this," added Brennick, displaying a photo of him driving his H2 right over a rusted-out, abandoned car in the sand dunes of Imperial County.

Dan Stonesifer San Diego also loves running his new H2 in the dunes. He traded his dune buggy for a Hummer and never looked back.

"I'll be staring down at a treacherous bowl thinking, 'I can't go there; I can't go there; I can't OH YES I CAN!'" Stonesifer said. "The Hummer vs. a dune buggy in the desert is like the difference between riding an old, rickety wooden roller coaster and a new, super-fast one with steel rails."

Craig Trask decided the H1 was for him, but not until he'd already bought an H2.

"I'd always wanted an H1, but I didn't know if I wanted it enough to throw down $100,000," said Trask by cell phone recently as he headed to the wilds of eastern Utah.

"So I got an H2. But my wife fell in love with it, and I never got to drive it. That's when I decided to just own them both."

Trask, who is 42 and doesn't work, said he takes his H1 on serious off-road adventures to places like the Sierra, Mexico and Utah's national parks about twice a month.

"The H1 is not for everybody. It's noisy on the road, extremely wide and not particularly roomy inside," he said, shouting above the road noise. "People get in and either love it or say they could never drive one."

Trask, who lives in Orange County and also owns a Lexus and "several collectible cars," said he's fortunate to have a three-car garage since his two Hummers simply won't fit in a conventional two-car garage.

"I've had one negative reaction: I came out of a store to find a note that said, 'I bet this isn't electric powered.' I just had to chuckle."

Everett Bobbitt, a San Diego attorney, said he chose to buy an H1 a year ago because "it has more capability, and I can afford it." His metallic-pewter H1 – outfitted in Marine Corps regalia – stood out among the 30 or so H2s at last weekend's Hummer rally.

The H1's superior capabilities came in handy, Bobbitt said, when he encountered a mud bog 3 to 4 feet deep off Proctor Valley Road during a heavy winter rainstorm.

"Another time I pulled up to a parking garage downtown that had very low clearance. The guy said I couldn't get my H1 in there; I said, uh, yes I can, pushed the button to deflate the tires and drove right in," Bobbitt said.

He has heard H2 owners referred to as "H1 wannabes," said Bobbitt. He said he makes an effort to avoid condescension but sometimes cannot help himself.

"I told one H2 guy who was taking a good look at my H1: 'That's what yours is going to look like when it grows up.' " Gas hogs and misers

The Hummer is exempt from federal EPA fuel-

economy standards – GM is not required to list the mileage rating on the sticker because it weighs more than 6,000 pounds. But the massive SUV gets about 10 miles a gallon, according to the automaker.

The military brat is positively fuel stingy, though, compared with an Abrams M-1 Tank, which gets about three-fifths of a mile per gallon.

The Hummer stacks up poorly, though, against

SUVs, which average 17.3 mpg.

Following are the best and worst 2003 cars in the category of fuel efficiency, according to the EPA:

l Two seaters:

Most efficient: Honda Insight (hybrid), 3 cyl, 1 L, manual; 61 mpg city, 68 mpg highway.

Least efficient: Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, 12 cyl, 6 L, automatic; 8 mpg city, 12 mpg highway.

l Minicompacts:

Most efficient: MINI Cooper, 4 cyl, 1.6 L,

manual; 28 city, 37 highway.

Least efficient: Aston Martin DB-7 GT Coupe,

12 cyl, 5.9 L, manual; 10 city, 16 highway.

l Subcompacts:

Most efficient: VW New Beetle (diesel), 4 cyl, 1.9 L, manual; 42 city, 49 highway.

Least efficient: Ferrari 456 MGT/MGA, 12 cyl, 5.5 L, automatic; 10 city, 15 highway.

l Compacts:

Most efficient: Toyota Prius (hybrid), 4 cyl,

1.5 L, automatic; 52 city, 45 highway.

Least efficient: Bentley Continental R, 8 cyl,

6.8 L, automatic; 11 city, 16 highway.

l Midsize cars:

Most efficient: Honda Accord, 4 cyl, 2.4 L,

manual; 26 city, 34 highway.

Least efficient: Bentley Arnage, 8 cyl, 6.8 L,

automatic; 10 city, 14 highway.

l Large cars:

Most efficient: Chevrolet Impala, 6 cyl, 3.4 L, automatic; 21 city, 32 highway.

Least efficient: Bentley Arnage LWB, 8 cyl,

6.8 L, automatic; 10 city, 14 highway.

–Mark Sauer

WHO

DRIVES THEM?

The Hummer isn't only a means of transportation or recreation, it's also a status

symbol. Here

are some celebrities who have at least one in their garage.

Arnold

Schwarzenegger

Shaquille O'Neal

James Cameron

Busta Rhymes

Lebron James

Luis GonzaleZ

[maybe some day...]

HUM DINGER

Owners' boxy behemoths, reviled and revered, are part of exclusive club

By Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 8, 2003


CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune
At Vessels Stallion Farm in bonsall, Hummers cruise along a 40-percent grade that could cause other vehicles to flip. The boxy behemoths, reviled and revered, are part of an exclusive club.
BONSALL – The trail was lunar landscape, a steep, back-country fire break with rain ruts deep enough to swallow a group of backpackers. Kevin Brennick easily drove his $50,000 Hummer H2 up, over, around and through it, grinning like a 10-year-old at a birthday party.

He rocked the Hummer across a craggy field, then coaxed the steel monster sideways down a 40-degree slope like an expert rider on a mountain pack horse. Brennick next aimed for a narrow, deep, sandy hole that appeared to eat the 6,400-pound beast.

But the Hummer charged up and out the other side, a lurching fun-house ride with one wheel 3 feet off the ground as the other three, working independently and at weird angles, pulled it free.

"Yeah, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about!" shouted Brennick. "Feel that suspension articulate? What a great feeling! There's going to be a lot of people here with faces sore from smiling."

It was Hummer Day at the 2,000-acre Vessels Stallion Farm, a private gathering for proud Hummer owners featuring fly fishing, cigar rolling and golf lessons in addition to trips through the backcountry challenge course.

Even the quarter horses and thoroughbreds paused to stare at the huge machines that have suddenly become the hottest-selling road warrior in America.

"Everywhere I go, everybody wants to look at it, especially kids," said Hummer owner Kenneth Martinez, who splits time between a home in North Park and another in the New Mexico mountains. "I hear it over and over: Can you give me a ride? Can I sit in it?

"I get some negative comments. People have hollered, 'Hey, Gas Hog!' or, 'When are you going to war?' But plenty of people have flashed me the thumbs-up, especially during the (Iraq) war. This is like patriotism on wheels."

General Motors has been selling about 3,000 Hummer H2s a month since first rolling them out nearly a year ago.

The boxy behemoth – it looks like a cross between an armored car and a tank, a small cottage rolling down the road – is the only Detroit vehicle currently selling without incentives, such as zero-interest financing.

Hummer owners inhabit an exclusive world. It's a confident place where knowing you own the best damn thing on the road means you can look down on mere mortals in their ordinary SUVs, the way Harley-Davidson riders consider other bikers.

"It's already becoming a true American icon, the next Harley for sure," said Ryan Wilson.

His Hummer supply shop in Vista sells all sorts of accessories to civilian owners and customizes Humvees – the original thing – for the military with add-ons such as weapons platforms and special seats. Wilson said his catalog of Hummer accessories includes "TV screens mounted anywhere you like."

Brennick, who owns a crane company, bought a heavy-duty winch and mounted it on his Hummer's front bumper. He's used it once so far, "to pull a Jeep up a hill, which pleased me greatly."

But some people consider the Hummer as a different kind of icon: A symbol of America's wretched excess, the newest reason "why they hate us."

These folks wonder what a quasi-military vehicle is doing on America's roads and streets and in parking lots – the original Hummer H1 is 86.5 inches wide, not including the retractable elephant-ear side mirrors. (By comparison, the 3/4-ton Chevrolet Suburban is 78.9 inches wide.)

And environmentalists are outraged that the most popular vehicle to come down the road in years gets just nine or 10 miles per gallon at a time when fuel efficiency overall for America's vehicles is at a 22-year low. The Hummer performs poorly even compared with SUVs, whose average fuel efficiency was 17.3 mpg last year.

"It's a poorly designed vehicle that we are opposed to based on its overuse of gasoline and its pollution," said Gary Skulnik, spokesman for the Sierra Club, which is about to launch an anti-Hummer media campaign.

"I'm sure the war was a big sales boost, but the most patriotic response today would be to cut America's dependence on foreign oil. If General Motors wants to excite people, they can build cars and trucks with hybrid technology that get 50 or 60 miles per gallon."

Though salesmen report nothing but positive comments from new Hummer owners, a recent survey by J.D. Power and Associates of satisfaction during the first 90 days of vehicle ownership ranked the Hummer H2 dead last.

Among the problems cited were wind noise and small windows. But the number one complaint (from 22 percent of Hummer owners) was poor gas mileage.

It's hard to believe that prospective buyers didn't realize a Hummer is no gas miser, even though GM is not required to list mileage on the sticker since the Hummer is considered a truck.

"It's a truck, and it gets truck mileage," said Doug McGlone, sales manager for Marvin K. Brown Auto Center, one of the top-selling Hummer dealerships in America and sponsor of last weekend's Hummer rally.

"If you're concern is mileage, buy a Kia."

Built military tough

The new H2 is the progeny of the military's all-but-indestructible Humvee. Designed to transport soldiers and their weapons quickly in any terrain, the Humvee was introduced in the first Gulf War.

Arnold Schwarzenegger got things rolling when he convinced AM General, the Indiana-based maker of the military Humvee, to build a commercial version.

But the original Hummer H1 – which starts at $100,000 – was a poor seller, even though Schwarzenegger bought five of them. Billed as the greatest off-road vehicle ever, the H1 had a rough, noisy ride, an extreme military bearing and relatively few creature comforts.

Then GM bought the Hummer name and distribution rights in 1999 and brought out the more consumer-friendly Hummer H2 last summer. Sales went crazy, spurred on recently by TV images of Humvees rolling across Iraq.

Though only 900 or so H1s are sold annually, GM expects to sell all 40,000 of the H2s that the Indiana factory can make in this first production year.

A smaller version, the H3, is in the works, along with a convertible pickup model.

"If the H1 was a Humvee in a suit, the H2 is one in a tuxedo," said McGlone. "And it will do 80 percent of what the H1 will do off-road at half the price."

The H1, which has a V-8, 6.5-liter, turbocharged diesel engine, can scale a 22-inch wall, ford a 30-inch-deep stream, handle 60-percent inclines and 40-percent side slopes and is tracked by a global-positioning satellite (drivers can call anytime to report an emergency, or just for directions).

Off-road geeks get torqued up about the H1's heavy-duty power-train and suspension systems. But another feature is worth noting: the Central Tire Inflation System allows the tires to be deflated or inflated from the cab as terrain warrants. (It also has a run-flat tire system enabling the H1 to go 20 miles at 30 mph on tires that are completely flat.)

But by introducing the Hummer H2, GM went from cult status to mass market. The drive is smoother and quieter, the handling easier and the pickup extraordinary, thanks to the H2's 316-hp, 6.0-liter, V-8 gasoline engine.

And Southern California is the biggest Hummer market in the country, said Wendy Orthman, a GM spokeswoman in Detroit.

"The H1 Hummer is really a tight niche; it's meant to target different customers from the H2," said Orthman. "The competition for this purchase is a second home or a big boat. It's as much a recreational choice as a transportation choice."

The Hummer is not for everyone. GM reports that the average H2 owner is 41, college educated with an annual income of at least $215,000; 73 percent are men, 12 percent are Hispanic, 9 percent African-American; 44 percent are entrepreneurs, half are self employed.

"This fits the psycho-graphic of the Hummer," Orthman said. "They see themselves as daring, unique, self-assured, and they're looking for a vehicle that expresses those attributes. The Hummer is not for the shy, retiring type."

A bit of animosity has developed between H1 owners and those who prefer the comfort of the H2.

"Yeah, they think we're a bunch of mall crawlers," said H2 owner Kevin Brennick.

"But I think that's turning around, at least when (H1 owners) see us doing stuff like this," added Brennick, displaying a photo of him driving his H2 right over a rusted-out, abandoned car in the sand dunes of Imperial County.

Dan Stonesifer San Diego also loves running his new H2 in the dunes. He traded his dune buggy for a Hummer and never looked back.

"I'll be staring down at a treacherous bowl thinking, 'I can't go there; I can't go there; I can't OH YES I CAN!'" Stonesifer said. "The Hummer vs. a dune buggy in the desert is like the difference between riding an old, rickety wooden roller coaster and a new, super-fast one with steel rails."

Craig Trask decided the H1 was for him, but not until he'd already bought an H2.

"I'd always wanted an H1, but I didn't know if I wanted it enough to throw down $100,000," said Trask by cell phone recently as he headed to the wilds of eastern Utah.

"So I got an H2. But my wife fell in love with it, and I never got to drive it. That's when I decided to just own them both."

Trask, who is 42 and doesn't work, said he takes his H1 on serious off-road adventures to places like the Sierra, Mexico and Utah's national parks about twice a month.

"The H1 is not for everybody. It's noisy on the road, extremely wide and not particularly roomy inside," he said, shouting above the road noise. "People get in and either love it or say they could never drive one."

Trask, who lives in Orange County and also owns a Lexus and "several collectible cars," said he's fortunate to have a three-car garage since his two Hummers simply won't fit in a conventional two-car garage.

"I've had one negative reaction: I came out of a store to find a note that said, 'I bet this isn't electric powered.' I just had to chuckle."

Everett Bobbitt, a San Diego attorney, said he chose to buy an H1 a year ago because "it has more capability, and I can afford it." His metallic-pewter H1 – outfitted in Marine Corps regalia – stood out among the 30 or so H2s at last weekend's Hummer rally.

The H1's superior capabilities came in handy, Bobbitt said, when he encountered a mud bog 3 to 4 feet deep off Proctor Valley Road during a heavy winter rainstorm.

"Another time I pulled up to a parking garage downtown that had very low clearance. The guy said I couldn't get my H1 in there; I said, uh, yes I can, pushed the button to deflate the tires and drove right in," Bobbitt said.

He has heard H2 owners referred to as "H1 wannabes," said Bobbitt. He said he makes an effort to avoid condescension but sometimes cannot help himself.

"I told one H2 guy who was taking a good look at my H1: 'That's what yours is going to look like when it grows up.' " Gas hogs and misers

The Hummer is exempt from federal EPA fuel-

economy standards – GM is not required to list the mileage rating on the sticker because it weighs more than 6,000 pounds. But the massive SUV gets about 10 miles a gallon, according to the automaker.

The military brat is positively fuel stingy, though, compared with an Abrams M-1 Tank, which gets about three-fifths of a mile per gallon.

The Hummer stacks up poorly, though, against

SUVs, which average 17.3 mpg.

Following are the best and worst 2003 cars in the category of fuel efficiency, according to the EPA:

l Two seaters:

Most efficient: Honda Insight (hybrid), 3 cyl, 1 L, manual; 61 mpg city, 68 mpg highway.

Least efficient: Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, 12 cyl, 6 L, automatic; 8 mpg city, 12 mpg highway.

l Minicompacts:

Most efficient: MINI Cooper, 4 cyl, 1.6 L,

manual; 28 city, 37 highway.

Least efficient: Aston Martin DB-7 GT Coupe,

12 cyl, 5.9 L, manual; 10 city, 16 highway.

l Subcompacts:

Most efficient: VW New Beetle (diesel), 4 cyl, 1.9 L, manual; 42 city, 49 highway.

Least efficient: Ferrari 456 MGT/MGA, 12 cyl, 5.5 L, automatic; 10 city, 15 highway.

l Compacts:

Most efficient: Toyota Prius (hybrid), 4 cyl,

1.5 L, automatic; 52 city, 45 highway.

Least efficient: Bentley Continental R, 8 cyl,

6.8 L, automatic; 11 city, 16 highway.

l Midsize cars:

Most efficient: Honda Accord, 4 cyl, 2.4 L,

manual; 26 city, 34 highway.

Least efficient: Bentley Arnage, 8 cyl, 6.8 L,

automatic; 10 city, 14 highway.

l Large cars:

Most efficient: Chevrolet Impala, 6 cyl, 3.4 L, automatic; 21 city, 32 highway.

Least efficient: Bentley Arnage LWB, 8 cyl,

6.8 L, automatic; 10 city, 14 highway.

–Mark Sauer

WHO

DRIVES THEM?

The Hummer isn't only a means of transportation or recreation, it's also a status

symbol. Here

are some celebrities who have at least one in their garage.

Arnold

Schwarzenegger

Shaquille O'Neal

James Cameron

Busta Rhymes

Lebron James

Luis GonzaleZ